Brunch is a big thing around our house. We rarely go out, because we enjoy making and eating brunchy dishes at home, in our bathrobes. We love both fancier and heartier brunch fare.

Given this, the current egg shortage has been hard to bear. So I've been looking for brunch dishes that require very few eggs, or none at all. One of them is something we had in Oaxaca, enfrijoladas:

See, as an American I was very familiar with enchiladas (who isn't?), but never realized before visiting Oaxaca that enchiladas is just one of a suite of "en-*-adas" dishes, all of which consist of dipping tortillas in some kind of leftover sauce and folding them.

• enchiladas: corn tortillas dipped in leftover chile sauce
• entomadas: corn tortillas dipped in leftover tomato sauce
• enmoladas: corn tortillas dipped in leftover mole
• enfrijoladas: corn tortillas dipped in leftover pureed beans

Notice the "leftover" part of the description; these are all breakfast dishes, because you make them with tortillas (which you always have if you're Mexican) and some leftover sauce, maybe from dinner last night.

Importantly, enfrijoladas consist of tortillas, bean sauce, cheese, and sometimes garnishes. No eggs required (although topping them with a fried egg is delicious).

Now, for my readers who are more familiar with Tex-Mex enchilada casserole, these enfrijoladas are going to seem kind of minimal. But that's really how en-whatever-adas are for most Mexicans, both in Oaxaca and Mexico City. It's a quick breakfast dish, consisting of just tortillas, a sauce, and some cheese. The "stuffed enchiladas" which are standard in so many Mexican-American restaurants descend more from enchiladas suizas, a fairly elaborate restaurant dish from Mexico City.

They are, however, very filling. And easy to make once you get the knack of things.

The recipe below says "Oaxaca-style black beans", which means some black beans, slow cooked with epazote, garlic, onion, chile, and avocado leaf. If you don't happen to have any on hand, but you do have some canned or vac-packed refried black beans, or canned whole black beans, then just season them as follows:

• 2 cups refried or pureed cooked black beans
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 to 1 tsp powdered Mexican chiles (ancho, guajillo, or pasilla)
• 1 tsp dried epazote (if available)
• salt to taste

You'll be making a sauce from the pureed beans. The only part of this recipe that takes some learning is getting the bean consistency right. You need to coat each tortilla in the beans, which means that they need to be neither too thick (in which case the beans won't stick) or too liquid (in which case the beans will drip off). Once they're hot in the pan, start with them fairly thick, and then add warm water to thin them until you have a consistency that works for you as you dip each tortilla.

Because of the beans, enfrijoladas are a lot more filling than you'd expect. The recipe below makes a very hearty breakfast for two people (4-5 tortillas apiece) or a light breakfast for four people (2-3 tortillas apiece).

Enfrijoladas Oaxaqueñas

• Around 2 1/2 cups Oaxacan-style cooked black beans
• 10-12 good quality corn tortillas
• Warm water, as needed
• Salt, to taste
• 4-5oz crumbled queso fresco, or finely shredded queso Oaxaca
• 1 medium or large avocado, pitted, peeled, and sliced (optional)

Equipment: comal, griddle, or large steel pan; 9-10" frying pan, preferrably nonstick; small tongs; towel or torilla warmer

If starting from whole beans, puree them as finely as you can. If they're too thick to puree easily, add a little water. If you're looking to make this as fancy brunch, then push the puree through a seive to remove skins, but I never do this.

Put both the comal/griddle and the medium frying pan on the stove over medium heat. Put the beans in the frying pan, and heat, watching them for when they start to bubble. Turn your oven onto low, around 200F.

While the beans heat, toast the tortillas. Get the comal/griddle very hot (350-400F), and toast the tortillas on each side for a minute or two. They should bubble slightly. Wrap the toasted tortillas in a towel or place them in a tortilla warmer.

The beans should be getting hot by now, or concurrently. Stir them, and then add warm water, a little at a time, as needed; you're looking for them to be thick but still liquid, about the consistency of a hearty tomato sauce or a smoothie. Taste to see if they need more salt. Turn down the heat, and stir periodically to avoid scortching or boiling.

