Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Southwestern Frittata

I love making frittatas, they're a tasty way to use up leftover meats and veggies, as well as providing breakfast or lunch the next day.
Not to mention, they're about as easy as sauteing your veggies, adding the meat, then eggs, then pop into the oven to finish. One pan to clean! If you don't have a cast iron, spray or grease a large pie pan or baking dish, and build your frittata in that.
I suggest using grilled or roasted chicken in this, as they add an extra flavor to this frittata that plain chicken just can't do. If you don't have that, I suggest making sure you season the chicken well with salt, pepper and chili powder or cayenne, or anything along those lines that will compliment this dish.

Chicken, bacon, cheese, aahhh...what can beat that? Enough, on with the recipe!

  • 1 fat cup diced cooked chicken breast
  • about 8 oz bacon, cut up with kitchen scissors, any size you like; I cut about 1 " pcs.
  • 1/2 cup each, small diced white onion and green bell pepper
  • 1/2 jalapeno, deveined and seeded (unless you want it HOT) and minced
  • 1 minced clove of garlic
  • 1/4 cup chopped roasted red bell pepper
  • 12 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1-2 cups cheddar cheese, how much depends on your tastes; other cheeses work well too.
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • dash cayenne
  • 1/2 fresh lime juice, opt.
Optional toppings: salsa, sour cream, sliced green onions, lime juice.


In a cold, cast iron or oven proof pan, snip bacon with kitchen scissors and cook over medium heat until desired doneness. Scoop out with slotted spoon. With a spoon, scoop out all but about 2 or 3 Tablespoons of bacon drippings.
Toss in onions, green bell pepper, jalapeno, and cook about 2 or 3 minutes, until they start to soften.
Turn off heat. Turn it off sooner if veggies start to brown too fast and cook in residual heat left in pan.
Add garlic and toss with the veggies a minute or so.
Add chopped chicken and roasted red bell pepper. Add a bit of salt, not too much- the bacon gives some saltiness to everything,  some pepper and a dash of cayenne.
Combine well and cover the bottom of the pan evenly with the veggies, chicken and bacon.

Beat the eggs with milk very well. Beat until eggs are well beaten and small bubbles start to form.
Pour evenly over chicken and bacon mixture in pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and 1-2 cups of grated cheese, depending how much you like.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, or until light golden brown and set. Cooking time will depend on amount of ingredients you use and cheese.

Serve with a choice of toppings, similar to taco toppings, such as guacamole, chopped tomatoes, salsa, cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, sliced green onions, etc.
Great served with Jalapeno Cornbread.
To make Jalapeno Cornbread, make one recipe of  my Buttermilk Cornbread, and after batter rests, gently fold in 1/2 seeded (unless you like it uber hot), chopped jalapeno and 1 cup of cheese, bake and finish as directed. YUM!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Absence of good pictures

You may notice the lack of pictures and low quality pictures.
Until, God willing, sometime this coming week, I will have to use a beat up little digital camera. This thing is more a toy than a camera. yeesh!
I've been wondering if no pictures is better than bad ones. What do you think?

So, I think because of this lack of quality (I look at some and think..what's the point of including the pic if you can't tell what is going on in the picture), I will only post a recipe's final product and hope you know that it really DOES look and taste good!

Thank you for understanding and reading!
I hope you continue to find recipes here that will become a regular in your family's menu rotation!

Clam Chowder

(Ignore the date on the camera lol I don't know how to change it yet.)

This thick and rich clam chowder is even better the next day! Serve with thick garlic toast or seafood salad on a big, toasted croissant.

This recipe isn't for the faint of heart. Yes, it uses a lot of butter and evaporated milk, but I wouldn't have it any other way, because that's where the rich flavor comes from.
Let me show you! :

  • 7 small potatoes, parboiled, fork tender but not cooked completely through (4-5 cups), diced. Size depends on what you like. I like my potatoes on the smaller side.
  • 1/2 cup each of very small diced carrots, celery and onion, for the flavor, but not necessarily to taste each individual veggie.
  • 5 Tablespoons butter, divided
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 (12 ounce)can evaporated milk
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 (6.5 ounce) cans clams, juice reserved (about 1 cup of juice)
  • 1 small dried bay leaf
  • salt and black pepper

