Sausage Gravy Benedict

A variation on biscuits and gravy using a mushroom, sausage gravy and a poached egg.

2 eggs, poached
1 English Muffin, split
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup of milk
4 medium mushrooms, sliced
1 sausage patty, link, ground or vegetarian, cooked and minced
1 green onion, minced
salt and pepper

Add half the butter to small skillet on medium heat. Saute the mushrooms until lightly browned. Set aside the mushrooms. Reduce heat to low, add the rest of the butter and the flour and stir. After a couple minutes slowly add milk at bit at a time while stirring constantly until you reach a consistency you like and the roux is thoroughly dissolved into the gravy. Add more milk if you prefer a thinner gravy. Add the sausage and mushrooms and stir. Salt and pepper to taste.

Poach the eggs and toast the muffins. Plate with an English Muffin half, a poached egg, the gravy and half the green onion.

Serves 2

Diner-Style Hash Browns

You'd think there'd be nothing easier than to make than an American diner-style hashbrown. It's just grated potato fried on a griddle or skillet right? I made many a pile of starchy, metallic tasting, greasy, mushy-in-the-middle hashbrowns before I finally settled on this method for really good hashbrowns.

And now it IS easy. Once you know the trick is getting your hands on one of these...


The key to hashbrowns is removing the moisture and starch in the grated potato. And that's where the ricer is essential. I've tried patting down the potatoes with paper towels, squeezing them in tea towels, giving them the centrifucal force treatment in salad spinners and par boiling and refrigerating overnight before grating. The only thing that really worked for me was the ricer method.

2 large Russet potatoes
1 tbs olive oil
1 pat butter
salt and pepper

Peel the potatoes and grate with a cheese grater into a large bowl. Rinse the grated potatoes until the water runs fairly clear, drain and place a handful at a time of the potato into the ricer and squeeze until all the water is pressed out.

Heat the butter and olive oil into a large skillet on medium high heat. When the oil and butter is done frothing but not burnt put in the potato, spreading it out equally over the bottom of the pan. Salt and pepper. When browned on the bottom, turn. I wouldn't worry too much about forming neat patties of hashbrowns. Just make sure it all gets turned over so it browns fairly equally. They taste just as good in a big pile than a neat restaurant style patty. Personally, I like to break them up and move them around to get a more even browness.

Serves 2

Brat Hash

1 tablespoon butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 bratwurst, rough chopped
2 medium russet potatoes, cubed small (about 1/4 inch).
1/4 onion diced
2 medium button mushrooms, sliced
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sauerkraut
Dollop of sauerkruat vinegar
1 ounce diced Swiss cheese
Salt and pepper

Cook the bratwurst using your preferred method. Fried, boiled or grilled is fine. Can be leftover from last night's dinner.

Heat the butter in a large skillet (not non-stick) on medium heat until butter starts to foam. Add onions and saute until starting to brown and translucent. Add the mushrooms and saute until edges brown. Remove and set aside.

Turn the pan up to medium high add olive oil and the potatoes and toss. Salt and pepper lightly. Cook for 5 minutes or when brown on the bottom then turn. Reduce heat to medium and continue to toss occassionally until browned and done. While the potatoes are cooking prepare the egg poaching water by boiling and adding the dollup of the sauerkraut vinegar.

Reduce heat on the potatoes to medium low and add the onions, mushrooms and chopped brat and toss.

Reduce the heat on the poaching water to a simmer and break each egg into a small bowl, carefully partially submerge the bowl and slowly pour the eggs into the water.
While the eggs are cooking, plate the hash and sprinkle half the cheese on each hash mound.

After 3 minutes the eggs should be done, test for preferred doneness, drain and place one egg each on top of the plated hash. Top each egg with 1 tablespoon of sauerkruat and a grind of fresh black pepper.

Serves 2

Spam & Eggs

I know, I know, SPAM? Again?

SPAM eggs and rice is said to be the most popular breakfast in Hawaii. Hawaii leads the U.S. in consumption meat product, a leftover from the fresh meat lean WWII days. So popular is "Hawaiian Steak" (Hawaiians consume six cans per capita a year) that even the big junk food chains have re-created regional favorites that use SPAM and offer them on their menus. SPAM masubi, available almost everywhere, is perhaps one of the most famous of the Hawaiian SPAM dishes.

One of the reasons for SPAM's popularity on the islands is probably at least partially due to its preparation. In Hawaii, rather than just plopping raw cold spam between two slices of wonder bread, SPAM in Hawaii is thoroughly cooked, often grilled. Thinly sliced, and pan fried for a crispy outside, salty SPAM becomes more like bacon than mushy, pink, canned meat product.

