Easter has hopped on...what do you do with all those eggs?
So you have a fridge full of hard boiled eggs and an enormous hunk of ham leftover from your Easter egg hunt and Easter dinner? One of the best things about any holiday is the leftovers! But sometimes you have to get creative. Here are a few scrumptious ideas for your Easter leftovers.
Easter Leftover Sandwich - This is the ultimate leftover meal for Easter as it puts all your leftover items to good use. Biscuits topped with ham, egg salad, lettuce, tomato, and avocado? Hope you have a hearty appetite for this delicious leftover lunch!
Ham and Cheese Quesadillas - Turn your Easter leftovers into dinner with ham and cheese quesadillas. This recipe uses just four ingredients and is kid-friendly! You can use any type of cheese, chop up that giant hunk of leftover Easter ham, and serve with fruit salad or veggies for dinner.
Ham and Cheese Potato Casserole - Yum. This crowd pleasing dish is comfort food at its best. Plus you can make one and freeze one and use up all your leftover ham before the week is out!
Deviled Eggs - If those all those hard boiled eggs are losing their appeal at breakfast, try making them into deviled eggs for an afternoon snack or hearty appetizer. Add a bit of spice to kick them up a notch!
From all of your friends at The Original Pancake House in Denver, we hope you had a wonderful Easter holiday! We hope to see you for breakfast in Denver soon!
Add a little SPRING to your breakfast
Spring is finally in full swing in Denver! We love the sweet smells of flowering trees and plants, bright green grass, and warm sunshine. This time of year, we really like to enjoy breakfast dishes that utilize fresh spring produce – both at home and when we go out to breakfast in Denver!
For a comforting and healthy spring breakfast at home, we love this recipe for asparagus and prosciutto strata which utilizes all the fresh flavors of spring. Served warm on a lovely spring morning alongside a warm cup of coffee and a bright spring berry salad, you’ll be in heaven! Read on for the recipe below!
Asparagus and Prosciutto Strata
Ingredients:
2 slices dense multigrain bread
12 large eggs
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/2 cup dry white wine or low-fat milk
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups halved and very thinly sliced sweet onions
1 cup thinly sliced leek(s), white part only
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch thin asparagus (about 1 pound), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped scallions or fresh chives
3 very thin slices prosciutto (about 1 1/2 ounces), torn into strips
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons lemon zest (optional)
Directions
- Cut bread into 1/4-inch cubes. Whisk eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in milk, wine (or another 1/2 cup milk), dry mustard, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir in the bread. Let stand at room temperature while you prepare the vegetables. (If baking the next day, cover and refrigerate the egg mixture.)
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, leek and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking very gently, stirring occasionally, until the onions have a little color and appear almost melted, 30 to 45 minutes more.
- Meanwhile, bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a medium skillet. Add asparagus, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and let cool; pat dry.
- Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish (or similar 3-quart dish) with cooking spray.
- When the onions are done, stir in scallions (or chives) and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle the asparagus over the onion mixture. (If baking the next day: cover and refrigerate the vegetables in the baking dish.)
- If the egg mixture and vegetables were refrigerated overnight, remove from the refrigerator, uncover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Scatter strips of prosciutto over the vegetables. Stir 1/4 cup cheese, parsley, mint and lemon zest (if using) into the egg mixture until well combined, then pour the egg mixture over the vegetables. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cheese over the top.
- Bake the strata just until firm to the touch in the middle and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers at least 160°F, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, very carefully cover with foil to keep warm and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.
Tips
Make Ahead Tip: Prepare egg mixture (through Step 1) and vegetables (Steps 2-5) and refrigerate separately for up to 1 day; remove from the refrigerator about 1 hour before baking (2 hours before serving).
And of course for those days that you’d rather have us cook up a delicious spring breakfast, we have many dishes that will brighten your day including our Seasonal Berry Crepes, Blueberry or Strawberry Waffles, our Garden Benedict, or the Vegetarian Omelet! Happy Spring Denver!
EGGstravagant Easter Eggs!
