"Different, but not strange" - what's on your breakfast plate?

[mamachef]

Mr. Chef met friends this morning for brekkie out, and they ended up at a soul-food restaurant, where he ordered what they called "Eggs and Legs" - 3 eggs anystyle, served up with a braised or bbq'd turkey leg. Never heard of such a thing, but he loved it. I was wondering if anyone else has found something equally offbeat, and what was it?

[gwen42]

While making grits this morning, my eye settled on the frequently used container of za'atar... I may have died and gone to heaven.

Lime yogurt with ground cardamom is another "I got bored and decided to experiment" favorite.

[Matahari22]

I really liked quite a few of these breakfast dishes. I don't normally eat a typical breakfast, normally, it's the night befores left overs with poached eggs on top. Or savory oatmeal. Sometimes made with the night befores left overs.

[JB BANNISTER]

I poached a SWAN EGG this morning. It was very rich.

[huiray]

What did it taste like, exactly?

[JB BANNISTER]

Like a very very rich egg. The white was harder than normal eggs I think.

[pmelvoin]

Local Asian markets have duck and goose eggs.
Have not tried them.
Now I want to.

[junescook]

The other day we had lunch at the Charcoal Chef. I had opted for their charcoal grilled pork chop and baked potato. They were so big, plus they came with slad and rolls, that I had half of each left over. So this morning I diced up an onion plus the potato and the chop and made a great pork hash to serve as a bed for a sunny-side egg. Mopped up with sour-dough toast. Will keep ust going for the day.

[mamachef]

Yum! I love inventive hashes, and some leftovers are almost better than the original entree, aren't they? (Actually no "almost" about it......we frequently make extra braised short ribs to make into hash for Sunday brunch.....).

[ospreycove]

On the Gulf Coast it is Smoked Mullet, eggs, and grits!!

[Passadumkeg]

on the Gulf of Maine, it is fish cakes, eggs and baked beans!!

[mamachef]

Pdk: You make hash out of that? Really? : ) I think with a splash of ketchup and a spot of tabasco, I'd eat it.

[Passadumkeg]

Yup. We had fish cakes both days last weekend for breakfast. Left over salmon &mashed potatoes combined w/ 2 tbls. diced onion, fried in bacon grease. Yes. ketchup is wicked good on the fish cakes. This was my FIL's, who worked as a logging camp cook in his youth, favorite breakfast. One can still find it at The Rockland Cafe.

[mamachef]

Ok, I was under the impression that you'd reincorporated the meal entire; eggs, beans and salmon cakes ALL hashed together. Either way, I still think I'd eat it!

[Passadumkeg]

I gotta find you a recipe for downeast fish cakes.

[mamachef]

Please, do.

[ospreycove]

couint me in on the Fish Cake rec.!!!!!

[mamachef]

I had a smoked trout hash once that was divine. And I like mullet, so why not?

[meltygarden]

people who aren't from the southern US seem to find grits strange, I guess. In my house we do it a little different, cooking the grits in vegetable or chicken stock instead of water. I throw in a couple of garlic cloves to cook with the grits so they are soft enough to mash up at the end. Before serving I mince up additional garlic and onions and brown them very lightly in butter, then mix that in along with some sharp cheddar cheese and obscene amounts of black pepper. We've also been known to eat hot cornbread wedges with hot milk, cinnamon and honey poured over it as a breakfast "cereal", but I think this is a midwestern farmboy sort of thing that we adopted from friends.

[Maggie Larkin]

in hawaii i had breakfast consisting of (forgot the name of the dish, its been a while) white rice, scrambled eggs, spam & sriracha sauce. it was suprinsgly tasty, even though i found the spam to be WAY salty & it was the low sodium version

[Isobel_A]

I make a pasta concoction for breakfast sometimes, usually on a sunny summery day - just chopped olives, tomatoes, and feta stirred through penne with some salt and pepper. I add a bit of presto sometimes if it's around.

[buttertart]

How about something that's not at all strange at origin (Taipei) but seems a little redundant when you think about it - a you tiao (nonsweet long cruller) inside a shao bing (griddled rectangular sesame bun, flaky inside like a squashed croissant) - with salty dou jiang (soybean milk) for me please. A bread sandwich - nothing like it.

[mamachef]

This is the one thing in the world I can even think of that I "dunk." And you KNOW how I feel about the pure evil of dunkage. : )

[JB BANNISTER]

Scotch eggs made with boiled quail eggs and a glass of champagne.

[mamachef]

Now that IS unusual, JB!

[JB BANNISTER]

Easy to make. Canned quail eggs are in all the asian markets and Jimmy Dean for the sauage.

