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Another Valentine’s Day post because I happen to love Valentine’s Day AND because it provides a good excuse to drink Champagne, eat chocolate, and linger over indulgent meals.

With Valentine’s Day falling on a Monday, it is the perfect time to celebrate twice, once with a leisurely Sunday brunch for your Valentine and again on Monday.

smoked salmon omelet ingredients

You know a meal is good when you think about it for years. The day after I ran the Bermuda International Marathon in January 2004, I had one of the most memorable omelets that I have ever had at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess. I loved everything about the hotel, especially its beautiful waterfront location and the fact that it is PINK, but the post-marathon omelet sealed the deal.

This omelet had flecks of salty smoked salmon peeking out behind ribbons of melted brie all whipped into fluffy, airy eggs. It was the memory of this omelet that inspired my breakfast the other morning, and it is a recipe that could easily wow your beloved this Sunday morning for brunch.

I started with a few pieces of smoked salmon, chopping it into tiny bits. To the salmon I added some grated Kerrygold cheese left over from the bread I made the other day.

smoked salmon and cheddar

For my own omelet, I used only two eggs, but the recipe is easily doubled or quadrupled for brunch for several people. You can, of course also just use the whites for a lower fat omelet. I like the nutrition that comes from the yolks, so I left them in Smile

omelet ingredients

To the eggs, which I had whipped with a ball whisk, I added the salmon and cheese, about 1/8 up of skim milk, and a small pat of butter, chopped up into pieces. I heated up a tiny bit more butter in my smallest frying pan; I find it easiest to make a pretty-looking and fully cooked omelet in a smaller pan. When the butter was melted and the pan very hot, I poured the egg mixture in, cranked the heat up as high as it would go, and waited until the top of the omelet started bubbling, then solidified.

smoked salmon omelet

To get the omelet out of the pan, I placed a plate over the top of the pan, then held on to the plate and the handle of the pan while flipping the pan over. A piece of the omelet stuck in the pan, but otherwise, it came out without breaking! And I was able to fold it over to showcase the golden brown side. Fancy, isn’t it?! Smile I was kind of excited about how nice my meal was. I added a few scoops of homemade salsa which consisted of Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes, a bit of red onion, two jalapenos, three cloves of garlic, and a little bit of olive oil.

omelet

The combination was excellent, filling, and healthy. Interested in making this for a special Sunday brunch? If I was making a Valentine’s brunch for my husband (which I won’t be doing because I am going away and he is working alllllll weekend), I would pair this with some oven roasted potatoes, maybe something sweet like mini cinnamon rolls, and of course a glass of bubbly, maybe a Billecart Salmon Brut Rose? Then, I would take my time eating, drinking, and relaxing for the rest of the day!

Do you have a really memorable meal that has been on your mind for years like the omelet I had in Bermuda?

Tags: breakfast, brunch, brunch at home, cheddar, eggs, healthy, omelet, omelets, protein, recipe, recipes, salsa, smoked salmon

Now that I have shared my clean eating with you, I’ll get back to more interesting eating. You may remember that in December, Kerrygold hosted a giveaway for my readers, and they also sent me a ton of butter and cheese. We are slowly making our way through all of the cheese that they sent, and over the weekend I decided to do some baking with it.

Kerrygold Red Leicester Cheddar

I also hadn’t made bread in awhile, and I got it in my head that I wanted to make a cheese bread. I did some searching online and found a recipe for Savory Cheddar Bread, something that looked really versatile and super easy as it is not a yeast bread. The full recipe is at the bottom of the post.

King Arthur whole wheat flour Kerrygold cheese

Right from the start, I knew I wanted to break open my bag of 100% whole wheat flour, a gift from King Arthur in the incredible swag bags we received during our weekend at the King Arthur store and baking school. The recipe called for two cups of all purpose flour, so I subbed one of those cups for the whole wheat flour. I am learning my lesson that when it comes to whole grains, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing, and as a result I am finding my baked goods taste better.

I grated a little over a cup of cheese, Kerrygold Red Leicester Cheddar, and set it aside while I mixed up my dry ingredients.

dry ingredients

This is where the fun comes in. You can basically toss in any herbs and spices you want at this point. I decided to use garlic powder and a generous grind of black pepper to give the bread lots of flavor. In my mind, I was already making sandwiches on it.

cheddar bread dough

Once the dry ingredients were blended, I added in the wet ingredients. The recipe called for dry mustard which I didn’t have, so I threw in a scoop of dijon mustard instead. I also added a little bit of extra milk since, as I learned at King Arthur, whole grain flours absorb more liquid. It really did the trick here. I wish I had learned this tip a couple of years ago!

cheddar bread

The bread baked faster than the allotted 45 minutes, so if you make this definitely keep an eye on it. Even though I greased my pan well, part of the bread stuck in the loaf pan when I was turning it out, hence the photos of only part of the loaf Winking smile. I ate the random crumbs from the pan while still warm, and they were tasty!

cheddar bread

My husband and I both loved this bread. As I have learned with baked goods, I froze half of the loaf immediately after it had cooled so that we would not let it go to waste. I am thinking this would make some really good croutons for a grilled romaine salad somewhere down the line.