Now it's time to make the enfrijoladas. Get a stack of plates ready, near the stove. You will need to work quickly with each tortilla, so make sure that everything you need is within reach.

Take each tortilla, one at a time, and press it into the bean sauce. Flip it over with the tongs, and get the other side coated with the beans as well. Fold the tortilla in half, and put it on a plate. Repeat, and put the next folded tortilla overlapping the first. Keep going, adding between 2 and 5 tortillas to each plate depending on people's appetites.

When a plate is full, sprinkle it with the cheese, and place it into the warm oven. Get started on the next plate.

As you go, you may need to add a little more warm water to the beans to keep them at the right consistency. If there's beans left after dipping all the tortillas, you can add more water to get them really liquid and then pour the bean sauce around the enfrijoladas on each plate.

Once all the enfrijoladas are made, make sure the last plate gets a few minutes in the oven (for the cheese to soften), then take them out and decorate with the avocado slices, if using.

Serve, together with Oaxacan coffee (if you can get it) and juice. Salud!

Q&A

Can this be made vegan?

Easily, just skip the cheese. You could also use vegan cheese.

Can I use flour tortillas?

No.

Could I use other kinds of beans?

Sure, why not? Black beans just have a bit more flavor.

Shouldn't I dip the tortilla in hot oil?

That's a lot more mess, and also not the way it's done in Oaxaca.

Several years ago, on Haight Street, there used to be an Eritrean restaurant called Massawa, founded by a burned-out freedom fighter. For around two years of that restaurant's two decades on the Haight, they did brunch as well as dinner. We loved this brunch which included foods you'd never see anywhere else in San Francisco, like kecha fitfit. However, the breakfast dish we loved the most wasn't any of their more traditional Ethiopean breakfast foods: it was their romano bean scramble.

Since we left San Francisco and Massawa left the Haight, I've reverse-engineered the scramble. Every year, when we collect our first harvest of romano beans in the summer, it's the first thing I make with them. You can make it too; it's quite delicious for such a simple breakfast dish.

romano bean scramble

• 3 Tbs clarified butter or ghee (subs. vegetable oil with a little butter)
• 1/2 to 3/4 pound romano beans
• 6 eggs
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 to 1 tsp berbere spice mix (subs. chili powder)
• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
• salt

Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them with a pinch of salt. Stem the beans, and then cut them into 1 inch pieces. Peel and mince the garlic cloves.

Heat the butter/ghee in a large nonstick frying pan. Fry the beans with the minced garlic over medium heat for a minute. Cover for 3 minutes to allow them to steam. Uncover, stir, and fry until all moisture is gone and some of the beans have browned in spots. Check one for tenderness.

Add the berbere and paprika to the beans, using more berbere is you like things spicy, and fry for around 30 seconds, stirring. Turn up the heat to high and pour in the eggs, and keep stirring to coat the beans and scramble the eggs. Turn off the heat and serve as soon as the curds are set.

Add salt to taste; serve with toast.

Note: substituting string beans for the romano beans does not work in this recipe. The taste and texture are too different.

TL;DR: New blue and red syrup birds in the online store.

We love real maple syrup. And since we tend to do some kind of pancakes or waffles every weekend, we have reason to pour a lot of it. A decade or so ago I decided it was time to solve the problem of "how can I drizzle syrup on my breakfast without slopping it everywhere and ending up with a pool in the middle of the plate?" Regular pitchers, even small creamers, tend to pour out way too fast and make a mess -- not to mention wasting expensive syrup.

So, I made some 4-5oz pitchers with very narrow, conical spouts to drizzle a controlled stream of warm maple syrup. These worked really well. My sweetie observed that they looked like birds, so I added eyes and toes to them and the syrup bird was born. I settled on two "plumage" color schemes; varigated blue with yellow beaks and toes, and bright red with black beaks and toes. I've been selling them ever since.

Here's how you use a syrup bird. First, fill it 2/3 of the way full of 100% genuine grade A maple syrup. Then, warm it up, either in the microwave (usually 15-20 seconds) or in a hot water bath.

Then, pour the syrup over your waffles, pancakes, Dutch baby, or whatever.

Use the side spout to pour leftover syrup back into the bottle.