[jubilant cerise]

I'm curious about the breakfast poutine offered at a local poutine restaurant in my neighbourhood (probably the only one in town, now that I think of it - I'm on the Canadian west coast) but it seems a little wrong to eat poutine first thing in the morning. That's probably why its siren song calls to me so sweetly... ;)

[iL Divo]

where are you speaking of that has a restaurant like that?
is it close to the border going into Canada?
I say go for your poutine girl!
I would!!! :)))

[jubilant cerise]

La Belle Patate in Esquimalt, one of the Greater Victoria municipalities on the southern part of Vancouver Island, British Colombia. It's run by some guys originally from Quebec. I do like their poutine, so the breakfast one - drool! The Clipper takes three hours to cross the Juan De Fuca Strait/Salish Sea and will take you right into downtown Victoria, then LBP is maybe a 10-15 minute drive from there. Mind you, there's a lot of great restaurants in Victoria so LBP's poutine shouldn't be the only destination when visiting here.

[huiray]

Breakfast 1-1-11:
Fresh shoyu ramen, augmented with chopped spring onions, leftover lo shui duck, and blanched kai lan.
Peppery pork stock and daikon soup with pork meatballs.

Yum.

[mamachef]

Mr. had a mac and cheese eggs Benedict this morning. I think he'll be really sorry; dinner's that prime rib hash with more poached eggs........

[sourgirl]

In Taiwan, I would have "dan bing" for breakfast every morning. It's a kind of scallion pancake, rolled up with chili sauce on top. Each vendor makes a different kind, with some of the pancakes veering towards the crepe side, and others (my personal favorite) more similar to naan. I would frequent the same one on my way to language school every morning, buy two pancakes and some dou jiang (soy milk) all for a little over a dollar. You can't beat that.

In the states, I love to make homemade hash browns topped with a poached egg.
For hangovers, homemade vegetarian vegetable soup, rye toast, and scrambled eggs always cures me. Something about the soup/protein combination makes you feel as good as new.

[Passadumkeg]

This morning: a Norwegian frukost bord (Breakfast table), all sandwiches are open-faced, in this order; strong black coffee, Wasa bread, w/ butter, geit ost (goat cheese), annd topped w/ still hot boiled egg slices. The fish course: crusty rye bread topped w/ herring in sour cream and onion. The meat course: rye bread w/ butter topped w/ salami, Swiss cheese, tomato slice, boiled egg slice, bell pepper sliver, and a swiggle of mayo or mustard. Dessert: Wasa bread w/ butter and raspberry jam and more black coffee.
Takk for matten.

Then off for a long hike at The Narrows in El Malpais National Preserve to work it off!

[GraydonCarter]

What's for breakfast? Eggs, bacon, and ... spaghetti. Ever had Spaghetti Carbonara for breakfast? On that show "Best Thing I Ever Ate," Susan Feniger recommended the Pasta Mama on their "Wake Up Call" episode.

Look at Hugo's "Pasta Mama" video:

http://www.hugosrestaurant.com/

[mamachef]

To be honest, it had never entered my mind. And now, it has. That, and a big tasty Mimosa.
Salud, Graydon.

[huiray]

Yong Tow Foo.
Bak Kut Teh.
Hainan Chicken Rice.
Wide rice noodles stir-fried w/ bean sprouts & cockles.
Won Ton Ngap Tong Meen.

[mamachef]

I babysat briefly for a neighbor last night while she did a store run, and her kidlet told me that his best breakfast is cornflakes or cheerios with orange juice on top.

[ospreycove]

mama....Last time I had that was in college when I was really, really hungry.

[Passadumkeg]

Acadian ployes (buckwheat pancakes) w/ fresh Maine blueberries.

[currentlycraving]

i'm surprised no one else has said this yet, but when i was growing up, my parents would make perogies with breakfast on sundays! they would fry them in a pan with oil so they were all golden and crispy and then my brother and i would dip them in the yolks of our eggs.
i'm pretty sure we looked for any excuse to dip things into our egg yolks at the time, and i pretty much still do.

eggs in purgatory i only tried for the first time this past summer and fell in love, so easy!

and if ever i'm feeling kind of lazy, i'll cook an egg veeerrry runny, put it on top of hot rice with a little soy sauce and a dab of butter/margarine and mix it all together and eat it with kimchi if i have it.

[mamachef]

That last one sounds beyond delicious, cc. I think I would shake some toasted sesame seeds or gomasio over this one. It also actually sounds like the perfect, ultra plus nom of midnight snacks.

[Passadumkeg]

Perogies! Dubja, dubja! Shenkuya!

[EWSflash]

Whenever I have a chance I get menudo for breakfast. Not into offal much at all but I do like my menudo- white, please, lots of cilantro and scallion and lime wedges, plus salt and pepper. It usually doesn't have enough salt and pepper.

[ZenSojourner]

I'm guessing you aren't referring to the boy band of the 80's . . .

OH MY! Tripe soup! LOL!

[EWSflash]

Hey, ZS, aren't you one of the brain-eaters? You'd never catch me going there, I'm just sayin'.

