National Croissant Day - Recipe Videos

 I prefer a heated plain Croissant with coffee in the morning. When I have them in bed it's a flakey affair. I usually have the L.A. Times newspaper laid out underneath my chin to catch the crumbs. That's how I like to start National Croissant Day. 

Croissants can be filled with chocolate or feta cheese and spinach along with many other sweets or savories. Usually associated with the French, Croissants originated in mid 1800s Austria. The pastry is layered with butter so you get a puffy and airy interior with a hard flakey brown exterior. 

While not the same by any means, Flakey Biscuits and Crescent Rolls in the can/cardboard roll give you a rough idea if you have never had a Croissant.

Croissants are now featured on many breakfast menus, even in fast food joints like a Jack in the Box Supreme Croissant made with scrambled eggs, cheese, ham, and bacon, and they are pretty tasty, too. 

If you are staying at a vacation B & B (Bread and Breakfast) they often serve a Continental Breakfast that includes Croissants. But Croissants are best fresh from a bakery deli case. 

Lately, I get mine cheaply from my local Ralphs supermarket bread bargain bin. they usually come four to a box and are less than a dollar per Croissant. Lately, Everything Croissants with poppy and sesame seeds are showing up there.

They may be a few days old, but because I like them warm they reheat to an almost fresh state, crunchy on the outside, and buttery soft on the inside. 

I like to buy a container or two at a time as they freeze and defrost fine. Since I get a great deal there is no reason to make my own...maybe one day I'll give it a shot.

I reheat them on the stovetop in a pan, just for a minute on each side. A toaster oven works quite well, too. If I am heating up a few Croissants then I will heat them in the oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes or so - they don't need to brown anymore, just heat through - so check on them frequently just in case - warm to the touch is enough. Of course, they are delicious at room temperature.

I like my Croissants warm and plain, but lately, I've been making stuffed Breakfast Croissant Sandwiches. Check out my Scrambled Egg Croissant Sandwich video below. Nothing to it really just scrambled eggs anyway you like it, then load them into a sliced-open Croissant. I finally heat the Croissant for about a minute on each side.

For my next recipe video, I add cheese on top of the scrambled eggs. I use American cheese, but you can use any favorite cheese. Again, nothing to this simply delicious Scrambled Egg and Cheese Croissant Sandwich, it's so quick and easy to do!

My last Breakfast Croissant Sandwich is the most decadent with not only scrambled egg and cheese but add a slice of ham -- check it out below.

I'll celebrate National Croissant Day any day of the year, and when you try my above Croissant Breakfast Sandwiches you will, too.

Black-Eyed Peas with Tomato, Collards & Okra - Video Recipe

My latest recipe is loaded, with veggies, that is. Go ahead and make my day and pull the trigger to make Black-eyed Peas with Collard Greens, Cherry Tomatoes, and Okra.

I like cooking with dried Black-eyed Peas because they cook faster than typical dried beans like pinto, Great Northern white, or black beans, they barely take 2 hours of simmering. 

I pair them with Collard Greens as they also take an hour or two to soften just right. Collard Greens have a tough stem. I usually slice away some of it. Use any Greens you like including Mustard, Kale, Swiss Chard, Turnip, or Beet Greens.

Click on any photo to see larger.

I also use a Southern veggie addition of Okra. Some cannot handle Okra, while I can see why, they do get mushy, even slimy. Hey, it's just an extra texture to deal with, and I like Okra for the unusual flavor. 

I also add a container of Cherry Tomatoes. I throw them in whole since they will break down in an hour or so. Onions, garlic, and some herbs round out this vegan recipe.

 If you have any favorite veggies you can add them. If you don't like Greens, then cheap cabbage would be a tasty substitution.

This is a hearty soup or stew. I serve it over rice, but you can use any favorite grain like quinoa or couscous. It's good enough to serve on it's own.

Try my Southern-style stew of Black-eyed Peas with Collard Greens, Cherry Tomatoes, and Okra. All it takes is a little bit of chopping.

Black-eyed Peas with Collard Greens, Cherry Tomatoes, and Okra - VIDEO           Play it here. Video runs 3 minutes, 47 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here. just click here. 

