Brunch at my House

Brunch is not a norm around my house, but some weekends and holidays it's just worth the extra work.  I'm not a sweet person when it comes to breakfast items or brunch, so pancakes, waffles and french toast are not brunch items for me.  There's nothing wrong with them, I just find them to be great dessert snacks.  Brunch entails choices such as frittata's, quiches, omelets, potato hash or similar dishes and oatmeal.

Some of my favorite frittata's I have previously blogged about.  I even tried making poached eggs.  And for omelets I love Spinach & Cheddar or a great Huevos Rancheros.  Lately I have been enjoying the last of my bell pepper crop and have made a potato hash, sometimes called "country potatoes" at restaurants   I love to kick mine up a notch.  Here's an idea of my recipe, which constantly changes.

Ingredients:

5-8 Red or Yukon potatoes (If using Fingerling use more)
1-2 Green bell peppers
1-2 Red bell peppers
1-2 Small Serrano, Fresno and/or jalapeno pepper (seeded and veined if you do not want it hot-spicy)
1 large or 2 small red onions (yellow onions also work)
3-4 cloves of garlic (more or less depending on how much garlic you like)
A dash of chili powder, cayenne, cumin and/or paprika to taste
Salt and Pepper

Instructions:

1. Wash and dice potatoes to the size you prefer.
2.  Add potatoes to a pot of water, add salt and bring to boil.  Cook until potatoes are tender or you can easily pierce with a fork.
3.  Wash and dice all the peppers and onions, while potatoes are cooking.
4.  Saute onions and peppers in another pan with a little olive oil.  When onions start to become translucent add garlic and saute for another 1 or 2 minutes.
5.  Drain potatoes when they are finished.  Now you can cook the potatoes with the pepper mixture in the oven or you can cook the potatoes in an iron skillet.
6.  If using an iron skillet, add a little olive oil and potatoes.  Allow potatoes to get crispy, stirring occasionally   Add spices to taste, salt and pepper.  Then add the pepper mixture.

Serve with scrambled eggs or a fried egg.  I love adding a bit of cayenne to my fried egg - thus the added color you see and more spice to my liking.

An alternative to potato hash would be a sweet potato hash, which I find very appealing in the winter with the added fried sage!

Deconstructed Sweet Potato Hash and Sausage

Or you could try Rachel Allen's Baked Kale Egg dish.  Simply saute some kale, add cream and bake in the oven.