In a large pan or dutch oven, over medium heat, saute celery, onion and carrot in 2 T oil. Lightly salt and pepper.
When onion starts to soften, add 3 T. butter and bay leaf.
When butter melts, slowly stir in 1/4 cup of flour, mixing well, and cook for 2-3 minutes, turning heat to medium-low.
Slowly, so not to cause lumps, but not so slow as to burn, add the evaporated milk while stirring. When there are no lumps, add stock, then reserved clam juice, still stirring constantly.
Add clams, potatoes, 2 T butter, salt and pepper to taste, and stir until combined.
Remove bay leaf.
Reduce heat to lowest possible heat and simmer, covered, until veggies are cooked, stirring occasionally. Taste for salt and pepper and serve with small pat of butter melting into the top of the chowder.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Peanut Butter Brownies with Chocolate Frosting

 I almost dropped my current project and whipped out the ingredients to make this when our guest foodie, Author Rachel Lynne, sent in the recipe for THIS mouthwatering morsel!

 She says:

 "Needed a sugar fix the other day and stumbled across a recipe for Peanut Butter Brownies. Now, I must admit that I am a peanut butter junkie. I added the chocolate frosting … Alert! Full blown addict here, I ate at least half the pan!
I’m sharing the recipe; no need for me to be the only one gaining a ton!"

Brownies

1 cup of peanut butter
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Frosting

1 cup milk chocolate chips, melted
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Couple of tablespoons milk (enough to make frosting spreadable)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 13x9 pan.
Cream together butter and peanut butter. Gradually blend in sugars, eggs, and vanilla; mix until fluffy.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt then stir into the peanut butter mixture just until blended. 

*Note. The batter will be thick. Don’t do what I did and add water. It will take FOREVER to bake
Bake in 350 oven for 30-35 minutes or until the top of the brownies spring back when touched.

Frosting: 

Blend butter, melted chocolate, and powdered sugar, thinning with milk until frosting is spreadable. Smooth onto brownies while warm then let cool and cut into squares. (Or eat the whole pan like I almost did!)
Rachel

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Tangy Sweet and Sour Pork and Peppers

This dish is a good meal stretcher for pork or chicken. With its rich and tangy sweet and sour sauce, tender crisp delicious yellow and green peppers, they won't even notice the cut back in meat.  I used 3 boneless pork chops in this, and it made enough for four people, maybe more. 
My sauce recipe makes a lot of sauce, so if you're not big on a lot of sauce, you can cut it in half. We like lots of sauce over here. :)
If you haven't tried yellow bell peppers, please do! It's hard for me to describe the flavor, but they taste nothing like green or red bells. They aren't sweet, persay, but I just love them! They are awesome raw in pasta salads too. I cook them tender crisp in this and the green bells just a little more well done. So I removed the yellows when they were how I wanted them, and let the green bells cook maybe 3 minutes longer before continuing.

The rice! The key to perfectly fluffy rice is to follow the directions exact. Use the amounts called for, wait JUST until little bubbles form in the pan, evenly pour in the rice. Give the rice just the tiniest of movement, to make sure it's distributed evenly in the water. Then cover it, reduce to the smallest of simmers, and LEAVE IT alone for exactly 15 minutes. Do NOT remove lid. Remove from heat and leave alone for at LEAST 5 minutes. Remove lid and fluff with fork.  Perfect!  The key is to LEAVE IT ALONE! LOL  Something hard for me to do for years! If you remove the lid, stir, etc, you will end up with sticky rice that probably isn't all the way done.

Enough with the lectures and on with the recipe!

  • 3 boneless pork chops
  • 1 large yellow bell pepper
  • 1/2 large green bell pepper, or one whole small one
  • 1 small carrot, ribboned with potato peeler
  • 1 cup rice
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/4 cup chicken stock (or more if you want to cook your rice in it)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • salt and pepper
  • oil for frying, be careful if you use olive oil, it'll spit at you on the medium-high heat!
The sauce:
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 2 T ketchup
  • 1 Tablespoon, plus 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 3 Tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water
  • pinch kosher salt
  • small can of pineapple chunks, with a tablespoon or two of the juice (I cut the chunks in half because I don't care for the huge chunks of pineapple)

Put pork in a ziploc  baggie with 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce, the minced garlic and a pinch of salt. Marinade in fridge for 20-30 minutes. 
Remove from fridge and put into freezer for a few minutes to make them easier to slice.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add all the ingredients for the tangy sauce, except the pineapple and dissolved cornstarch.
Bring up just to a boil, whisk in the cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water.When thick, remove from heat, add pineapples, cover and set aside.
Try to resist the urge to mess with the sauce here. It's going to taste a bit vinegary, but it's going to be added to the pan we fried the pork and veggies in, and all that pan yumminess is going to be mixed into the sauce.
Slice the chops against the grain, into thin strips. Season with a little kosher salt & pepper. Set aside.