I recommend hand-washing these; while technically they are dishwasher-safe, the spouts and handles are quite fragile and are likely to get broken in the dishwasher.

Anyway, I've made a new batch of the syrup birds; currently there are two blue and two red ones available for sale. Ready in time for Hanukkah for the syrup-lover in your life!

The birds also work well for soy sauce.

It's spring, and the syrup birds have come back!

These are one of my more popular items, so I made five of them for online sales. Get them on my web store or at the upcoming Ceramic Showcase Online.

Blintzes vie with bagels for "best Jewish breakfast food", but in our household they've already won. The problem is that they can be enough of a process to make that they are a special occasion food, which is sad. So I'm gonna give you a few shortcuts to help you make blintzes, in less than an hour the day you want to eat them, using what you can find in a big-city supermarket.

The first shortcut is the blini. Proper blintzes start with an egg-flour batter crepe, cooked only on one side, as your blintz wrapper. For a dozen blintzes, this is already an hour down and the cheese is still in the fridge. Fortunately, more and more supermarkets are now carrying premade crepes of one kind or another. The Melissa's brand, for example, is carried by Albertsons and Safeway. While not as good as making your own, these save you a ton of time, and the blintzes you make are always better than the ones you don't.

The trick with packaged crepes is to learn the foibles of the particular brand. For example, Melissa's are stored at room temperature, and used that way; either chilling them or heating them will cause them to become stiff and crumbly and unworkable. But other brands need to be heated in a pan before folding. Buy an extra package and experiment with yours.

The second bit is the cheese. Properly, blintzes are made with Russian farmer's cheese, a soft, pasty relative of ricotta. If you live near an Eastern European community you can find this, and soft farmer's cheese is common in places like Wisconsin and Amish country. Belfiore and Gina Marie brands offer it in some places. Otherwise, you need to substitute.

One of your best choices is Galbani ricotta. This standard supermarket brand is too dry and chalky to be good ricotta ... which makes it a pretty good farmer cheese. Another option is getting small-curd cottage cheese and draining it in a cheesecloth or paper towels; expect to lose about 1/4 of the weight in this process. If you can get "cultured" cottage cheese, it's nice. You can easily make your own farmer cheese, but then we're back to taking 3 hours to make breakfast, so we'll skip that.

The final part of this is perfecting your burrito roll technique. Like just about any other stuffed tube, blintzes are made as little burrito rolls, where you fold, fold, fold, and roll. It's worth getting the hang of this technique, because you'll find it's useful across any number of stuffed food recipes.

shortcut blintzes

10-14 premade crepes
1 lbs farmer cheese, or substitute
2 eggs
zest of one medium lemon, about 1 Tbs
1/2 tsp fresh-ground nutmeg
1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
At least 1/3 cup butter and 3 Tbs vegetable oil for frying
Assorted fruit jams or sliced fresh fruit

Make the cheese mixture: add the cheese, eggs, zest, nutmeg, sugar, and vanilla into a bowl. Mix until homogenous.

Now, time to make the blintzes. Add around 2 heaping tablespoons of cheese about 1/5 of the way from the bottom edge of a crepe. Fold the bottom edge over, then the sides, in classic burrito roll technique. Roll the cheese crepe up into a tube, and place on a plate or board, seam side down. Do this with the other 9 to 13 crepes. Put them on your plate in a single layer; do not stack.

Heat a large nonstick pan or griddle over medium-low heat. Melt around 3 Tbs butter and 1 Tbs vegetable oil in it (the oil helps keep the butter from burning). The bottom of the pan should have a good coating of butter all over. Place 4-7 blintzes in the pan, seam sides down, as many as you can without crowding them (the are hard to flip, so you'll need room).

Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until the bottoms start to brown. Carefully flip each blintz; I use two spatulas, one in each hand. They can be tricky to flip without breaking them, so use patience, and be prepared for a few "ugly" blintzes. I do not recommend tongs.

Cook for 2-3 minutes on the other side. At this point, the bottom of each blintz should be browned, and the cheese filling should have firmed somewhat.

Continue cooking batches until all the blintzes are done. You can hold your first batches in a warm (180F) oven to serve them all at once.