*BTW I wasn't calling you a zombie...*

[mucho gordo]

Before I started my diet (I'm no longer "Mucho") I loved to start off a Sunday morning by frying up a pkg of chorizo and mixing it with a container of Country Crock Garlic Mashed Potato. YUM

[mamachef]

I think I would happily walk over broken glass in my socks, gordo, especially if topped with a fried egg. I might do it barefoot if those potatoes were homemade.

[mucho gordo]

I agree mamachef; an egg or 2 would be quite welcome. I might even add a serrano chili for its crunchiness or melt some cheese over it. You can easily wrap it up in a tortilla for a breakfast burrito.

[mamachef]

TILT.

[junescook]

A couple of the things my father used to make when we were kids were kidneys cooked in the bacon fat which we had with eggs, and then on bread baking day, fried dough which we ate with butter and maple syrup for breakfast. (This was made from the dough that had been rising overnight and I thought it was called something like pain doree, but I'm not sure). Baked beans were also a popular breakfast item.

I do favor savory things for breakfast, and a few years back when we spent a couple of weeks in China, I remember eating congee (a comforting, savory porridge) from the hotel buffet every morning, with an endless combination of garnishes. It would sure beat toast for a change.

[Whinerdiner]

One of our favorite breakfasts is eggs "poached" in spaghetti sauce. I serve it right in the skillet with a chunk of crusty bread for dipping. If we have hot sausage on hand, I'll throw that in as well.
It's so good.

[onceadaylily]

Similar to shakshuka (also an outstanding breakfast). I'll have to try that the next time I have sauce leftover.

[mamachef]

Throw in some hot peppers or flakes, and it's "Eggs in Purgatory", no? And it sounds just delicious. I'd forgotten all about that one.

[Whinerdiner]

"Eggs in Purgatory" - Great name. I never knew what to call it. Thanks

[GraydonCarter]

> I serve it right in the skillet with a chunk of crusty bread for dipping
So, runny yokes?

[Whinerdiner]

Oh, definitely.

[Passadumkeg]

A big bowl of menudo and flour tortillas, after a "rough night".

[mamachef]

Mr. and I occasionally head down to Fruitvale (taco heaven) on Sunday morning for a great big bowl of menudo with extra lime, and a bottle of whatever bit us the night before. This was recommended to me by a Mexican friend, with the hangover voucher, and we tried it, and it worked very well. Maybe it's the protein hit?

[mamachef]

Baby sister has a friend who has pica, and her morning breakfast generally includes some red clay or laundry starch. Mmmmmm.

[GraydonCarter]

Do what now?

[ZenSojourner]

Pica. Its when people eat strange things because of some dietary deficiency. I think eating red clay is a sign of an iron deficiency, but I've forgotten. I believe that pregnant women in the South used to do this with some regularity, before pre-natal vitamins became ubiquitous. It's the source of the "cravings" during pregnancy in general, in fact.

[small h]

She eats dirt. Sometimes pregnant women get a craving for dirt. I worked with a woman who kept a little bag of dirt next to her to snack on. Her sister sent her river clay from Alabama.

http://www.pregnancy-info.net/pica.html

[mamachef]

Well, I know she's on prenatal vitamins, and in fact doesn't eat dirt,( per se) but I do think it indicates a deficiency of some sort. Nope, no dirt in it's purest form, but I guess clay and laundry starch run a close second.

[EWSflash]

Shoot, I thought i was odd because I liked to chew on ice

[ZenSojourner]

That's actually, oddly enough, a sign of anemia. Not always, but its common with anemia. Apparently this is the source of my fairly recent penchant for chewing on ice. I'd no idea, until my doctor asked if I was doing it after looking at my blood work.

[GraydonCarter]

> She eats dirt

I'm not the best cook in the world, but at least my food doesn't taste like dirt.

[mamachef]

It's just the visual of a grown woman with a dirt-rim around her mouth that gets to me - I can't stop laughing. It reminds me of busting my kids eating chocolate cake that they weren't supposed to have, and they all three had chocolate rims around their mouths, and when I said, "what happened to the caaaaaaaaaaake?" They got all round-eyed and innocent and looked up at me and said, "we don't know!"
Cut to many years later when they'd eat chocolate cake and purposely get chocolate clown-mouth and walk around singing, "we got caaaaaaake!!"

[GraydonCarter]

Bill Cosby: [when his wife sees that he has given the kids cake for breakfast] "WHERE DID THEY GET CHOCOLATE CAKE FROM?" And I said, "They asked for it!" And the children who had been singing praises to me... (Dad is great! Give us the chocolate cake!) LIED on me and said, "Uh-uh! We asked for eggs and milk... AND DAD MADE US EAT THIS!" And my wife sent me to my room... which is where I wanted to go in the first place.

[mamachef]

Someday, I am seriously going to learn a lesson about how beverages mix with gut-level hard laughter. Vegie soup this time. It doesn't feel very nice. Thanks, man. You just made my day!!