Put two cups of water in medium saucepan, with ribboned carrot, 1/4 cup chicken stock, and salt & pepper.
Bring JUST til it starts to bubble, put in your rice (see rice notes above), cover and simmer on lowest setting. Let it simmer while you put together the pork and peppers, but don't forget about time!

 Over medium-high heat, fry pork strips in small batches, flipping over as they brown on one side, and removing each as they finish cooking.
 Set pork aside.

 Add bell peppers, a good pinch of salt and pepper and stir fry until desired doneness. Purple onions would be pretty in this right here..I was going to add them, but forgot! :)
 Toss everything into the pan! Pork, sauce, peppers, and stir, warming gently over medium-low heat.
When the flavors have been all stirred together, then you can taste and see if you need a bit more salt or pepper.
When rice is done and has sat it's 5 minutes covered and off the heat, fluff with a fork, and get your plates and forks!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Country Fried Buttermilk Pork Chops

A simple, yet tasty dinner of juicy, boneless pork chops coated in a crispy seasoned crust and a thick traditional country gravy.
These are best served fresh, so I wouldn't recommend making extra to store. Reheated, they tend to toughen up.

If you don't like the idea of frying, I would suggest adding an egg or two to the buttermilk soak, dredge in the breadcrumbs, put on a foil lined baking sheet, and spraying them with a fat-free nonstick spray like Pam and baking until done. Don't forget to season both sides, of course.

This recipe is enough for 3 thick, boneless pork chops, but you can easily double the recipe if needed.
On to the recipe!

The chops:
  • 3 boneless pork chops, pounded with a meat tenderizer on both sides, mine were about 1/2 inch thick after tenderizing.
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • oil for frying
The gravy:
  •  1 Tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 cup reserved pan drippings
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 2/3 to 2 cups of milk. You can sub. broth or partial water, and it'll be okay, but not as creamy
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • fresh nutmeg, dash
Let chops sit out for a few minutes to take the chill off. They're easier to tenderize at room temperature.
 Play whack-a-mole with both sides of the chops. 
Try to keep them an even thickness and don't get too crazy, 
you don't want them falling apart.
 Soak in buttermilk on the counter for about 20-30 minutes.
 Dip in bread crumbs, both sides.
Put enough oil in a pan to cover the bottom well. 
Bring to medium-high heat and season chops with
salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Flip when golden brown, about 5-10 minutes, depending on thickness, 
and cook 5-10 longer until done.


Carefully remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

If there's too much leftover breading in the pan, remove it. 
You want some of it, but not too much so that it burns.
Add butter (margarine is fine too).


Whisk and slowly add flour.
Keep whisking and adding flour.
Then whisk and cook flour for 2-3 minutes.


Keep whisking as you slowly (but not too slow, it'll thicken up FAST and will burn)add the milk.
Add almost all the milk, stop adding milk when it stops thickening so fast and is the consistency of thin gravy.
Save the milk, you'll more than likely have to add most, if not all, the rest of the milk.


Now you can relax on the whisking, kick the heat down to a medium and add some salt, pepper and a dash of grated nutmeg. Here, you can see my dash of nutmeg. Later, after tasting, I added a bit more.
You want to taste the nutmeg, but you don't. 
If that makes sense.

Give the gravy a taste.
If it still tastes thick and paste-y, add a bit more milk.
Add more salt and pepper, if needed.
Keep doing this until it's a thickness and the taste you like. Just be careful to not add too much milk at a time now, because the thickening will eventually come to a stop.

Remove from heat and serve!
We had mashed potatoes and peas with the chops.
Some of us preferred the mountain method of serving:
 While some of us others preferred a more traditional plating.  hehe..
Either way, grab a plate, grab a seat, a tall glass of milk, and enjoy!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Homestyle Refried Beans

My Homestyle Refried Beans topped with Spicy Shredded Beef , cheese, sour cream, green onions, and yellow corn tortilla chips.


These may not be authentic style, but they are homestyle and with these, I see no reason to slave over my cast iron when I can buzz them in my food processor. I can not help it. Yummy refried beans, minimal cost, minimal work. LOL

It's so easy, it's almost another nonrecipe!
So on to the nonrecipe!

