Redneck Scrambled Eggs

This fabulous recipe was invented by two people on two different continents.

Urso Branco invented it in Canada and Judy invented it in Brasil around the same time. So this is really a Canadian/Brasilian recipe.

I have deferred to Judy in giving it its name. Judy called it Redneck Scrambled Eggs because when she and her kids lived on a farm here in Brasil they had a variation of this dish often.

It is Scrambled Eggs here just because I couldn't be bothered making it into an omelet. The marvelous part of this simple and nutritious meal is you can, as my mother used to say, put in everything except the kitchen sink.

So let's start.


Take as many eggs as you wish and break them into a bowl.





Take the cheese of your choice. It is best with Canadian Cheddar.





Slice the cheese and then cut it into small pieces. I suppose you could even use shredded cheese.





Open a bottle, carton or can of fresh milk. It can be whole, partly skimmed or skimmed.





Pour as much milk as you have egg into the bowl and add the cheese.





Stir vigourously!





Open a can or box of mixed vegetables. If you prefer to bother cut up fresh vegetables.





Pour off the water then add everything to a greased or oiled frypan. Cook stirring frequently to break it all up for scrambled eggs. If you prefer an omelet just don't break it. Cook and fold in two then turn over when browned.

Sprinkle the mix with black pepper and paprika (or whatever spices you like).





Here is the finished dish ready to serve hot from the pan.





Of course any scrambled egg or omelet just MUST have ketchup (no mattter how it is spelled).





Now here is something special we discovered here in Brasil. Canned vegetables are being phased out to avoid waste preoblems in favour of cartons which are biodegradeable.

Either way, here in Brasil, there is ALWAYS one black pea in the can or box. Why? I guess it is to see who is the lucky one to get the special, rare pea. They must have one person in the factory whose job it is to puit one and only one black pea in each container.



So there you have a simple and quick recipe for breakfast or lunch. You can even have it for supper.

Variations:

Add anything you find in the fridge or cupboards such as Vegetables, Chicken, Pork, Beef, Mortadella Bologna or Sausage. Anything goes if you like it. I don't think jello is a good idea though. Maybe fruit would be nice.





Photos by Urso Branco

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Cheese Omelet

Here is another simple meal for breakfast or lunch. For that matter, for anytime. However, neither my Mother nor my Grandmother invented it. If you go to Google and type Cheese Omelet you will find lots of different recipes with lots of different stuff added to them.

It is the weekend and time for another simple and delicious meal.




All we need is eggs, cheese and milk plus some pepper and paprika to taste. I never cook with salt because of my heart condition. But add it if you wish.





I like a three egg omelet so I broke three eggs in the bowl.





Add some milk (about 1/4 cup). The milk makes the omelet bigger and fluffy. Just don't add too much milk because it will fill the pan. Stir until well mixed.




I prefer to use Cheddar Cheese. It is firmer and has a terrific taste, particularly, in an omelet. Cut the cheese into small pieces. You can use your own choice of cheese.





Lightly oil the fry pan or use a cooking spray so the eggs don't stick to the pan. Pour in the mixture of eggs and milk.





Add some paprika and black pepper to taste.





Once the omelet has cooked a bit and is no longer runny, sprinkle the cheese all over the omelet.





Once everything is firm fold the omelet in half. In this case I folded too soon and it didn't look pretty. But that doesn't matter. Notice how it is golden brown.





With a large omelet it helps to cut it in half before turning it over. Cook each side until golden brown.





This omelet was not pretty at all. Here it is fallen to pieces. But, don't worry it will still taste lovely.




Here is a two egg cheese omelet. It is easier to handle and looks pretty!




I cut it in half before turning it over.





Now that is more like it. This one looks pretty!





You can eat it alone or with sausage as shown here or with bacon, ham or any meat you choose. Notice I love ketchup so I put a big spoon full on the omelet.


This omelet tastes fantastic because of the Cheddar Cheese. Of course you can use the basic eggs and milk recipe and add anything you like, such as green pepper and ham for a Spanish Omelet.

Like the French Toast in the previous post, this is quick, simple and delicious.



Photos by Urso Branco

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French Toast

According to Wikipedia

French toast (often known as eggy bread in most of the UK - the exception being Scotland, pain perdu in French, pain doré in French-speaking parts of Canada) is a popular breakfast food in North America and Europe.

French toast is made with bread and eggs; some common additions are milk, water, or orange juice to thin the eggs, sugar, and spices such as allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon. Vanilla may also be added to the egg mixture. In restaurants throughout Canada and the United States, the bread is usually thick white bread made especially for use in French toast; when made at home, regular sliced bread is often used. Although often served as a sweetly spiced dish in the United States, others prefer a savory version, seasoned with salt and pepper instead, or even topped with a melted slice of cheese.