[goodhealthgourmet]

i'll take the gut pain over the *mess* on my poor laptop...the most recent disaster was a mouthful of tea that i sprayed all over the keyboard & screen the other night when i read one of the comments on FNH about the Rachael Ray bacon "recipe."

[mamachef]

WAS THAT THE FUNNIEST THING EVER? I think the one that just KILLED was the gal who said she substitutes water instead of bacon and puts it into the freezer instead of the microwave, and her kids put it in their juice and called it breakfast bacon. Or the guy who said his bacon was Amish bacon and the cigarette lighter wasn't working! Or the lady who substituted toilet paper and a cast iron pan on the stovetop because she didn't have a microwave........oh wait. That was me.

[goodhealthgourmet]

well if you hadn't pissed off Mr Ripple by squeezing the Charmin all the time, you could have used better TP and it wouldn't have been a problem :)

this was the comment that made me spray:

"I didn’t have bacon so I substituted slices of deli ham. We ran out of paper towels, so I used saran wrap.

It tasted like crap. This recipe sucks."

i was seriously CHOKING.

[ZenSojourner]

Isn't it funny? I read recipe reviews all the time that do one of two things - either they say something like "this recipe was EXCELLENT! But it was even better because I replaced half the ingredients and changed all the quantities and didn't follow the procedure outlined in the recipe"

Or they say "this recipe SUCKED even though I improved it by changing half the ingredients and the quantities and the procedure"

LOL!

[mamachef]

or the one who said she wrapped it in tinfoil instead?
and then the one who said, "everytime I make late night bacon, Guy Fieri comes around looking in the windows and begging for the leftovers. Something about that guy just ain't right."

[Pei]

A few of my favorites in SF:

Canteen serves fish hash regularly. It's a lighter, fresher alternative to corned beef hash. It tastes mostly of scallions, eggs, and a lightly flavored fish.

Dottie's True Blue Cafe does black bean cakes with traditional breakfast sides (eggs, fried potatoes). The cakes have herbs, onions, black beans, and bread crumbs in them, and are pan-fried.

[mamachef]

I love Canteen!! Didn't know they made fish hash - one of our at-home favorites is smoked trout hash, and it's good stuff. And those cakes from Dottie's sound just divine. I think they'd also be great as a meatless burger. Gonna have to go wait in the brunch line and check it out for myself.

[Passadumkeg]

The morning frukost bord at the SAS Hotel in Stavanger, Norway; 12 kinds of herring and great bread and coffee.

[Tripeler]

Sounds like a necessity after a long night at the Club Cardinal, also in Stavanger.

[Passadumkeg]

Den Rod Sjohus and the rekker fest?

[Tripeler]

Sorry, PDK, don't know/understand...

[ZenSojourner]

A rekker fest has something to do with consuming mass quantities of shrimp and booze.

It pays to have friends in low places. Or, at least, Norway.

[Passadumkeg]

"Good on you!" Nothing compared to a rapu fest in Finland. Think white wine vs vodka.
Salt stromming for breakfast cure.

[ZenSojourner]

Vodka and crawdaddies! Can't be all bad!

O.O

[Passadumkeg]

Hyvaa, hyvaa!

[ZenSojourner]

My good man! Are you speaking Finnish at me?

LOL!

[mamachef]

You are so finnished, ZS.

[ZenSojourner]

First the Norwegians, now the Finns. I can only sink lower from here! There's no going back!

[Passadumkeg]

Yes, hyvaa means good. Four years in Helsinki.
We had to order peanutbutter by the case from a health food store, for our kids, because it did not exist there.
I picked 50 l. of wild mushrooms one autumn there.

Chanterelles sauteed in butter w/ onion and sour cream over a slice of good bread w/ a soft boiled egg was one of our fave. brekkies.

[mamachef]

That sounds positively decadent, Pdk. And I love that you got to forage like that, with such awesome success. Did you dry the mushrooms then?

[Passadumkeg]

Yes, dried a lot of black trumpets and froze boletes.

[southernitalian]

Favorite breakfast by far is pho. If I have a million things to do on the weekend, I'll start the day with a big bowl of pho and I'm good until 5 or 6 that night. Close second is a traditional Irish breakfast, but that usually involves a pint of Guiness and a nap at some point.

[GraydonCarter]

When I was a kid my dad took me on a work trip to rural Dominican Republic and at a small restaurant in town (they paid the neighborhood kids a nickel each not to steal the hubcaps) my fried eggs came with fresh red onions on top. I thought it was gross at the time, but now I love lox, eggs, and onions.

Onions go with eggs.

[onceadaylily]

Sometimes I think I only get Thai or Chinese so that I can have breakfast. We've been known to get a third entree that goes right into the fridge until morning. Pork Foo Young is especially good with a fried egg, but I think I prefer scrambled with something like the General's chicken. And just the thought of a fried egg over panang crispy noodles with beef and basil is enough to make me want to change my dinner plans.