Serve with a choice of two or three different fruit jams, or with sliced fresh fruit. Diners cut off a piece of blintz and dip it in jam or scoop up some fruit from their plate. Feeds two to three people for brunch, particularly if you serve them with vegetarian Kosher sausage.

Cooked blintzes keep well in the fridge for a week, but do not freeze well.

Now, I did mention that one of my favorite foods of Passover is matzoh brei, Passover's eggy answer to migas or French toast, depending on how you make it. It's your brunch go-to for the holiday, and if you don't get a chance by Thursday, then make it this weekend with all that matzoh you have left over!

This version is made kind of like a Spanish tortilla. It's loosely based on a recipe by Golda Meir (former PM of Israel), as detailed in the Bette's Diner Pancake Handbook. Her version is rather unseasoned, though, and meant to be eaten with jam. I wanted a version that was more savory and required no condiments.

Like other tortilla and frittata recipes, the tricky part about this matzoh brei is making sure the top is done. The difficult, cheffy way is to flip it, using a pot lid, baking sheet, or your sheer grace and dexterity to flip it in mid-air. The easy way is to put it under the broiler for 4-7 minutes. Guess which one I usually do?

savory matzoh brei

8-10 squares of matzoh
1 medium red onion (or 1/2 large one)
8 large eggs
1/2 to 1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
2 tbs minced parsley
1 quart water
2 tbs butter or oil
Equipment: large (12" to 14") nonstick pan, large heatproof bowl (at least 3 qt), strainer, smaller bowl, whisk, knife, kettle, spatula

Break the matzoh into 2" to 3" squares and put it in the large bowl. Peel, and slice the onion very thin (1/8"), and put the slices in a heap on top of the matzoh. Put the water in the kettle to boil.

In the meantime, beat the eggs with the salt and spices.

Pour the boiling water over the onion and matzoh. Dump it in the strainer, drain, and then put the wet matzoh and onion back in the bowl. Mix with the seasoned eggs.

Put the butter or oil in the pan and heat over medium-high until a drop of egg in it sizzles. Pour in the matzoh/egg mixture, and mix for about one minute, stirring from the bottom so that cooked egg is mixed in. Press the mixture into a flat cake and turn the heat down to medium or medium-low. Cook for 6-9 minutes, by which time the edges should be browning, and the whole matzoh brei should be starting to firm, although still undercooked in the center.

Now, you need to decide how to finish cooking the top. There's a couple of methods:

Oven Method: put the pan under a medium broiler for 3-6 minutes. If the handle isn't safe with high heat, put it in a 400F convection oven for 10-12 minutes instead. Either way, when the top starts to brown slightly, you're done.

Flip Method: using a large platter, a large, flat pot lid, or a cookie sheet, flip out the brei. Slide it back into the pan, top-side-down.

Let the brei rest for 5 minutes off-heat. Then flip it out onto a platter or cutting board, and slice into wedges. Serve.

Works as a main course for brunch for four people. Could easily be cut in half to serve brunch for two.

Another recipe from my archives, just in time for this year's international avocado shortage!

Eggs Benedict, or "Benedicts", or "Bennies", in their many variations, are quite popular restaurant brunch items in California. This is probably because they fall into that class of food which is easy for a restaurant to make, but both annoying and too decadent to make at home. Today, you can order dozens of different "benedicts" which none of the various Benedict families would recognize, including Florentine (sauteed spinach), Cajun (chile-cream sauce and bacon), New York (smoked salmon and tomato), and the Northwestern paragon, the Dungeness Crab Cake Benedict.

This "benedict" aims to be quintessentially California, simple and easy to make at home, and comparatively healthful. The secret is in the organic free-range extra virgin heirloom handmade ingredients. Hence I christen it the "Cal-Bennie". Recipe follows ...

Cal-Bennie

per person:

• 1 sourdough English muffin (preferably handmade from organic flour in a worker-owned cooperative bakery like Arizmendi)
• 1/2 to 1 ripe avocado, depending on size (preferably an organic California Haas avocado)
• 2 eggs (free-range, locally farmed)
• 2 tbs chopped cilantro (organic, but you saw that coming, didn't you?)
• Water and white vinegar or lemon juice
• Salt & black pepper (hand-harvested sea salt and fresh ground organic three-pepper mix, of course)
• Optional: 1oz grated or crumbled parmigiano, feta, or cotija cheese.

Fill a wide saucepan or deep frying pan mostly full of water and bring it to a simmer. Add a couple tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice to make it slightly acid (this helps the poached eggs set)

While you're waiting for the water to boil, split and toast the english muffins. Pit and peel the avocados. On each 1/2 muffin, mash 1/4 to 1/2 avocado with a fork; you should use enough to make a nice 1/4" thick layer of mashed avocado. Salt lightly.

Poach the eggs until set but with runny yolks.

Drain and carefully place one poached egg on each muffin. Sprinkle the chopped cilantro, some salt & pepper over the top, and cheese, if using. Serve.

Accompany with organic heirloom diced potatoes fried in extra virgin olive oil and/or organic free range naturally cured bacon. Also, it helps to give each diner a steak knife so that they can slice the bennie easily.

Note: this is probably still good made from regular supermarket ingredients. I wouldn't know.

... with pomegranate pips, no less! So PSPSWPP. Seems perfect for the current "pumpkin spice everything" season we seem to be having in the States.

To make these waffles you'll need a good sourdough starter. I'm not going to go over how to build one here; I recommend that you get a copy of Cheeseboard Collective Works and follow their instructions on how to build a natural sourdough. It takes about three weeks, so if you want these waffles tommorrow, sorry.

But for those of you who already have a "shoggoth", as we call our sourdough, here's the recipe. My sweetie created this recipe after some tweaking.

pumpkin-spice pumpkin sourdough waffles with pomegranate pips

Overnight sponge

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup sourdough starter (unfed)
1 cup pumpkin

Waffle batter

all of the overnight sponge
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pomegranate

The night before, mix the flour, sugar, buttermilk and starter in a large bowl (I use one that has a 1.5 to 2 quart capacity). Cover loosely (I drape a dishtowel over the top) and leave in a room-temperature or warmish place overnight (I turn my oven on to the lowest heat for about 5 minutes, turn it off, and make the sponge; when I’m done, it’s just the right temperature).

The next morning, mix the eggs, butter, salt, spices, and soda in a small bowl, then add to the sponge; the sponge will puff up significantly.

For waffles, heat your waffle iron to medium/medium-high, and spoon 2-3 tablespoons or so onto each waffle section (use more or less depending on your iron—I have a standard 3x2 waffle iron; a Belgian will take a little more batter). Close the lid and cook until the steam stops, then remove the waffles.

While the waffle iron is heating, cut the pomegranate in half and hold the cut side over a bowl. Whack it with a large wooden spoon until all of the pips come out (and you hit your thumb a couple times and swear). Place on the table for your diners. Warm the maple syrup in a syrup bird for serving.

Makes roughly 24-30 waffles. Diners can spoon pomegranate pips into the dents in the waffles, and add syrup for sweetness.

Pumpkin pie spice, if you don't keep spice mixes (I don't): 1 tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. ginger, and ¼ teaspoon each nutmeg and cloves.

To make pancakes instead: heat a griddle to medium (350 degrees if it’s electric), and spoon out 2-3 tablespoons per pancake. Cook until bubbles burst and hold their shape on the tops, and the edges look dull, then flip and cook another minute or so. Serve hot. Depending on your pancake size, this makes 24-36 pancakes. These don't work so well with the pomegranate seeds though.

I know, more brunch food, right? What can I say, I love brunch. This dish aims to take advantage of ripe summer tomatoes. Ideally, use some interesting heirloom tomatoes for this, like green zebras, Cherokee purples, Early Girls, or San Marzanos. Don't make it with off-season supermarket tomatoes, you'll regret it.

This is also a good "impress the company" brunch dish, because it's attractive and looks elegant while actually being quite easy to make. You could even hold it for an hour and give it a very quick zap in the microwave before serving, nobody would know.

This recipe was inspired by a recipe in Recipes from an Italian Summer.

caprese omelette tramezzino

6 eggs
2-4 ripe tomatoes, around 1 lbs
4 oz semisoft Italian cheese, grated
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 oz balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
3 small bowls, 12" nonstick pan with lid, large serving platter, basting brush.