Easter is one of our favorite holidays as we always enjoy a big family brunch with our loved ones. But the highlight for the little ones is usually the Easter Bunny and of course the Egg Hunt! We love decorating our own Easter Eggs and each year we try to come up with a few fun new ideas to surprise the kids. Here are a few of our favorite Easter Egg ideas:
Easter Chick Eggs:
First dye your Easter Eggs yellow with traditional egg dye. Once the dye has dried, use a permanent marker to draw eyes, a beak, and cute little wings.
Neon Dip-Dyed Eggs:
Use bright or neon colored dye for these eggs. Wrap small strips of tape around eggs and dip parts of the eggs in different color dyes. Remove tap when finished to reveal stripes of natural shell color. Experiment with overlapping colors and angles.
Glitter Eggs:
Dye eggs in a variety of colors. Once dye has dried, use glue to create lined design patterns or polka dots. Gently roll eggs in glitter allowing the sparkles to adhere to the glue strips. Shake of excess glitter and allow eggs to fully dry. Alternatively, you can skip the dye and cover the whole egg in glue and then roll in glitter to create beautiful and sparkly eggs.
Tattoo Eggs:
Tattoo eggs are a cute idea for slightly older children. Purchase a variety of temporary tattoos - Spiderman, butterflies, hearts, etc., any design will work! Follow instructions to adhere tattoos to eggs. Either overlap images to cover entire egg, or select one larger image to feature on each egg.
Of course we adults love watching the Egg Hunt, but our highlight is usually the Easter Brunch that follows. If you’re up all night decorating eggs, join us for Easter breakfast or brunch in Denver. We’ll be happy to feed the whole family! Happy Easter from your friends at the Original Pancake House!
Spring Eggstravaganza Recap
As April comes to an end, we also close the curtains on our month-long Spring Eggstravaganza. We’ve had so much fun celebrating eggs with you this past month. One feature of our Eggstravaganza was a weekly Egg-off contest between several of the Original Pancake House favorites. Our customers voted on their favorite egg breakfast dishes via Facebook and the results are in:
Week 1: Fried Eggs claimed victory over Scrambled in our first weekly Egg-off.
Week 2: Denver Omelet took top prize in a heated contest with the ever-popular Joe.
Week 3: After a tight race, Green Chile Eggs Benedict inched ahead of Classic Eggs Benedict to take the win by a nose.
Week 4: In a close contest, Ham & Cheese Omelet earned the win over the Florentine Omelet.
All were close-fought “battles” and for good reason; we have a hard time choosing our favorite egg dishes as well! As a closeout to the Eggstravaganza, we’d also like to share a few additional Eggstra Fun Facts about Eggs.
Did you know…
- Each of the roughly 280 million laying birds in the U.S. produces from 250 to 300 eggs a year. In total, the U.S. produces about 75 billion eggs a year, about 10% of the world supply.
- Normally, hens with white ear lobes lay white eggs, and hens with red ear lobes lay brown eggs. There is no nutritional difference between white and brown eggs.
- A mother hen turns her eggs about 50 times per day.
- The most expensive egg ever sold was the Faberge “Winter Egg” sold in 1994 for $5.6 million.
- Egg size and grade are not related to one another. Size is determined by weight per dozen. Younger hens tend to lay smaller eggs. The size increases as the hen grows older and bigger. Grade refers to the quality of the shell, white and yolk and the size of the air cell.
- There are 7 to 17 thousand tiny pores on the shell surface, a greater number at the large end. As the egg ages, these tiny holes permit moisture and carbon dioxide to move out and air to move in to form the air cell. The egg can also absorb refrigerator odors through the pores, so always refrigerate eggs in their cartons.
Thank you to all our customers and fans who helped us celebrate our Spring Eggstravanza this past month. Whether you joined us for breakfast in Denver and tried one of the 24 fantastic egg dishes on our menu, or you voted in our weekly Facebook Egg-offs, we hope you enjoyed celebrating the incredible egg as much as we did!
Have an eggscellent spring, Denver!
Eggstra Special Easter Traditions
Brightly decorated eggs, the Easter Bunny, oodles of chocolate, and a family brunch are all integral parts of most annual Easter traditions. Since we are celebrating our Eggstravaganza at the Original Pancake House this month, we decided to explore the history of Easter eggs to find out where this tradition began.