At the cafe, we once did a breakfast salad composed of the usual suspects in the salad, along with chopped egg and veggie sausage, dressed in balsamic vinaigrette. It never appealed to me, but it was surprisingly popular. We had another version that was rice-based, which was more my thing.

[mamachef]

That salad sounds really really good to me, OADL. I'd be inclined to poach the egg or fry it medium and place it atop; sounds delicious for a ricebowl as well. Do you think maple vinaigrette would work for this, or too sweet?

[onceadaylily]

Maple vinaigrette might be nice with the sausage and egg, I think. With everything, in fact. I always thought the balsamic wasn't quite right (though a very popular addition), and added hummus and hot sauce to mine instead.

[Passadumkeg]

French toast w/ liverwurst and maple syrup; sweet & savory.

[Veggo]

Passa, you do come up with some unusual combinations, but that one might have legs. Do you put a little sear on the liverwurst?

[Passadumkeg]

My bro and I have been eating the liverwurst and french toast for over 50 years and I have passed it on to my kids (His daughters are both vegetarians.). Sear or not to sear, that is the question. Depending on the state of my weekend mind, sear if clear, straight up if foggy.
I've had the owner of O'Rourkes Diner in Middletown, Ct., make this up for #1 son and me.

[somervilleoldtimer]

I've never had fried liverwurst. My parents eat in on rye bread with onions and mustard, but they just cut it off the loaf and slap it onto the bread cold.

[Passadumkeg]

That was my dad's favorite. I enjoy it too. Slavic/German/Jewish?

[EWSflash]

Wow.

[Veggo]

I fixed Passa's french toast with fried liverwurst and maple syrple this morning. Worked for me, thant's for the idea, Passa.

[Passadumkeg]

You are most welcome, I guess I need a break from the green chile and fix the liverwurst & French toast for us this weekend.
Little Keg returns from 3 years overseas into Boston at 4:30 this afternoon.

[tuyetmai]

A Colombian friend introduced me to a breakfast consisting of a slab of queso fresco, a chorizo sausage split lengthwise and browned on a grill pan and a toasted arepa, all topped off with pico de gallo. To me this ties for favorite breakfast with a hot bowl of mom's phở bò.

[mamachef]

I so am making this, but have a question: does he/she also grill the cheese, or is the heat from the sausage enough to do it? And how thick a slab?

[tuyetmai]

She cut the queso into 1/4" slices, and served it without grilling. It was a cooling complement to the hot and greasy chorizo, and spicy pico. One could eat it taco style, although the arepa is a little too thick, so I end up breaking it up and using pieces to scoop up the rest. it's really addicting, consider yourself forewarned!

[mamachef]

I will inevitably end up at "Chorizo and cheese Arepas anonymous?"

[goodhealthgourmet]

