Five brave girls showed up for my Kids Cooking Class. This was a two day class with a crash course in breakfast food on the first day. Along with an oven baked pancake, sugared bacon and home-made granola, we made Turtle Eggs, which have no turtles or eggs in them! The girls loved making and eating them and while they're not heart-healthy they are certainly kid (and big-kid) friendly! We cooked for 3 hours on two different days - dirtying practically every dish/spoon/tray in my kitchen - and that shine on my kitchen floor was from a cup or so of olive oil that briefly turned the kitchen into a skating rink!
The girls went home with the recipes, their own "custom-carved" wooden spoon, a spoon pen, their own paring knife, silicone hot pad and apron. Plus I can proudly say not one of them got burned or cut themselves so that makes it a HUGE success! They also had a "lesson" on etiquette and table setting...then just two hours later when we sat down to devour our creations, I had to remind them what their napkins were for! Sheesh!
Turtle Eggs make great game day food, the mister tosses them into his mouth like they're Marshawn Lynch's Skittles! You remember Marshawn, one of the SUPERBOWL WINNING SEAHAWKS? (26 days till pre-season kickoff - not that anyone is counting!) I digress...whether you make these for breakfast or the big game or eat them as part of your last meal if you were on Death Row, which I would surely do, they are dang good. The cooking class girls liked making them, and frying them up, and they quickly pointed out the Turtle Eggs that leaked and those that didn't...everyone claimed the ones that didn't...go figure.
Turtle Eggs - Adapted From Nibble Me This
(The original recipe calls for more jalapeno and a spicy BBQ rub, I opted to tone things down a bit for the girls.)
1 lb. Jimmy Dean Sage Breakfast Sausage, cut into 10-11 slices
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup shredded colby-jack cheese
1/2 small jalapeno pepper, de-seeded and finely diced
1/2 teaspoon salt or seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon oil, for frying
In a small bowl combine the cream cheese, cheese, jalapeno, salt and pepper.
Flatten out the slices of sausage just a bit. Place about a teaspoon or so of the cheese mixture on each slice of sausage. Pull up the edges of the sausage and seal, forming into a round, golf-ball sized "egg."
In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add eggs. Fry the eggs until they are brown on all sides and sausage is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove to paper towels to drain. Don't worry if some of the cheese escapes - it happens and they are still great. Makes 10 to 11, serves 5.