Mince the basil and parsley together.

Get three small bowls, and beat 2 eggs, 1/3 of the minced herbs, and a pinch of salt in each.

Stem the tomatoes, and slice thin, around 1/8" slices. Separate into two piles, and separate the grated cheese into two piles. Get everything set up next to the stove; when you start cooking the eggs, things go very fast and you'll need everything within reach or you'll overcook them.

Heat up a 12" nonstick pan with a drizzle of olive oil on high heat. When the oil is almost smoking hot, pour in the first bowl of eggs, and swirl until it covers the bottom of the pan. Quickly sprinkle half the cheese on top. Turn heat down to medium, and cover the pan for 30 to 45 seconds. Uncover; at this point, the egg should be barely set on top, maybe a little wet in the middle. Slide out the first layer of eggs onto a large plate or serving platter. Working quickly so that the cheese is still warm and soft, cover with half the tomato slices in a single non-overlapping layer.

Heat the pan back up to high and repeat the same process as with the first layer. When the eggs are cooked, slide this on top of the eggs and tomatoes, being careful to align it. Cover with the 2nd half of the tomatoes.

Heat the pan back up to high and cook the last set of eggs. This layer will be cooked without cheese. When the eggs are just set, flip the egg disk over and slide it on top of the last tomato layer; you want the "brown" side up. Paint this layer lightly with the balsamic vinegar.

Serve by cutting into wedges with a very sharp knife. Serves two as a solo dish for brunch, or up to six people with various brunch sides (fruit, potatoes, toast, etc.).

Notes:

Get a flavorful, semi-soft Italian cheese for this, such as a soft young pecorino, cacciocavallo, fontina, or provalone. Heck, this is a good dish for that wedge of Quadrello di Bufala you've been saving

Those watching their saturated fat intake can instead use two egg whites and one whole egg in place of each pair of eggs. This recipe might even work with fake eggs.

My sweetie and I adore real maple syrup. We have pancakes or waffles or a Dutch Bunny or something almost every weekend. drizzled with some Quebec gold. Nothing like it.

However, we found that using the bottle or a creamer for maple syrup left something to be desired. Either it ran down the side, or you got a huge glug of syrup and drowned everything on the plate. That stuff's expensive, don't waste it!

So I designed a small pitcher for us with a long enclosed spout for pouring. My sweetie said it really looked like a small bird, and so I made the next one with eyes and feet. Now I have them for sale.

Let me show you how to use your syrup bird. Fill him full of syrup, and then give him a warm bath so that the syrup us nice and warm:

Then you can use his beak to pour syrup in a thin, controllable stream on your breakfast:

See? No slopping syrup all over the table.

Oh, and the reason he has that "tuft" on the side is that's a 2nd spout, for pouring any leftover syrup back into the bottle when you're done:

For sushi-lovers, the syrup birds moonlight as soy sauce pitchers.

You can buy syrup birds from my online store, or you can visit me at the open studio this week and pick up one in person.

Yes, I post a lot of brunch recipes. It's easy to be creative at brunch, when you can ignore pesky things like nutritional value and the need for a balanced meal. Besides, it's really my favorite meal: eggs were the first thing I learned to cook. Anyway, this is for you Levantine food fans reading.

za'atar potato cakes

1 cup cold leftover mashed potatoes
1/2 cup grated parmesan or similar [1]
1/2 small onion, grated
1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper or harissa [2]
1/2 cup za'atar [3]
2 to 3 Tbs olive oil
quantities per person; makes two cakes. also, see notes below

Mash together the potatoes, cheese, onion, and pepper/harissa until completely blended. With damp hands, form two flat, round patties about 1/2" thick. Using a bowl just larger than each patty, coat them with za'atar, turning them over carefully a few times until completely coated.

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan or griddle to medium-high heat (325F). Carefully slide the cakes into the pan, and then let fry for 3-5 minutes without touching them. Once they've formed a nice brown crust on the bottom, flip them with two spatulas, and fry for another 3-4 minutes on the other side.