"One could eat it taco style, although the arepa is a little too thick,"
~~~~~~~~~~~
you could split the arepa and stuff/sandwich everything inside.

[tuyetmai]

that would totally work. mamachef, i'll join you in the twelve step.

[mamachef]

Ok, and then we can go have a drink!! (NOT intended to offend anybody involved in a 12-step program, which I truly believe in.)

[Cherylptw]

My cousin & I were reminising about our grandmother over the weekend and how I remember her having canned pork brains in her kitchen from which she would make my grandfather scrambled eggs with pork brains (I never touched it!). Grandma sometimes made fried salted herrings for breakfast, which I did eat; they were delicious and she also made mackerel cakes.

One of the best things about breakfast which my Granny made was salt pork, sliced thin, which she soaked overnight then fried up crisp and served with homemade biscuits & molasses. The combination of sweet & salty was so good...

[mamachef]

That is one true "Little House on the Prairie" b-fast, Cheryl!!
Canned pork brains? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Talk to ZenSojourner about "awful offal".... : )

[Cherylptw]

What can I say? My family is from NC where no part of the pig goes wasted!

[ZenSojourner]

Is North Carolina part of Germany? Cuz I thought that was where no part of the pig went to waste, LOL!

Brains is one of the very very few things my father refused to eat. Turnips were another.

Given the things he WOULD eat - such as scrapple and souse - I think we can cut him some slack on those.

[Cherylptw]

Scrapple & souse also appeared on the table at the grandparents home. Funny though, I don't recall my parents ever cooking things like brains even though they grew up on it. I do remember going with my mom to the fish market (always a trip to the fish market on Fridays); one time, she bought eel, which I knew I wasn't going to touch cause it looked too much like a snake to me. Fishmonger skinned it, mom took it home, seasoned it and dusted it in flour. It was fried; I was grossed out. (lol)

Actually, there are a lot of similarities between the food of NC & Germany as well as people's names. My mother's name is Hermenia, which is German but my grandfather was 100% Cherokee...don't ask....

[ZenSojourner]

'salright. My great grandmother was "French Canadian" - ie her grandparents were Native Americans who had fled relocation to Canada, converted to Catholicism, and took French names.

My Dad's grandad came over here from Germany, married my "French Canadian" great grandmother, and here we all are!

[iL Divo]

oh there ya go, my husband and sons personal favorite, scrapple

[huiray]

"Is North Carolina part of Germany? Cuz I thought that was where no part of the pig went to waste, LOL!"
-------
Uh, I thought it was China where the "no wasted pig parts" was from...

[ZenSojourner]

Also Poland. And Indiana.

[Passadumkeg]

I would not judge a food by ZS's opinion.
Breakfast at El Ranchero's yesterday, lengua tacos w/ carmelized onions.
Today, a chicharones burrito w/ picante green chile at Casa Calente's.
Salud!

[mamachef]

I judge my food by my own opinion, as it relates to my own food biases. I am always happy though to hear the opinions of another person who loves their food!!
I want a lengua taco for my breakfast, if you please.
I do not find pig brains chilling. I find CANNED pig's brains chilling.

[Passadumkeg]

Yea, I'm not a fan of too much from a can. I call it c-ratitis.

[ospreycove]

MamaChef.....There is still a restaurant at which you can get Pork Brains and Scrambled Eggs, It is SKYWAY JACK'S, In St Petrersburg Florida; Having said that I cannot tell you if the Pork Brains are canned,, frozen, or fresh, as I have never ordered the dish!!!!

[collardman]

Way back when I was still going to sea, (and ships had butchers and not pre-measured and packaged cuts) scrambled eggs and brains used to be offered about twice a week.

Now at least once a week I do some "fusion" work and have an English muffin, or bagel, with Vegimite and a layer of Greek yoghurt.

[ZenSojourner]

Brains are about a million calories, too! I think people must have worked much much MUCH harder back in the "good ol' days". My dad described farm breakfasts of biscuits, gravy, pounds of bacon, sausage, huge steaming bowls full of scrambled eggs, ham, oatmeal or "mush" (I'm not sure what mush was), souse or scrapple or both, honey, jam, pancakes. I'm not sure if they had pancakes AND biscuits at the same time, but they were working it off as fast as they shoveled it in back then. You would, back when plowing was as hard on the man as it was on the mule.

[mamachef]

Oh me oh my. Oh, my goodness. And I mean that. I would pay so much to travel back in time to sit down to a breakfast like that. I like scrapple, especially with maple syrup. And I'd bet the mush was cornmeal or buckwheat; probably the first since they already had cornmeal on hand for the scrapple. It's not just what was served; it's the era and the way that food must've tasted back then, before truly modern farming bleached the life out of it. I have ENVY!!

[ZenSojourner]

I totally forgot the maple syrup! Back then it still got cold enough in southern Indiana for people to tap their own sugar maples. My dad would happily pour maple syrup on nearly everything. I guess growing up when sugar was hard to come by gave him a gargantuan sweet tooth. I swear to you, I saw him put sugar on pie.

I remember real maple syrup when I was little. Then it began to be adulterated, now its an expensive gourmet item and you just get artificially coloured and artificially flavoured "pancake syrup" instead. Log cabin used to be about half real maple syrup, by sometime in the 70's it was all corn syrup and food coloring and fake maple flavoring. Log Cabin now describes their product as "authentic, maple tasting syrup".

What with global warming, I may never taste real maple syrup again.

I haven't seen those little maple sugar candies in decades. You used to see them seasonally, now they only have them at specialty stores.