Ingredients 

• Black-eyed Peas - about a pound. Rinse and remove any dirt or debris.
• Water - 8 cups. Okay to add a favorite broth.
• 1 Onion - chopped.
• 12 Okra - chopped, I leave the smaller ones whole. Okay to add more or less Okra.
• Collard Greens - 1 bunch roughly chopped. Use any type of Greens including Mustard and Turnip Greens. 
• Cherry Tomatoes - 1 cup or small package. I left them whole as they will and soften and break down during cooking.
• Garlic - 2 cloves peeled and chopped, or a teaspoon of crushed garlic from the jar.
• Herbs - 1 tablespoon fresh or dried. Chop herbs if fresh. Use any favorite Herbs including sage, oregano, and thyme.
• Salt and Pepper to taste - about half a teaspoon each.
• Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon. Use any favorite cooking oil.

Directions

This recipe uses dried Black-eyed Peas. (Fresh Black-eyed Peas cook faster so reduce simmering time to about 1 hour total, or until Peas are tender.)

Wash dried Black-eyed Peas, and pick out any debris if necessary.

Add oil and saute onions for about 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic and saute for another minute.

 

Add the chopped collard greens and dried Black-eyed Peas.

Salt and pepper to taste, about a teaspoon. Add a small package of whole cherry tomatoes. 

Add dried or fresh herbs. I like about 12 okra, some sliced, some whole. (Okay to add any favorite vegetables that are in season.) Pour in 8 cups of water. Okay to substitute with some favorite broth.

Bring beans, veggies, and water to a boil, then lower the heat to a low simmer. 

Cover and cook until beans are tender, about two hours. Be sure to check on the liquid if it cooks out - add water as needed. 

I like to serve them over rice, quinoa, or couscous.

National Squirrel Day - Composting & Squirrels Video

In the acting world, you shy away from performing with children and animals. Why...because, after all those years of distilling your experiences into being spontaneous and natural in front of an audience, there is nothing worse than being upstaged by cuteness.

It's all in the wrist if you want to compost like The 99 Cent Chef. With shovel in hand, the Chintzy Composter shows you a simple method that reduces the garbage you throw away by about half - so that means fewer trips to the dumpster. Plus, if you have a small garden you will never have to buy potting soil again. Just hit the play button below to see my Composting Video.

Composting, Squirrels, and the 99 Cent Chef - VIDEO

 Play it here, video runs 3 minutes, 17 seconds.

In The 99 Cent Chef's latest video you'll see birds and squirrels upstage the Anthropomorphic Chef.

My neighbor feeds the birds and squirrels every morning. So I got the idea to set out some seeds and have animals do the work of making an opening title sequence for me. Only a nut would let squirrels and birds do the typography for my videos...well, I'm that Chintzy Nut.

And my front yard critters will work for peanuts and birdseed.

For the final video scene, it's a squirrel feeding frenzy when The Doctor Doolittle of chefs scatters lettuce in the most unique way for the tree-dwelling rodents.

There are many techniques for Composting. Just Google the word and you'll see what I mean. It really just depends on how much you want to deal with. You can start a giant compost pile with everything from veggie table scraps to lawn trimmings, and even newsprint and paper. I live in the city, so composting is best not seen or smelt!

I've come up with an easy-to-do method. Every day my girlfriend and I collect the veggie and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, and eggshells into a small container with a top. I live in a condo complex with a lot of land per unit and there is an outdoor common area in the corner that is not used. So every 2 to 4 days I take my full compost bin and bury the scraps in a 4 by 4-foot square area. Nobody complains and some of my neighbors offer encouragement, even compliments.

With a minimal amount of compost area to work with, I find it's just enough. I bury my small scrap amounts and a couple of days later dig a new hole. If you roughly chop up the scraps with the shovel and mix in a little dirt, the decomposition is complete in less than 2 weeks.

So by the time I've filled my 4 food square, it's ready for a new round of veggie scraps. (You'll see black nutrient-rich-looking compost clumps as you work your way around.) It takes a month or so until the compost is ready for my garden -- just in time for Fall and Spring planting.

A quick gardening note: composting veggies with seeds, like cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes, means you will get sprouting seedlings popping out all over. I'll prune out most of them as they come up, but I like to keep a few plants just to see how they do. Every year I get some type of squash plant that yields a bouquet of edible squash blossoms -- just type "squash blossoms" into the "Enter Ingredient or Recipe Keyword(s)" search window located at the top right side of this page to see all the recipes I use them for.

The trick is to keep the compost area clean and odorless. Instead of a smelly compost pile, I bury mine. Now, that means I can't compost everything, but it's good enough for big city living.

So, check out my Composting with The 99 Cent Chef video below. As I mentioned earlier, "It's all in the wrist," and I don't just mean how you handle a shovel, as you will see during the video's outrageous ending.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

And 99 thanks to Bob McGuinness, and Amy for shooting the Chef.