The preparation is as simple as it is tasty. All you need is a cup of cooked white rice per serving, scrambled eggs and a couple thin slices of SPAM fried on medium-heat in a non-stick skillet until crispy brown. Try it. It might surprise you.

Soft Boiled Eggs

The phrase, "Can't boil an egg", is often used to describe someone who can't cook. Actually, boiling an egg can be tricky. Seconds count. Just a little too much or too little of a variable will make the difference between a runny soft-boiled egg and a hard egg. Variables such as altitude, time, temperature of the egg, how quickly it's peeled, the size of the egg, the pan and the cooktop can all have an effect.

Preferrences of texture differ, but I prefer mine a bit runny with a little firm yolk. The trick I've found is to start with one method, then adjust one or more variables until you've reached your perfect egg.

Here's one method that works for me.

In a medium pot, put in your eggs, cold water to just cover and add a generous pinch of salt (the salt is intended not as just seasoning but to make the egg easier to peel once it's cooked). Turn on high heat and start to boil the water. I choose to put the eggs in first to prevent cracking of the eggs that happens sometimes in the "boil and drop" method.

As soon as the water comes to a full rolling boil, set your timer for 3 minutes. When the timer goes off, put the pan in the sink and add cold water to the boiling water until the water in the pot becomes warm and you can pick up the eggs. Working quickly, smack the ends of the eggs with the back of a spoon and peel. If the egg gets too hot in your hand while peeling, dip it briefly in the warm water to cool it off and continue to peel. Get the paper-like membrane/skin between the shell and the egg surface to start coming off and the peeling will be easier.

Again. This is the method that I found works for me (at sealevel). Your experience may differ and you should adjust your method accordingly.

I've never been much on the egg cup and spoon thing, so I serve mine on toast or muffin with a turn of fresh black pepper and a side salad.

Spaghetti Carbonara

This ancient Italian dish probably dates back to the Romans. Accounts for the name vary. One explanation for the name is the dish was popular among charcoal makers. Another, that it is named for the crushed black pepper resembling tiny pieces of charcoal. A more fanciful version tells that when charcoal makers prepared it at work, the charcoal dust from their clothes would fall off and sprinkle the dish, the pepper being added as a reminder of that. Another account is that the original dish was created by members of a secret society, the Carbonari, which is sort of an Italian version of the Freemasons.

The dish was relatively obscure until WWII, when eggs and bacon were readily available from American troops in Italy, while other food stuffs were in short supply. The dish became popular with soldiers stationed in Italy, and when they returned home, they brought the dish to the United States.

While not normally considered a breakfast recipe, it's got bacon and eggs so why not? Sounds like breakfast to me.

8 ounces spaghetti
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup pancetta or a good quality slab bacon, diced
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs
1/4 cup of reserved pasta water
Salt
Black pepper, freshly ground

Boil the spaghetti to al-dente in a large pot with a generous pinch of salt. While the spaghetti is cooking, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet on medium heat and saute the onion, garlic and pancetta until the onion is translucent and slightly browned. Remove from heat to wait for the pasta and beat the eggs and the Parmesan together.

When the pasta is done, put the skillet with the onions, garlic and pancetta back on the stove and bring it back to medium heat. Drain the spaghetti, and while still hot, add directly into the skillet with the pancetta and onions and toss for a half minute or so. Now pour the egg and cheese mixture and the reserved pasta water over the spaghetti and remove the skillet from the heat once more, while continuing to toss to thoroughly coat the noodles with the egg/cheese mixture. The idea is the eggs will cook with the residual heat from the skillet and the pasta. While tossing, add a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.

Plate family style, topping with a little bit more grated parmesan.

Serves 2

Canadian Bacon Egg White Frittata

2 new potatoes
1 oz canadian bacon, julienned
1/2 shallot, minced
1 large handful spinach, rough chopped
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
3 whole eggs
3 egg whites
2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scrub potatoes and poke holes in each potato with a fork. Microwave on high for 1-1 1/2 minutes till potatoes are partially cooked. Cut potatoes in half and cut each half into thin slices. In a medium skillet, sauté shallots and potatoes in 1 tsp olive oil until shallots are softened, about 5 minutes. Season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Take veggies off the heat and stir in the Canadian bacon.

In a bowl, beat whole eggs and egg whites together. Heat remaining 1 tsp oil in an medium cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add eggs and stir until halfway set. Add the bacon/veggie mixture to the eggs, distributing evenly. Do not stir. Put the entire skillet in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, sprinkle cheese on top and bake another 5 minutes or so, until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let stand 3-5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Serves 2