[mamachef]

"Authentic, maple-tasting syrup" makes me want to cry. I pay a king's ransom for the real deal (or, at least what I assume is the real deal; I had never figured in for adulteration factor.)
Oh, those candies: they would crumble, sort of like a great praline. Sigh. Wait; did you say they still sell them at specialty shops? What shop? Where? Tell me do!

[ZenSojourner]

Google "Maple sugar candy". There are specialty shops in Vermont and environs that will sell them online. The ones I looked at didn't look right some how - I remember them being crumblier, kind of like compacted brown sugar. The ones in the pictures looked sort of like light brown candy corn. You know, that kind of consistency. They didn't look like what I remember anyway, but who knows after 40 or 50 years.

[goodhealthgourmet]

@maamchef, it's too bad you're not down here in LA - i see the Robb Family Farms brand from Vermont at my local health food store in Marina del Rey all the time!

[mamachef]

That gives me a great direction to go in, ghg. Thanks so much!!
@Zen: hey, I'm a natural Buckeye girl too!

[ZenSojourner]

Oh my, do I get to still be a "natural Buckeye girl" if I spent the first 3 days of my life in Richmond, IN?

That's where my family is from and that's where my mom went to have her babies.

LOL!

[mamachef]

I believe you still qualify. There are those who would take exception, but not me 'cause I'm an inclusive kinda gal!

[ZenSojourner]

Good. Because Buckeyes ARE my favorite candy, and I'm not agonna givum up.

[mamachef]

I love making those around holiday time, which is a poor excuse for a joke because nobody ever gets any of them, no matter how many I make; just whatever OTHER cookies and candies I've done that year, but not those buckeyes.

[ZenSojourner]

I don't have much of a sweet tooth (thank god, or I'd be on Dr. Phil while a crane lifted me out through the roof), and neither does my son, but we're both hooked on those Buckeyes. I know it's blasphemy, but sometimes it's too hard to wait to roll them up and dip them, and I just flatten them out, pour the chocolate on top, and cut them into squares like bar cookies.

[mamachef]

Sheesh, I tell you I already have a problem (read: issue) with buckeyes and you tell me how to get at them that much faster. You have a mean streak, sugarpie.
;-)

[ZenSojourner]

Well you know what they say.

Misery loves company.

>:D

[ZenSojourner]

After letting this ferment for awhile in my brain, it occurred to me - you do realize that the chocolate part of the buckeye is only there to help keep your fingers from getting so sticky from the peanut butter dough when you're eating them?

Because when I'm making buckeyes, it takes enormous quantities of self-restraint to refrain from eating as much as I dip. And I might mention that I don't HAVE enormous quantities of self-restraint where buckeyes are concerned . . . so flattening them out and pouring chocolate on top actually has an overall PROTECTIVE effect, in that it gets my hands out of the cookie jar that much faster.

[mamachef]

I am going to have to remember that rationale when I make this year's rations, because it's a damn fine one.
The real, hardcore truth is, I need NO rationale whatsoever. They will be eaten by a grand total of perhaps 7 people instead of the hordes they're intended for. No worries, though; they get the brittles and the mints and the toffee and the pralines. And they are so much more than welcome for those, as long as I got mines.

[somervilleoldtimer]

Okay, one of the two of you (or maybe both) HAVE to give us the recipe for these buckeyes. What are they -- candy or cookie? I can't tell. Please enlighten us mortals.

[mamachef]

They're a creamy peanut-butter filling with a dark or light chocolate shell. You dip 98% in chocolate and leave a small circle of filling peeping through the top, and they look just like, well, buckeyes. I'll be glad to print up stats. tomorrow, but right now am heading out to see what's happening at a neighbor's All Hallow's Eve Party.

[mamachef]

For somervilleoldtimer: The Fabulous Buckeyes!! They are ungodly sweet, but so addictive:

1&1/2 c. peanut butter (the kind w/ stabilizers, I'm afraid)
1 c. unsalted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
roughly six cups sifted powdered sugar
1 bag semi-sweet choc. chips or dark chocolate bits
1/2 ounce grated paraffin, melted.
Mix first three ingredients; knead powdered sugar in until you've got a "fudge-textured" compound that will hold shape when rolled into generous teaspoon-sized balls. Melt choc. chips, and blend with paraffin, and using a toothpick, dip pb balls, leaving a small "eyeball" at the top. (It's what makes buckeyes buckeyes.) Also note ZS's comment above about layering the ingredients and cutting into small bars to knock out the roll-your-own step.
I have frozen these, but they tend to "bloom." Airtight between waxed-paper layers is better for storage, in a very cool place.

[ZenSojourner]

They've never been around long enough in my house to worry about long-term storage, LOL!

[ZenSojourner]

HAH! I have the recipe on my blog at:

http://barbariansatthekitchengate.blo...

Recipes vary. Some people use flour or crushed graham crackers to thicken the dough. Mine calls only for peanut butter, powdered sugar, BUTTER (NOT margarine please!) and vanilla.

I cheat and do not muck with melting the chocolate like you do for real candy. I use paraffin to make it glossy, to thin the chocolate, and to make it easy to melt without risking burning. I have done the thing with the double burner and all that, but once I discovered how easy it was to toss a half or quarter block of paraffin in there instead, I haven't done the other in 25 years. You can keep the chocolate melted over a very low heat for a very long time, no double burner needed as long as you don't walk off and leave it. You can turn it off for a little while, dip until it starts to set up too much, turn it back on until it melts up again, over and over. I found it to be much easier. This is chocolate chips we're talking about here, not fine Swiss chocolate, LOL!.