Though today Easter eggs are associated with the Christian holiday of Easter, the tradition of decorating and painting eggs extends back to ancient times. As a symbol of life and rebirth, decorated eggs have been found in ancient civilizations in Africa, South and Central America, and Mesopotamia. For example, Iranians have been decorating eggs for many thousands of years in honor of their new year’s holiday of Nowruz, which coincides with the spring equinox. The Easter egg as we know it today may have pagan roots as part of a springtime and rebirth celebration that occurred each year and involved an egg hunt.
In the Christian religion, Easter eggs are symbols of the resurrection and rebirth of Jesus Christ. In Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches, eggs are dyed red to represent the blood that Christ shed on the cross. The egg’s hard shell represents the Tomb of Christ and the cracking of the shell represents his resurrection. Easter egg rolling is representative of the rolling away of the stone in front of Christ’s tomb. In A.D. 1610 under Pope Paul V, the Christian Church officially adopted the Easter egg as a symbol of the resurrection. These Easter traditions originated in Europe and Eastern Europe and were brought to the United States over the past century by immigrant families. Today we continue to celebrate Easter with many of these old traditions including an Easter egg roll on the White House lawn and backyard Easter egg hunts.
However you plan to celebrate this Easter holiday, be it with an egg hunt or just a gathering of family and friends for brunch in Denver; the Original Pancake House wishes you a very happy Easter and a wonderful spring!
Say Hello to Spring!
We've been waiting all winter and spring has finally arrived. Flowers are poking their green stems through the dirt, small blooms are popping up on sunny corners, and even the trees are starting to bud. With spring comes the annual promise of fresh produce including asparagus, strawberries, green onions, rhubarb, peas, grapefruit, and a variety of spring greens. To celebrate the return of warm weather, here are a few fresh and seasonal recipes for a delightful spring breakfast.
Artichoke Frittata
Ingredients
2 9 ounce boxes frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and quartered
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
12 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated pecorino-romano cheese
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 pinch nutmeg
Salt and pepper
Lemon wedges, for serving
Spring greens, for serving
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, toss the artichokes with the flour to coat.
2. In a medium ovenproof skillet, heat the EVOO, 4 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the artichokes and fry until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, cream, cheese, parsley and nutmeg; season with salt and pepper. Pour the eggs over the artichokes and cook until just set.
3. Transfer the frittata to the oven and bake until set and golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool, then slice into quarters and serve with the lemon wedges and a side of fresh spring greens
Meyer Lemon Strawberry Muffins
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one Meyer Lemon
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups chopped, fresh strawberries
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Position rack in center of oven. Butter or spray with a non-stick cooking spray 12 muffin cups. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil, Meyer Lemon juice and vanilla extract.
3. In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Gently fold in the berries. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix the batter.
4. Fill each muffin cup almost full of batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.
Spring Asparagus and Bacon Hash
Ingredients
¼ pound bacon, cut into ¼-inch dice (pancetta is also a good idea)
1 pound fingerling potatoes, peeled, cut into ½-inch dice
1 small yellow onion, diced
½ pound asparagus ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch segments
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
4 eggs
Directions
1. Add bacon to a large cast iron pan set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp, about ten minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
2. Add potatoes to the pan, stir well until they are coated in the rendered fat, and then spread them out into a single layer. Season with salt and pepper, and cook without stirring until lightly browned on the bottom. Using a spatula, flip the potatoes and cook until lightly browned. Continue this process until all sides are lightly browned, about 15 minutes total.
3. Add onion to the pan and stir well. Cook until onions are softened, about five minutes. Add the asparagus, stir well, and then cover the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until asparagus is crisp and tender, five to eight minutes. Return the bacon to the pan, stir, and let cook for a minute until warm. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Serve with scrambled eggs, fried eggs or poached eggs.
Of course, if these recipes sound like too much work, why not take yourself out to breakfast in Denver? At the Original Pancake House, we would be happy to serve you one of our spring favorites such as the Strawberry Belgian Waffles or our Florentine Omelet! Happy spring!