The Truth about French Toast!

My Grandmother invented it back in 1795 when she came to Canada.

She needed a fast nutritious meal for her husband and kids one day after a hard morning working in the fields. so she dreamed up Genuine 100% Canadian French Toast. Back in those days they gave the meals foreign names to make them seem better. But Grandma knew better. She just made the best meals.



First you gather the tools and ingredients. All you need is bread, milk, eggs and cinnamon.





You lightly oil the frying pan, or use cooking spray such as Pam. Then put three eggs in a bowl. That is enough for one person. Since I was alone today that is all I used.





Add milk.





Stir vigourously to thoroughly mix the milk and eggs.





Sprinkle in cinnamon to taste. Or add whatever spice you like or even leave it out.





Preheat the frying pan to medium. Then drop a slice of bread into the bowl and soak thouroughly with the egg and milk mixture.





Turn the slice over and soak the other side.





Put the soaked bread slices in the frying pan and cook for about one minute to a minute and a half.





Turn the slices and cook the other side for about another minute to a minute and a half.





See how they are golden brown now.





On the table I show three possible toppings. The first, on the right , is Genuine Canadian Pure Maple Syrup. This is pure heaven. In the middle there is a jar of Jabuticaba Jam. See the previous post about making the jam. On the left is Brasilian Honey made by Flavio Carvalho. See our Blog Mel do Brasil for more about the honey made here in Águas da Prata.




Now we are ready to eat.





I chose Maple Syrup first. I don't think it is available in Brasil. We brought this treasured bottle all the way from Canada.





The next slice was covered in honey. What a fabulous treat it is too.





The third and fourth slice were covered in Jabuticaba Jam. Very delicious!!!





There was enough egg and milk mix left for two more slices. The excess mix is just poured on top.





Notice these slices look rich in egg and milk mix.





These last two slices were covered in Jabuticaba Jam.


So there you have it. A very simple dish that only took about ten minutes to make. If you have more people dining just add more eggs and milk.

French Toast makes a lovely breakfast or lunch. It also goes great with sausages or bacon.

I hope you enjoy making and eating this simple Canadian meal.



Photos by Urso Branco

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Canadian made Jabuticaba Jam

Today we had a revolutionary change in Águas da Prata. Urso Branco made Brasilian Jabuticaba Jam. The is that beautiful jam made from the Jabuticaba Berries grown in our yard and all over Brasil. See our other Blog Amazing Jabuticaba for more information and a video about making the Jabuticaba Jam.

So this is not 100% Canadian, It is more like 98% Brasillian with a 2% Canadian content. Urso Branco made it under that watchful eye of his wife Judy, the expert (she made it twice already).

Here are step by step instructions to make Jabuticaba Jam (Geléia de Jabuticaba). All you need is the berries and some sugar and an empty jar with a screw top lid.




First gather as many berries as you want. We only intended to make 1 jar this time so we had a small amount of the berries. By the way, if you don't live in Brasil, Tough Luck! Come and Visit us to make your own Jabuticaba Jam.





Put the berries in a pot.





Use your fist to smash the berries.





Cover the berries with water.





Now boil some other water in a small pot. We will use it to sterilize the jar.





Pour the boiling water into the jar and the lid. Swish it around, dump it out then set the jar aside.





Now boil the Jabuticaba berries.





Every so often take a sample and see if it is getting dark.





When it is dark enough it is ready for the next step. The juice should have thickened enough to drip slowly from the ladle or spoon.





Pour the juice from the berries into a sieve over a pot.





Don't press unless you feel you must. Just dump the skins and seeds.





Now you have a pot with delightful juice ready for the next stage.





Pour it into a glass bowl and mark where the juice comes up to in the bowl.





Pour the juice back into the pot.





Get a bag of crystal sugar.





Put it into the bowl up to the mark you made with the juice. This doesn't have to be exact. I just used three fingers on the side of the bowl. That was close enough.





Put the sugar into the pot with the juice.





Stir well to mix the sugar into the juice.





Now boil it!





Stir occasionaly.





Bring it to a vigorous boil.





It may take 5 to 15 minutes depending on how much juice you have. Then take a small pot or a ladle and scoop the juce from the pot.





Pout it into the sterilized jar. Then cover immediately.





It should look exactly like this. Let it stand for two to three days to thinken.


Now you are ready to serve the finest jam you ever had. It goes nice on toast.

So if I can make it you can too! Try it.

I guess this process will work with most berries. Try it an let us know how you make out.




Photos by Urso Branco

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