Fed up

drained and chopped
    ½ tbsp. minced garlic
    2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
    1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
    1 cup sour cream
    ⅛ cup mayonnaise
    8 large croissants, halved and toasted
    16 poached eggs
     
    Preheat oven to 350°.
    Combine first 7 ingredients. Bake in a ceramic or glass oven-safe dish until completely melted into the consistency of a dip. Spread each half of croissant with a heaping tablespoon of spread. Top each croissant half with a poached egg and top with 2 tablespoons hollandaise sauce (recipe follows).
     
    Hollandaise Sauce
     
    12 egg yolks
    4 tbsp. butter
    1½ tsp. lemon juice
    Tabasco or Crystal Hot Sauce
     
    Beat egg yolks together. Melt butter in a double boiler (water softly boiling) with lemon juice. When melted, slowly add egg yolks (equivalent of about one yolk at a time) so as not to scramble the eggs. Stir constantly until very hot and serve. Add salt to taste if needed. Give a quick dash of hot sauce on the finished dish for visual presentation and a bit of a kick.
     
    Breakfast Potatoes
     
    1½ A lbs. red-skinned potatoes, well-rinsed, cubed with skin on, and placed in a zipper baggie 2—3 tbsp. olive oil (more if needed)
    3 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
    1 tsp. minced garlic
    1 sweet yellow onion, finely chopped
     
    Preheat oven to 400°.
    Place all of the ingredients in the baggie with the potatoes. Shake very well to coat potatoes with the other ingredients. Place on large cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Do not layer or pile the potatoes; have one even layer. Bake for 45 minutes or until brown and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. If they don’t brown enough during baking, use a kitchen torch for a few seconds over the potatoes just until they are crispy and browned, and serve with Benedict.
     
     

    Anne and Michel Devrient
    Semur-en-Auxois, France
     
    Serves 4—6
     
    1 medium sugar pumpkin
    1 large onion, diced
    3 tbsp. unsalted butter
    2 cups fresh bread cubes, cut into 1 “ cubes from a French loaf
    2 garlic cloves, minced
    3 cups mixed fresh mushrooms (button, portobello, chanterelle, oyster) cleaned, stems removed, sliced ¼" thick
    Salt and pepper to taste
    3 cups Gruyère cheese, grated
    4 strips cooked bacon, crumbled
    I container (7—8 oz.) crème fraîche or ½ pint heavy cream
     
    Preheat oven to 200°.
    Cut the top off of the pumpkin as you would if you were going to carve it for Halloween. Scrape out the seeds and loose pulp, being careful not to remove the pumpkin flesh itself, since pumpkin is the basic flavoring of this dish. Save the top of the pumpkin, which will be placed back on during cooking.
    In a large skillet, sauté the onions and 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat for a few minutes, and then add the fresh croutons and toss. Stir and cook the croutons for another few minutes and then add the garlic. Toss the mixture and cook until the croutons begin to brown. Add more butter as needed to keep the mixture from drying out. Set aside.
    In a separate pan, sauté 1 tablespoon of butter with the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms have released their juices and begun to reabsorb them. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
    To assemble the pumpkin for cooking, put in layers of the bread mixture followed by a dash of salt and pepper, then a layer of the grated cheese, a layer of mushrooms, a bit of the crumbled bacon, and a thin layer of crème fraîche or heavy cream. Keep layering until the pumpkin is filled. End with a layer of cheese.
    Put the pumpkin lid back on. Set the filled pumpkin in a casserole dish that will support its sides. Fill a roasting pan with 2 inches of water, and place the pumpkin, in its casserole dish, in the water. Bake for about 3 hours, checking from time to time, until the pumpkin pulp is getting soft enough to spoon up.
    To serve, gently remove the pumpkin from the water bath and place on a large platter. Scrape out some of the pumpkin flesh with a large, sturdy spoon as you dish out each bowl.
     
     
     
    Meg Travis Ipswich, Massachusetts
    Serves 4—6
     
    Salad
    Salad greens, approximately I head of lettuce for every 3 people
    1 small log of goat cheese, crumbled (Make sure you buy goat cheese that’s been salted. My favorite is from Vermont Butter & Cheese Company)
    1 package of dried cranberries or Craisins
    ½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped
     
    Mix together and toss with the maple syrup vinaigrette.
     
    Maple Syrup Vinaigrette
     
    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper