Oven Baked Omelette's

There is just something magical about breakfast in bed. I think it is because everyone wants it, but not too many people want to get up and make it. Even though I am a go go go kind of person, I still love a lazy morning. I love it so much, that I want to bless my husband with it.  I have a little repertoire of quick meals that look and taste divine, in no time at all. This is one of them. I get in and out of the kitchen so fast, he doesn't even realize breakfast is coming. I hop back in bed for morning snuggles, and 40 minutes later, the timer goes off and we have an amazing breakfast. 

Romantic tip: Treat your love to breakfast in bed. They just might return the favor sometime!

What I love so much about these omelette's is that you can cater them to individual taste's. For instance, my husband likes all things hotter than hades. I love spice and heat, but he likes it over the top. So I added jalapeno peppers to his. You can cook the bacon and saute the onions the night before, so all you have to do is pop the omelette's in the oven. 

Oven Baked Omelette's 

adapted from Taste of Home

4 bacon strips, diced

1/2 onion, diced

2 green onions, sliced

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided

Cook bacon until crisp. Drain the pan, but don't clean the pan. Set bacon aside. 

In the same pan you cooked the bacon saute onion until tender; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add the milk, salt, 1 cup

cheese, bacon and sauteed onions. Transfer to a greased shallow

2-qt. baking dish. Or to two individual baking dish. Top with sliced green onions.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes. 

Take out and sprinkle with

remaining cheese. Bake another 10 minutes. Serve warm. 

I like to serve these, breakfast in bed style.

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Gourmet Cooking for Two

Salted Caramel Cinnamon Rolls

Each year for Christmas I let everyone pick one treat they would like me to make for them as a Christmas present. This year my daughter told me she wanted me to make salted caramel cinnamon rolls. She never ever picks an easy thing. Not having a single recipe to refer to, I got busy creating one. 

Salted caramel is easily my daughter's favorite treat. Any time I make anything she says: "oh, imagine this with salted caramel on it!". It is an epidemic. My husband hopped on her bandwagon and next week I will be sharing with you his request which happens to be salted caramel chocolate cups. 

My recipe was a huge success. It is something to dream about. This recipe is perfect for holidays, birthdays, brunch, or any special occasion that you want to splurge. I would say that you will have some left to share with others, but I had trouble prying the pan out of my families hand. If you love salted caramel, get ready for your taste buds to take a trip to mecca. 

Salted Caramel Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe by Christi Silbaugh

makes 12

for the dough-

3/8 cup warm water

1 1/8 teaspoons active dry yeast 

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

1 egg

1/8 cup canola or vegetable oil

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

for the filling-

1/4 cup softened butter

1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

1 1/4 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Salted Caramel:

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup light corn syrup

2 tsp sea salt

4 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp heavy cream

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Sea salt flakes

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, pour in water, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar. Once mixture looks bubbly and frothy, pour in remaining sugar and salt.

In a small bowl, measure buttermilk, oil and egg. Whisk ingredients together until egg is incorporated to other two ingredients. Pour contents into the water and yeast mixture. Stir 20 seconds in the mixer.

Pour 2 cups of flour into mixer and stir on low until incorporated. Sprinkle flour in by 1/4 cup increments until dough cleans the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Once it has reached this stage, turn mixer on and knead for 5 minutes. Remove dough from bowl, grease and replace back into same mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a dish towel. Place in a warm place. Rise 1-2 hours or until dough has doubled in size.

In a medium size bowl, stir brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch together until combined. Set aside. Punch down dough. Flour a large clean table liberally with flour.

Roll dough out to be a 20x30 rectangle, while moving dough around to ensure it's not sticking to your work surface. Spread softened butter over dough, being sure to go right to the edges leaving a 1-inch strip untouched on one of the longer sides of dough.

Dump brown sugar mixture onto the middle of the dough and spread with your hands, creating an even layer over top of the butter, still leaving that 1-inch strip of dough untouched. Roll the dough up into a tight log, finishing with the plain dough on the bottom to seal the entire thing together.

Cut off the uneven ends to even out the log. Score log every 2 inches and then slice your rolls using those marks. Place into parchment paper lined, butter greased pan. 

Cover pans with plastic wrap and dish towels. Let rolls rise another 1-2 hours or until they are touching and have risen almost double.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree for 17 minutes, or until tops start to brown.

Make the salted caramel. Combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, sugar, and heavy cream. Bring to a boil and stir for about 5-10 minutes until caramel reaches the “soft ball stage” at around 230 degrees.

Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla.

Once rolls have been removed from the oven, Pour the caramel over the rolls. It will take a minute for the caramel to sink into the rolls so they will look like drowned rolls.

 Don't worry, the caramel settles and you end up with this: 

Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and serve warm.

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Gourmet Cooking for Two

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Love, Romance, and Chocolate go together. Nowadays, scientists ascribe the aphrodisiac qualities of chocolate,to two chemicals it contains. One, tryptophan, is a building block of serotonin, a brain chemical involved in sexual arousal. The other, phenylethylamine, a stimulant related to amphetamine, is released in the brain when people fall in love. The darker the chocolate, the more of these magic chemicals it contains. 

So when I set out to make some crunchy chocolate chip cookies for my man. I used enjoy life foods dark chocolate chips. 

Their Dark Chocolate Morsels are dairy, soy and gluten-free, but you would never know it. So rich, creamy, and scrumptious! Just because they are good for you, doesn't mean they are lacking in taste. I highly recommend them. They made these cookies irresistible. 