  • one pound of dried pinto beans
  • small chunk of salt pork, about 1-inch by 2 inches big or so. I like the flavoring this gives the beans, but I don't want them to taste like bean soup.
  • 1/2 cup beef broth
  • salt and pepper to taste
Sort, soak and cook beans according to package directions with the salt pork. When beans are very tender, drain and remove salt pork. You can toss it or use it for something else.

You may have to do this in two batches if your food processor isn't big enough. Just be sure to mix everything together well in a bowl when you're done.

Put beans, beef broth, salt and pepper in a food processor and process until creamy and smooth.
Tada! That's it!
Make sure you taste for salt! And take into account the saltiness if your chips if you're going to use it for a dip; you might want to cut back on the salt a little.

It's even better the next day!
I used them for nachos in the picture above. oh my! YUM!  Only thing missing is my avocado!

Pizza Crust revisited

A couple of weekends ago, one of the cooking channels had some kind of pizza appreciation type weekend, and I witnessed many different kinds of pizzas and ways of making them.

One thing I wanted to try, was making a pizza on a splatter screen <--like that one, but you can find a good one cheaper and just about anywhere. I liked the idea of an easier way to ensure the middle of the pizza dough being cooked--a problem I sometimes have.

So I set out to use this new idea, plus I had the time today to devote to giving the dough more hand kneading time, instead of my usual quick mixer way.  Fantastic!

The first pizza, I pre-baked the crust, added toppings, then baked until hot & melted.
 My screen had a hard, plastic handle, so I wrapped it well in foil. 
The pizza came out great! Thin, crisp, flaky crust!
 Here you can see the crispy layers!

This second one, I topped the raw dough and then baked it on the screen. It came out soft and wonderful and fully cooked without guesswork! The crust didn't seem to get as golden as the first, even though I treated both crusts the same before baking. (Brush with extra virgin olive oil, butter, parm)

Both were great!
I'm sharing this different technique for the dough because I love it so much. My old one is great when you don't have a lot of time, but if you have 1-2 hours for the dough to rise, try it!
The recipe is the same, just a bit less sugar. I learned sugar makes for a crisper crust! But mine had comparably more sugar than other recipes out there.  I don't see a difference in taste, but I do see a difference in the dough.
On to the revisited recipe!

  • 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
  • 1 cup hot water (about 110)
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Run hot tap water in a small bowl until the bowl is warm, put 1 cup of hot water into the bowl (about 110 degrees) and whisk with oil and sugar.  Set aside while you whisk together 2 cups of the flour and the salt in a large bowl.
With a hard rubber spatula, gradually stir yeast mixture into the flour. Mix until just barely combined and still wet. Turn out onto 1/2 cup of flour sprinkled on your work surface. Fold over and gently knead in the flour as you go, adding a bit more as needed. Try not to use too much extra flour.  I used almost 3 cups.
Knead about 10 minutes until smooth-elastic-silky and bounces back slightly.

Lightly grease large bowl with a little oil and place dough in it and cover until doubled. About 1-2 hours.

When doubled, putting your hand in a fist and using your knuckles, gently roll your fist, using your knuckles to flatten down (ie: punch down without punching, if that makes sense lol) all around the dough.

Divide the dough in half and shape into two balls.
Cover and set aside for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Taking one of the balls, flatten with your palms.
Using a rolling pin, and starting from the center, roll out, making a circle large enough to fit your screen. Only roll once in each direction, then use your hands to lift the dough onto the screen and stretch gently to fit.
Try not to press the dough into the screen. Be nice to your dough :)

If you like a crispy crust, brush the outter edges of the crust with butter and the inside with olive oil. Sprinkle parmesan cheese around the outter edge of the crust. Pop into preheated oven until golden brown. Let cool a little, then top and bake until hot and cheese is melted.

For a soft crust, brush the raw dough like for the crispy crust and sprinkle with parmesan, top with your favorite toppings and bake until hot and melted!

For another treat, just brush the raw dough generously with butter, sprinkle well with the parmesan cheese in the plastic tubes (I know! bear with me lol), and when it's to your desired doneness, remove from oven and slice in about 2 inch strips and viola! You have Little Ceasar's Breadsticks--only better ;)

Don't forget my Awesome Pizza Sauce !