National Bagel Day - Recipes

Time to get Schmeared on National Bagel Day!

I never had a Bagel when I lived in Louisiana and Texas as a youth, but now you can get them there in almost any coffee shop, fast food joint, and larger grocery stores. 

Bagels are boiled and then baked to create a crunchy surface and chewy interior. They go back to the 17 century in Jewish communities of Poland.

My wife, Linda, grew up a half-hour from New York City, the capital of Bagels. I got a crash course there when we visited her family. 

I never realized the different types of Bagels out there. Just look at the list from a NYC Bagel shop called Ess-a-Bagel. Can't say I really have a favorite, but I do lean toward an Onion Bagel.

A Bagel I had no idea about is the Everything Bagel, like, what makes it "Everything?" Well, I found "Everything" can come in a plastic shaker at the Dollar Tree. for $1.25.

Reading the ingredients list, it's comprised of poppy and sesame seeds plus other dried seasonings like salt, garlic, and onion. I guess you can make anything "Everything" with this shaker, Hmmm...Everything Scrambled Eggs, Everything Pasta, and Everything Tacos?

Check out our breakfast video below at Ess-a-Bagel restaurant in NYC where they are baked on the premises and serving a dozen varieties of amazing Bagel Sandwiches!

Ess-a-Bagel - Movie

I do love a toasted Bagel in the morning, usually as a sandwich with a fried egg, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Also, you should try my simple breakfast recipe of Scrambled Eggs & Caramelized Onions served on a slice of toasted Bagel. A Bagel for breakfast gets the job done to get you out the door...or at least out of bed.

A classic Bagel preparation is slathering Cream Cheese on a toasted Bagel. Philadelphia Cream Cheese is the best, but I've tried cheaper Cream Cheese Blends to use in a pinch.

I prefer Bagel and Cream Cheese with a slice of onion and a fat slice of tomato. Nothing to it really as my video below will show.

In past film commercial shoots the Non-kosher Cameraman /Chef was quick to line up for a catered breakfast; going past the multitude of sugary pastry confections and heading straight for Bagels, Cream Cheese, Lox (cured salmon), sliced red onion, and tomato to build a Jewish deli kosher classic. 

You should click here to see my Homemade Lox recipe. It's really easy to do, just coat a thick slice of raw salmon in equal parts of sugar and salt, wrap in plastic, or seal in a glass container, and let it cure in the refrigerator for a couple of days (unwrap and drain liquid during curing). Finally, rinse and pat dry, that's it.

Now Lox (mildly brined, cold-cured raw salmon) is too expensive for this Chintzy Chef but canned, or soft packaged cooked salmon is a fine inexpensive substitute for a Homemade Salmon Schmear (original blog post recipe is here.) 

Some Cream Cheese comes mixed with Salmon. They are carrying Vegan Cream Cheese these days.

Drain and fold it into room-temperature softened cream cheese, lightly mix with some lemon juice and you have a spreadable feast - a Cheap$kate Salmon Schmear.

Here's my cheap$kate Salmon Schmear video below. I use salmon from the can or soft pack. Drain and blend it with room-temperature cream cheese. Couldn't be easier and cheaper to do.

Bagels still turn up in the bread bargain bin of Ralphs Supermarket, and Dollar Tree has them from time to time.

A Salmon Schmear is also a delicious party dip, just set out your preferred cracker, pita, or toasted wedges of Bagel. This kosher morning starter is a Chef's favorite; right up there with McDonald's decidedly non-kosher sausage and egg, syrup-filled pancake sandwich "McGriddle".

Ingredients (serves 2 - 4)

• 8 oz. package of cream cheese (Philadelphia Cream Cheese is kosher.)
• 3 oz. small package or can of cooked salmon (Pillar Rock salmon brand is kosher.)
• Sliced tomato and onion (preferably red onion - for this recipe I used a yellow onion.)
• 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice (optional.)
• Bagels

Directions

Allow cream cheese to reach room temperature. Drain salmon and mix it into cream cheese. You can use less cream cheese for a fishier version.

Add a teaspoon of lemon or lime juice. Mix lightly for a chunky spread.

Toast bagel then add Salmon Schmear with tomato and sliced onion.

Blueberry Bagels are somewhat controversial. I like them but Linda despises them - won't go near them.

Hey, we have to agree to disagree, I like them toasted with a smear of butter.