Do you have any ways of reusing or giving new life to ingredients like not-so-new bread?

Here is the recipe for the cheddar bread. Try it! It is incredibly easy.

Savory Cheddar Bread

Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon leaf oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1 1/4 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
  • 1 egg, well beaten
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon butter, melted
Directions
  1. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, onion salt, oregano, dry mustard and cheese; set aside. Combine egg, milk and butter; add all at once to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Spread batter in a greased 8-1/2-in. x 4-1/2-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Tags: baking, bread, cheddar, cheese, cooking, Food, Kerrygold

Chicago

Oh, how I loved Chicago! I traveled to the Windy City back in November to attend a wedding, and was able to take in some of the sights while there. The weekend went by quickly, but my fiance and I definitely made the most of it.

We stayed with a friend for the 2 nights before the weekend’s wedding, so were lucky enough to have a “tour guide” of sorts – as well as an awesome hostess for our stay.

The only one place that my fiance just HAD to make it to was Piece Brewery & Pizzeria (http://www.piecechicago.com/flash/index.html) in Wicker Park. He’d heard great things about their pizza (and the beer too), and neither disappointed. They have a quite non-Chicagoan style of pizza – thin, crispy, and loaded with unique topping combinations. Delicious to say the least! They offer traditional red sauce pizzas, white pizza (olive oil, garlic & cheese), and you can even get a BBQ sauce substitution. It sounds odd, but is SO good. They also have a wide range of beers for any taste – but you won’t find a Miller Lite here. They brew all their own, including American-style Pale Ale, German-style Hefeweizen, and Bock.

pizza in Chicago

Photo Credit: Tammy Green (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zesmerelda/)

The night before the wedding, we were able to attend a Welcome Cocktail gathering at Gibson’s Steakhouse (http://www.gibsonssteakhouse.com/) in the Gold Coast section of town. (If you watch The League, that’s the pseudo-setting of the bar they frequent!) The passed appetizers we had were AMAZING – gourmet sliders on buttery buns, mini-quesadillas, and many more. We liked it so much that we made it our last meal in the city before heading back to the airport. We sat downstairs at the bar and enjoyed a few beers while splitting (yet another) burger. It was a great atmosphere in the bar there — you saw everyone from the casual guy catching the game, to more dressed-up patrons taking a break from the exclusive shopping the area offers. Would definitely go back!

Gibson's Chicago

Photo Credit: jimmy_karlsson (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmy_karlsson/)

The other restaurant we visited that really stands out in my mind is Hot Chocolate, (http://www.hotchocolatechicago.com/) back again in Wicker Park. If you are in Chicago, you NEED to go here! The atmosphere is fairly casual, yet with a definite hint at upscale, with a unique modern decor. When you walk in you’re greeted by a dessert counter of sorts, featuring some of their homemade brownies & hot chocolate mixes for purchase. (I really wish we had bought some…luckily you can find it online!)

I feel like all I’ve talked about in this post is burgers, but all of them that we had were amazing! Our friend ended up getting a great combo of creamy soup & a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich. The two of us ended up with their famous burger, featuring house-ground beef, organic bacon, Widmer 4-year aged cheddar, and house-made pickles on a garlic-toasted bun. My fiance got his with a fried egg on top – genius! And if you do find yourself at Hot Chocolate, please try a dessert. Any dessert. They are all beautifully plated and sure to please.

Hot Chocolate Chicago

Photo Credit: mpieracci (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mpieracci/)

Luckily, before heading back to Boston, we had a bit of time for sightseeing. On an unseasonably warm Sunday, we took the Architectural River Cruise. (http://www.shorelinesightseeing.com/rivercruise.php) So much fun! You got a view unlike any other, coasting down the Chicago River and looking up at the massive buildings. You also learn a bit of history along the way from quirky & quite knowledgeable tour guides.

Chicago

Chicago

Photo Credits: Amie Fedora (http://www.amiefedoradesign.com)

Thanks, Amie from Amie Fedora Design for this guest post! I have not been to Chicago since before I started blogging, but it is a beautiful city with a lot of great food to be found!

If you get a chance and want to see more beautiful photography, make sure to check out Amie’s link above! She does weddings!

Tags: burgers, Chicago, Food, Guest Blogger, pizza, Travel

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