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Spicy Shredded Beef

I love this recipe. Not only is it easy, but it can take a smaller, inexpensive cut of beef and turn it into a succulent, tangy, spicy dish that is so versatile.

When finished cooking and shredding the beef, add a can of great northern beans and carrots and you have a great stew, or add kidney beans for a thick chili, or top with a cornbread batter for an awesome Tex-Mex casserole, or even put over hotdogs or on hamburger buns with coleslaw for a spicy joe! Use your imagination and have fun with it!

Let me know how you adapted it for your family!
On to the recipe!

  • 1 1/2 to 2 lb Boneless English Beef Roast
  • salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
  • extra virgin olive oil for cooking
  • 1 cup diced white onion
  • 2 large minced garlic cloves

  • 1 (4 oz) can roasted green chilis (I love the La Perfida brand)
  • 1 small chipotle (about 1 Tablespoon) with about 1 teaspoon chipotle sauce from the can. Use only 1/2 Tablespoon chipotle if you'd like a little less heat.
  • 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Mexican Oregano, crushed lightly between your fingertips as you sprinkle it into the sauce
  • juice of 1/2 small lime; sprinkle in after it's done cooking. 

Season the roast with salt, pepper and garlic powder on both sides.
Over medium-high heat, drizzle about a tablespoon or two, depending on the size of your roast, in the pan. When oil begins to look wavy and pan is heated, put in the roast, being careful not to splatter oil on yourself.

When the beef gets nicely browned, turn over to the other side, turn heat down to medium, push the beef to one side, and add the onions, stirring occasionally.

When onions begin to soften just a bit, add garlic, chilies, tomato paste, chipotle and chipotle sauce.
Sprinkle in the Mexican Oregano while gently crushing the leaves a little with your fingertips. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir with wooden spatula until onions, chipotle and tomato paste are blended, being sure to use your wooden spoon or spatula to smash/chop at the chipotle. I don't know about you, but I don't really want to bite into a chunk of chipotle lol...eep!



Add the can of whole tomatoes, with juice, sugar, honey, and more salt (to taste..maybe 1/4-1/2 teaspoon, taste later to add more salt, if needed.) Stir until blended, breaking apart the tomatoes as you stir. Move the beef to the center of the pan, spooning some sauce over the meat so it's covered.
ooooooooo I can almost smell it! yum!
Turn the heat down to a very low simmer, and cover, checking occasionally and giving it a little stir. After about 2 hours, check and stir again, then leave the lid tilted on the pan, so to let some steam escape and the sauce to thicken a little while it cooks. But you don't want it to thicken too fast, or it'll stick & burn before the meat becomes tender.
Depending on the size of your roast, it will take 4-5 hours to be able to break apart easily with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Remove from heat and let cool before covering and putting in the fridge. 
The next day, let it sit out to take the chill off the pan, then put it on the lowest simmer possible and warm it up (with the lid on).
Take the lid off and stir & shred up the meat.  Taste for salt, squeeze some fresh lime juice on it and serve!

*If it is too spicy, you can add a small can of tomato sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper to ease it up. But I am a heat wimp and I love this sweet heat. YUM!
 Great to serve at a self-serve taco bar!
On fresh corn tortillas with mozzarella and sour cream. -drool-

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Egg, Bacon and Cheese Breakfast Pizzas




These fresh from the oven, tender little round biscuit crusts generously topped with bacon gravy, bacon, eggs, mozzarella and cheddar, will have your breakfast eaters smiling and ready for the day.
This can be lightened up by using water or skim milk in the gravy instead of whole are 2% milk. Minced onions or sliced green onions can be added when cooking the bacon. Egg substitute or turkey bacon can be used instead of whole eggs and bacon.
There are so many possibilities for this one, depending on your preferences! Play with it and show me what you did!
The only thing I wouldn't change is the biscuit. Flaky, not too dry, lovely biscuit crust.  I suppose you could make it much smaller to cut calories, but be sure to watch the time in the oven, of course.
On to the recipe! I'm getting hungry!

