Breakfast is usually not what you’re concentrating on Thanksgiving morning — but that doesn’t mean you have to skip it. We found two great recipes for you — a little savory, a little sweet — that store well so they can be made in advance. Since many of us are putting in the extra effort and making this or that from scratch for dinner, go ahead and allow yourself a shortcut for breakfast.
Spinach mini-quiches
by Caitlin Saniga
Any time I go home to Mom’s, she always welcomes me with a nice, warm breakfast. And she’s the master of eggs. She loves to improvise with eggs, adding cheese and any vegetables from the fridge. Whether it’s scrambled eggs or a frittata, she knows how to cook and season eggs to perfection — a skill I hope I’ve picked up. For Thanksgiving this year, I’d love to surprise her with some of these mini-quiches for breakfast.
Each mini-quiche is one or two bites, and I love that you don’t have to sit down with a fork and knife to eat them. Keep them in the kitchen while you’re assembling the Thanksgiving dinner so guests (and you, duh) can have something to snack on. They’ll disappear in no time!
- 2 circles of chilled prepared pie crust dough (from a package)
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8 cups spinach (or 2 medium zucchini roughly grated)
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2 tablespoons butter
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2 tablespoons olive oil
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1 large onion, chopped finely
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4 cloves garlic, minced
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4 ounces feta cheese
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1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for sprinkling
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2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (plus 1/2 teaspoon salt if using zucchini instead of spinach)
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray the cups of 2 12-cup mini muffin pans with cooking spray, or rub cups lightly with butter.
Use a 2-inch-diameter glass to cut circles from the pie crust dough. (Try to squeeze 12 circles from each pie crust dough circle.) Place each small circle of dough in the cup of a muffin pan, and use your fingers to press the dough into the corners at the bottom of the cup. (Toward the opening of the cups, the dough might bunch a little, but that’s OK.) Place prepared muffin pans in the fridge until filling is ready.
If using zucchini for this recipe, place the grated zucchini in a colander in the sink and sprinkle it with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Let sit 30 minutes. Wrap zucchini in a towel, and squeeze out liquid.
Heat butter and olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until it turns translucent and starts to brown slightly on the edges, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook 1 minute. Add the spinach, and cook until it wilts, 1-2 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the feta, Parmesan, eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and lime juice. Add the spinach mixture, and stir to combine.
Remove the muffin pans from the fridge, and divide the egg mixture between the pastry cups. Sprinkle a little grated Parmesan over each cup.
Bake 12-15 minutes, or until egg is cooked through and the cheese on top turns golden brown.
Makes 24 mini-quiches.
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Sticky rolls
by Sarah Steimer
Sticky rolls are a given on our Thanksgiving mornings. We either make them in advance or at least have the dough thawed out to make quickly in the morning. When you’re trying your hardest to make Thanksgiving dinner from scratch (or close to it), give yourself a break and use this frozen dough — OR — next time you’re making bread, make extra dough and freeze it for these rolls. Either way, cut out a step or two. It’ll pay off when your feet are up instead of hustling through the kitchen.
How good would these be with little flecks of bacon…
- Rhodes frozen white bread — 1 roll (comes in packs of three)
- vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted and divided in half, plus more butter for brushing
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, divided in half
- 2 teaspoons water
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- cinnamon
- 1/2 cup raisins
Coat the frozen roll in vegetable oil and wrap in plastic wrap (this way it won’t stick to the plastic). Refrigerate for about 12 hours or until it has thawed.
Click to enlarge for a better look at what the pan and dough should look like (whoops – product placement).
Use the end of a stick of butter to grease a 9-by-11-inch glass or metal baking dish OR a 9-inch round pan. In bowl, combine 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, water and syrup. Spread the mixture on the bottom of the baking dish and sprinkle with the nuts.
Roll out the thawed dough on a lightly greased or flour surface to make a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the 2 remaining tablespoons melted butter, sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of brown sugar, along with cinnamon (however much you prefer) and raisins. Try to distribute everything as evenly as possible.
Roll the dough up width-wise (as in rolling along the longer side so the roll is longer than fatter). Cut into 12 equal pieces (I fail at this each time, don’t worry. I always mean to measure). Place the rolls in your pan, so the spiral is facing you.
Let the rolls rise, covered with a towel, for 30-60 minutes, or until they have doubled in size. It’s best to pop them in the oven to rise, putting the oven on its lowest setting. When ready, bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes then flip the rolls out of the pan (upsidedown) onto a rack. Drizzle any remaining brown sugar mixture from the pan onto the rolls.
These rolls can be frozen a few days ahead of time. Just let thaw or microwave for maybe 20-30 seconds.
Makes 12 rolls.
Recipe: Martha Steimer (the recipe used to be on the back of the Rhode’s Sweet Bread bags — but those apparently don’t exist anymore)
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