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 1 dozen

8 1/2 ounces organic unbleached white flour (about 1 1/2 cups)

1//2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon s sea salt

1/2 cup (5 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup (5 ounces) light brown sugar

1/2 cup  (4 ounces) granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 9 ounce package enjoy life foods dark chocolate chips

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until very light. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then add the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low, gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips.

Press plastic wrap against the dough and roll it up. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 72 hours. If you are in a hurry, you can freeze the dough for 1 hour. 

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.

Slice the dough into cookie shape and place on your baking sheet or stone leaving plenty of space in between each cookie. 

Bake until golden brown but still soft, 15 to 18 minutes. 

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack for 10 minutes,  until just warm or at room temperature. Repeat with remaining dough (or keep some of the dough refrigerated for up to 3 days, and bake cookies at a later time). Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Lasagne Bolognese

It has been a while since I have put a romantic tip on here, so I thought it was time for one. I think it is important to stay connected to your love during the day. Even though we all work and have responsibilities outside of our relationships. It is still good to make your presence known through the day. Many single guys consider work a safe haven from the minefield of dating and don't want that sacred space violated. In marriage and committed relationships , though, it's different: News from the home front serves as a nice reminder of what you're working for. 

Romantic tip:  Call your love while at work, or send a mushy email letting them know how much you love them and how much of a turn on it is that they are hard working. Let them know you are excited to be together after work where you can share with each other the events of the day.

Now on to the food. 

I love a good lasagna. I also love a good bolognese. Usually bolognese is served with spaghetti. But why not a lasagna? I made this for my man and he went crazy over it. This is time consuming, and I would recommend breaking the process up into two days. Day one make the bolognese. Day two the noodles and bechamel and assemble and bake. 

This recipe serves 4 because pasta is magnificent leftover. My husband loves to take it to work the next day for lunch and make his office pals jealous with the smells of Italian food.

Lasagne Bolognese from scratch

adapted from Bon Appétit | October 2013

Bolognese sauce:

1/2 large onion, coarsely chopped

1/2 medium carrot, peeled, coarsely chopped

1/2 celery stalk, coarsely chopped

3 garlic cloves sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 pound ground beef chuck

1/2 pound ground pork

2 ounces pancetta (Italian bacon), finely chopped

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup whole milk

1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 1/2 cups  chicken broth, divided

Fresh pasta dough:

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more

2 large eggs, room temperature

Béchamel:

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/8 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups whole milk, warmed

Kosher salt

For Assembly:

1 cup finely grated Parmesan

Make the Bolognese sauce

Pulse onion, carrot, and celery in a food processor until finely chopped.

Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add ground beef, ground pork, pancetta, and vegetables; cook, 

breaking up ground meat with a spoon, until moisture is almost completely evaporated and meat is well browned, 25–30 minutes; season with salt and pepper.

Add wine to pot and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot, about 2 minutes. Add milk; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until moisture is almost completely evaporated, 8–10 minutes. Add tomatoes and broth; 

bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, until flavors meld and sauce thickens, 2 1/2–3 hours.

Let sauce cool, then cover and chill at least 12 hours or up to 2 days. (Letting the sauce sit will give it a deeper, richer flavor.)

Make the fresh pasta dough:

Whisk salt and flour in a large bowl, make a well in the center, and crack eggs into well. 

Mix eggs with a fork, then slowly mix in flour until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting lightly with flour if sticky, until smooth, about 5 minutes (it will be fairly stiff). Wrap in plastic; let sit until dough holds an indentation when pressed. One hour.

Chill dough if you are not rolling it out right away. Bring to room temperature before rolling out.

Set pasta maker to thickest setting; dust lightly with flour. Divide dough into 4 pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time and keeping remaining dough wrapped in plastic as you work, flatten dough into a narrow rectangle (no wider than mouth of machine); pass through rollers . 

Fold dough as needed to fit and run through again. Repeat without folding, adjusting machine to thinner settings after every pass and dusting with flour if sticky, until pasta sheet is 1/16" thick (setting 8 on most machines). Place pasta sheets on a lightly floured surface and cut crosswise into 8 8"-long noodles.

If making noodles ahead, stack on a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper between each layer. Cover with plastic wrap; chill.

Make the béchamel:

Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Whisk in warm milk, 1/2-cupful at a time. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, whisking often, until the consistency of cream, 8–10 minutes; add nutmeg and season with salt. Remove from heat, transfer to a medium bowl, and press plastic wrap directly onto surface; let cool slightly. 

Cook the noodles

Working in batches, cook fresh lasagna noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until just softened, about 10 seconds. 

Remove carefully with tongs and transfer to a large bowl of ice water; let cool. Drain noodles and stack on a baking sheet, with paper towels between each layer, making sure noodles don't touch (they'll stick together).

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 13x9" baking dish with butter.

Assemble the lasagna:

Spread 1/4 cup béchamel in the prepared baking dish. Top with a layer of noodles, spread over a scant 3/4 cup Bolognese sauce, then 1/2 cup béchamel, and top with 1/4 cup Parmesan. 

Repeat process 7 more times, starting with noodles and ending with Parmesan, for a total of 8 layers.

 Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet and bake lasagna until bubbling and beginning to brown on top, 50–60 minutes. Let lasagna sit 45 minutes before serving.

Serve warm.