First, go cut up the 1/4 cup of butter and 1/4 cup of shortening you'll need, and stick it in the freezer to chill while you read the rest of this recipe.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
For the biscuit crusts:
(make ahead, then just pull out of the fridge, top and bake!)
Makes 5, about 5" inch or so, crusts, plus two biscuits to eat with butter & jam!  2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon (if using unsalted butter, you can increase salt up to 1/2 teaspoon)
  • 1/4 cup butter, chilled
  • 1/4 cup shortening, chilled
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • melted butter for brushing, a couple tablespoons
For topping:
  • 4 slices bacon, diced or cut with kitchen scissors
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/4 or so of milk for eggs
  • 3 Tablespoons flour
  • 3 Tablespoons reserved bacon drippings
  • 1 1/2  to 1 3/4 cups milk (water can be used, but it won't be as creamy)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • grated mozzarella and cheddar, amount depends how much you like..I used a fat pinch for each pizza. 
To Make the Biscuit Crusts:
In food processor, pulse the dry ingredients to mix.
 Then add the butter and shortening.
 Pulse a couple of times until you get pea sized butter pieces.
 Put into large glass bowl (plastic isn't good for preparing baked goods) 
and make a well in the center.
Then add the buttermilk  and lightly beaten large egg
 Gently mix with spatula, being sure to scoop up flour from the bottom of the bowl. 
Mix JUST until dough barely starts to form. It will be sticky and crumbly.
Scrape out onto lightly floured work surface.
Guess who accidentally deleted two pictures? This would be one of them. ha.
When you scrape the dough out onto your work surface, just gently form into a circle, and knead by patting and folding over lightly maybe 3 times.
Pat down to about 1/4 inch thickness, while shaping into a circle. Lightly dust with flour if needed.
Do not use a rolling pin. You want to handle the dough LITTLE as possible after shaping. The more you handle it, the tougher  your biscuits will be.
Then take a small bowl or large ramekin, dip in flour, and cut out your crusts.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for the crusts.
You'll be left with a few scraps. Just scoop them up gently and set on the parchment paper for two biscuits to go with your pizzas.
 Taking your fingertips, push down around the edges of the crusts, forming a nice edge for your pizzas. Make them deep, because the pizzas will puff up as you will see in the after pics. I didn't get them quite deep and flat enough.
Brush generously with butter and bake at 400 degrees until golden, about 10-20 minutes, depending on size and thickness of your crusts.

Take crusts off pan immediately, so to stop the cooking on the bottom of the crusts, and stack on a rack in twos and threes. This helps keep the bottoms from becoming too hard.

To make the pizzas and bacon gravy:

Cut with kitchen scissors, or chop with knife, 4 slices of bacon to cold pan, turn heat up to medium-high.

 Fry until desired doneness, but if you like your bacon super crispy, I'd recommend frying until ALMOST how you like it, because we still have to put the pizzas in the oven.
Scoop bacon onto paper towels and drain pan, reserving 3 tablespoons of the pan drippings. If you don't have enough pan drippings, use what you have and add margarine to make 3 tablespoons.
Turn the heat down to medium and using whisk, add 3 tablespoons of flour to the bacon drippings, whisking until drippings are absorbed into the flour and a thick paste forms.
Whisk and cook for about 2 minutes, to help cook out the floury  tastes.
Slowly add the milk, whisking quick as the milk is absorbed and the paste becomes thicker..add in a slow stream, constantly whisking until a thick gravy begins to form. Keep whisking and adding milk.

 Keep adding milk while whisking, be patient! and soon a smooth, thick gravy will form. Now you can back off the whisking a bit. Add milk and whisk until the thickening begins to slow down. Now turn the heat down to a medium-low. 
Add some salt and pepper to taste.
You'll want the gravy to stay a little thicker than a normal gravy, because we're going to use it as a pizza sauce.
When you're happy with the thickness and taste (not too much salt, we'll be adding bacon!), set aside.
In a separate pan, add some butter and start to heat on medium heat.

Take your eggs, add a bit of milk and whisk very well until you get large bubbles around the edge. This will make fluffy scrambled eggs!


 Cook the scrambled eggs, but stop cooking just short of them being done. They'll be cooked, but still "wet" looking. They'll finish cooking in the oven. I had a terrific example picture for you here, but guess WHO accidentally deleted it? Hey, I was excited and hungry. Give a girl a break. heh.

Set eggs aside, grate your cheese, and begin to assemble!
Butter the crusts with melted butter and add spoonful of gravy, some bacon, eggs, and top with cheeses.


 I like to sprinkle the top with pepper too.
Pop into oven at 400, and bake until cheese is melted!
 mmmmmmmm !
Mozzarella, no cheddar, easy sauce was one request. Still yummy :)
So many possibilities for this recipe!
Post a pic on my Facebook page with your breakfast pizza combo!