If you’re looking for a quick, easy, and bite-sized appetizer recipe, look no further. These mini-tarts are deliciously simple to make and eat - if you’re in a real hurry, use store-bought pie crust dough and leftover baked chicken to speed things up.

Miniature Chicken Tarts

Ingredients:

• 2 pie crusts (use your favorite recipe or a pre-bought crust)
• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, poached and cooled
• 8 oz. whole fresh mushrooms, cleaned
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Line mini-muffin cups with pie crust. Dock the bases of the cups with a fork and blind-bake. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, mushrooms, and garlic, and sauté until chicken is lightly browned and all liquid from mushrooms has evaporated. Season. Deglaze pan with vinegar; continue to cook until pan is almost dry. Cool slightly.

Pulse cooled mixture in food processor with milk until a smooth, fluffy paste has formed. Spoon into prepared crusts and top with Parmesan cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Makes 48 tarts.

One of my current vices is the new bacon-cheddar ciabatta breakfast melt from WaWa. I’m not a big “breakfast out” person (no people before coffee on the weekends), so this morning I set out to create my own. Fresh eggs and bacon, with a generous helping of butter, I’ll be sticking with this from here on out.

I learned the fluffed egg technique years ago from an ex - the wooden spoon (or other wide, flat utensil) is crucial here. Using a fork for this technique will produce ribbons rather than cloudy poufs.

Brown Butter Fluffed Egg Sandwiches

Ingredients (per sandwich):

• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon half and half
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 flat, crusty roll, sliced in half lengthwise (I used a Portuguese roll from my local bakery)
• 2 slices bacon, cooked as per your preference
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons ketchup*

Combine eggs, seasonings, and half and half; whisk to combine. Set aside. Heat one tablespoon butter in a medium pan over low heat. Add half the roll, cut side down, and increase heat to medium-high. Cook until edges are golden brown. Remove bread and repeat with another tablespoon of butter and the other bread half. Set aside.

Decrease heat to medium and add final tablespoon of butter. Add eggs and immediately begin stirring with a wooden spoon, making sure to get all areas of the pan. Stir constantly until eggs have come together and are fluffy but still wet. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Transfer to roll and top with ketchup and bacon. Serve immediately.

Serves 1.

*We (well, most of us) put ketchup on our eggs in this area of Pennsylvania. It’s awesome. If this is too weird for you, feel free to substitute your condiment of choice. Meredith suggests HP Sauce.