Once they have a crust on both sides, slide them onto plates and let cool for 10 minutes to firm them up. Serve with poached eggs or crispy fried eggs on top. Give your guests sharp knives, since the cakes are delicate and will tend to mash instead of cut.

notes:

1. Any dry but still melty cheese, such as parmigiano, pecorino romano, dry jack, or aged gouda. Dry non-melting cheeses like myzithra, will make for cakes which are too delicate. Semisoft cheese will result in cakes that melt and are gushy, like in the photo below (still tasty, but hard to eat). Conceivably, one could make vegan potato cakes using vegan "cheese" but I haven't tried this.

2. You can adjust the pepper content according to your palate. At the low end of the scale, use 1/2 tsp smoked paprika. If you're me, you use, 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper and 1 tsp harissa.

3. You'll need to get real za'atar, or this recipe will suck. Sadly, a lot of spice companies, including Penzey's, are currently selling something they call "zatar" which contains none of the actual herb za'atar (a close relative of oregano) at all; do not use these. If the za'atar you have isn't dark green in color, it's the bad kind. If you have no Arab market in your area, then here's a recipe for fake za'atar which doesn't suck:

1/4 cup dried oregano (pref. Turkish or Greek)
2 Tbs dried thyme
1 Tbs marjoram
1 Tbs sumac
1 Tbs sesame seeds

Put the oregano, thyme, marjoram, and sumac in a spice grinder. Pulse several times until reduced to a coarse powder. Add the sesame seeds. Store sealed, or in the fridge.

I've updated what is now the broadest review of vegetarian breakfast sausage that I know of, and given it a permanent link. I recently tried both Amy's and Sol Cuisine; read all of them on my Snausage Review page.

This breakfast dish ... a sort of "spring green benedict", is a good way to enjoy a little asparagus this weekend. I enjoy making up eggs-benedict-type dishes; pretty much anything with a stack of stuff topped by a poached egg kinda works, and some flavor combinations work really well. I think this one does.

The cheese I actually used was a mold-ripened goat/cow cheese blend which we got from some cheesery or another at Goatapalooza at the Ferry Building. It was delightful in this, but a decent brie, camabert, tallegio or similar "gooey, tangy" cheese will work as well.

spring breakfast stack

per person:

2 crumpets
10-20 spears asparagus, thin to medium stalks
1 oz gooey cheese (see above)
2 eggs
fresh-ground pepper, and salt

Trim the asparagus down to 4" to 5". Put a pan of water on to simmer for the asparagus and eggs.

Toast the crumpets, and spread them with the cheese while still warm.

Poach the asparagus in the simmering water using a larger strainer or vegetable steamer, for 2 to 5 minutes depending on how thick it is. You want it to be still firm, but cooked and easily cut. Drain and dry.

Poach the eggs. While the eggs are poaching, arrange the asparagus on top of the crumpets. Top with the poached eggs, salt and pepper.

Serve with breakfast potatoes.

It's Passover time! The best Jewish holiday, as far as I'm concerned, because it's all about food. Yes, a lot of that food consists of matzoh, but The Tribe gets pretty inventive with it. Such as, for example, the classic Pesach bruch food: matzoh brei.

Usually, matzoh brei is sort of Jewish migas, but the version below is more of a matzoh frittata. I based the recipe on Golda Meir's Matzoh Brie from the Betty's Diner Pancake Handbook (you need this book), but wanted to make it more complex and savory. I also have some variations on it below.

cheddar and green onion matzoh brei

• 5 sheets plain unsalted matzoh (or whole wheat matzoh)
• 2 cups boiling water
• 5 eggs, beaten (or 2 whole eggs and 6 egg whites)
• 1 bunch green onions or spring onions
• 1/2 tsp salt
• black pepper
• 2-3 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1-2 tbs vegetable oil or butter
• Two bowls, strainer, large oven-proof nonstick pan, silicone spatula, large platter.

Heat the oven to 375F. Put the kettle on to boil the water. Break up the matzoh in a large bowl; you want pieces which are 1" to 2" square.

Beat the eggs with the salt and set aside. Slice the onions; for this recipe we want just the green and tender green parts, not the white parts which you can reserve for other dishes. You want about one cup of thinly-sliced green onion tops.

When the water boils, pour it over the matzoh and swirl it around a bit, for around 15 seconds. Then use the strainer to pour out the water, shaking it to get most of the drips out. Mix the onions, cheese, eggs, and some fresh-ground pepper into this.

Heat the vegetable oil in the pan over high heat, until it's hot enough that an onion piece dropped in sizzles instantly. Dump in the matzoh mixture, let it cook for 30 seconds or so, then stir it, turning bits over using the spatula. Then press it into a firm cake, and turn the heat down to medium. Cook on the stovetop for 5-7 minutes, or until the edges start to brown slightly.

Put the pan in the oven. Cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until the center is firm and shows no sign of raw egg. Loosen the brei with the spatula, then put the platter over the top of the pan and flip it out. Cut into wedges and serve.

Serves three people as a main course, or five with several other brunch items.

feta and organo matzoh brei

Make the cheddar and onion matzoh brei, as above, only swap out the cheddar cheese for 4oz crumbled feta, and the green onions for 1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano leaves.

Tuscan brei

Replace the cheddar cheese with grated dry mozzarella, plus 2 tbs grated parmigiano. Replace the green onions with 1/2 cup shredded fresh basil. Use olive oil instead of vegetable oil. When the brei is done and turned out onto the platter, paint the top of it with around 1 Tbs of balsamic vinegar.

matzoh migas

As the recipe above. Add one additional egg. Take the cheddar out of the recipe and replace with Mexican cheese, such as asadero, "queso quesadilla", or monterrey jack. Reduce sliced green onions to 1/2 cup. Add 1 cup diced hot peppers, depending on how hot you like things:

• medium: 1 poblano pepper and 1 anaheim pepper
• hot: 1 poblano pepper, 1 jalapeño and 1 serrano peppers
• chipotle: 3-4 chipotle peppers in adobo (or rehydrated), minced.

Also add: 2 seeded and diced roma tomatoes, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, and 1 tsp dried oregano.

Boxty on the griddle,
Boxty in the pan.
If you can't make boxty
You'll never get a registered domestic partner.

If you're American, The Great Food Holiday is coming up next week and you may soon have a more mashed potatoes than you can eat. I know the idea of leftover mashed potatoes sounds like heresy, but it can happen, and it's worth skipping thirds because you can make tasty things with them, like boxty.

This recipe comes for the Bette's Diner Pancake Handbook 1st edition. Sadly, the recipe was cut from the 2nd edition, so I don't mind printing it here. Of course, I've made some minor changes, as I usually do. Do pick up a copy of the Pancake Handbook if you get a chance, though.

Boxty can be pancake-like, biscuit-like, or bread-like. This is a pancake-like recipe, and would be excellent with fried or poached eggs.

• 2 Tbs butter
• 1 cup cold leftover mashed potatoes
• 1 large peeled russet potato, about 1/2 pound
• 1/2 medium yellow onion (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
• salt and pepper
• 2 tsp baking powder
• butter or oil for frying

Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Melt the 2 Tbs butter. Add the mashed potatoes, milk, melted butter, flour, and caraway seeds to the bowl. Grate the potato and the 1/2 onion, and add those to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper as you please. Stir together until well mixed but don't overmix. Stir in the baking powder.

The batter should have the texture of lumpy pancake batter, or oatmeal:

Heat up a large pan or better a large griddle. Grease it with oil and/or butter. Fry the boxty over medium heat (325 on an electric griddle). Flip when the cakes are mostly set and starting to brown on the bottom, 5-7 minutes. They will be delicate and hard to flip, so use a wide spatula and flip carefully. Cook until browned on the other side, another 3-6 minutes.

Serves 2-4 depending on what else you're having.

Notes and Variations:

• If you don't have leftover mashed potatoes for this, you can often buy prepared mashed potatoes at deli counters. I don't know if instant would work; if you try it, leave a note in the comments.
• Cheesy Boxty: add 1/2 cup grated Irish cheddar to the batter
• Garlic Boxty: add 2-4 cloves roasted or poached garlic, mashed, to the batter. Omit the onion.
• Sweet Potatoes: it should be possible to substitute grated sweet potato for the grated potato. I have not tested this.
• Gluten-Free: this could probably be made gluten-free by using rice flour or corn flour. In that case, you'd probably want the cheese as extra binder.