And the thing with buckeyes is, the longer it takes to get them dipped and set aside, the fewer of them make it to the plate, LOL! At least when I make them.

[goodhealthgourmet]

Zen, i'm not sure where you're located, but it always strikes me as odd when i spot those maple sugar candies at random shops here in SoCal..they just seem so out of place! :)

[ZenSojourner]

Yeah, that would startle me, too! I've spent most of the last 15 years in the midwest, but it's been oh, maybe sometime before the 80's since I last saw the maple sugar candies, when I was still in Ohio.

[Passadumkeg]

http://smithsmapleproducts.com/

[mamachef]

I am indebted to you, Pdk. I would send you a coffee can (Grandma Mimi's favorite way of packing "bakery" for mailing) full of homemade rugelach and blonde brownies and salted sunflower seed-coconut cookies if I could.

[Passadumkeg]

You are most welcome, Mama.
In "Nam, we had trouble getting enough calories. We were issued the new LURP rations in paper the allowed the food to rot and did not supply enough calories, and so we carried the old, heavy, noisy c-rats. My weight dropped to 134 lbs. In the 70's I worked as a uranium miner for 3 years underground. I'd eat 6 eggs and a pound of bacon for breakfast. My weight dropped to 134 again.
I then spent 17 years overseas as an educator, and was enchanted by all the new food breakfast opportunities open to me.
I now work summers as a Registered Maine Guide. And regularly cook breakfasts, usually ployes w/ blueberries to tourists on isolated island along the Maine coast.
I still enjoy a wide range of breakfast foods and find mainstream American breakfast food preferences rather bizarre.
I'll pass on the Coco Puffs.

[mamachef]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service, Pdk.
But, I don't get the coco puffs reference?

[Passadumkeg]

Coco Puffs are what I consider a bizarre, unnatural food, not scrapple.
I've eaten 1 Pop Tart in 1972. Very strange stuff.

[ZenSojourner]

Pop Tarts scare me!

[mamachef]

Oh, and I think your Summer job sounds wonderful; lucky you. A few times, before I re-married, I'd go up to the Desolation Wilderness area here and cook for several Summer camp sessions. It was super, especially since I'd get a reduced (or sometimes free) Camper's rate for my kids. I couldn't have afforded to send them otherwise, and it was a great way to spend a little time and keep the cashflow going while school was out here.
Pop Tarts. I was never allowed them as a child, so of course had huuuuge pop-tart envy. When I was all growed up and buying my own choice of grub, I bought a package of the strawberry-frosted ones. "Strange" is a good adjective. "Vile" also comes to mind. The smell of the chemicals in the frosting and just the appearence of that.....stuff in the center did me right in. Glad they were on sale, because that whole package fell by the wayside. My children wouldn't go near them. #1 son's comment was, I don't know what that smells like, but not food....

[betsydiver]

My grandpa was a philadelphia butcher who made scrapple in his shop and my mom ate it with maple syrup... sometimes i would eat it w/syrup and sometimes w w/ketchup; once i learned to ask for it "well done"ie crispy

[iL Divo]

my husband has always had a butter pat on top of his crispy slice[s] of scrapple. never have I seen anyone in his family use maple syrup or ketchup. but hey, if it works....I'd say anything to cut the taste of the 'parts' is a good idea, he for some reason, like our sons, like the taste of the 'parts' though. crazy guys.

watching the Diners Drive ins and Dives the other day [again as it's a repeat and we've seen it a few times now] with hubby viewing too, the owner of Harry's Roadhouse cafe in Santa Fe NM made a scrapple so I DVR'd it [again] for future viewing. while watching the show the owner [who is the cook, who is Jewish, and who is from Philadelphia] mentioned that it usually was full of liver etc. but when he made it, it contained none of the parts hubby grew up expecting. my husband commented that it would be missing the special flavor without the 'parts' in there so we erased the show. kinda like if you know what a White Castle burger tastes like, if they omitted the liver, you'd ask what's missing. that's a part of the flavor you've come to expect [know and love] about them.

'parts' went into mine this morning..........again, we shall see how it turns out.

[JungMann]

Interesting about the pork brains and eggs. I've had lamb brain and eggs many a time, but the addition of brain to the eggs rendered it a dinnertime dish for me. Who knows why. Given what I know of your tastes, I think it's a combination you would like if you got past the ick factor.

[EWSflash]

I had an epiphany in (of all places) Anaheim when we were visiting Disneyland. The hotel offered a 'typical Japanese breakfast' consisting of miso soup, grilled salmon, rice, and I think something else that I can't remember but it wasn't eggs. .
I've only had that a couple of times, but it's my favorite breakfast. .The also-rans are-
leftover pizza, pasta, quiche, and especially mac&cheese. And enchiladas.

[mamachef]

Yum, I love a good Japanese brekkie. And I'm willing to bet that the "other" thing they served was something pickle-y; cucumbers, lettuce, kelp......
My friend's mom used to eat this breakfast daily with the addition of eggs scrambled with soy and sugar.

[EWSflash]

I think it was pickles- thanks for completing my memory!

[Passadumkeg]

The Rockland Cafe, Me, the only place I know to get that old downeast classic, fish cakes and beans for breakfast.

[JerryMe]

Oh yeah, when I can get it, fried chicken w/ waffles. We live in the SWC of USA and chips and salsa are often the starting point. Had chicken tacos w/ rice and beans for breakfast yesterday. We frequent a breakfast joint that will let you order off the lunch menu and my favorite is their olive burger w/ cheddar and a fresh, crisp salad on the side.

For the record, we get up very early and and rarely do brunch.

[mamachef]

Do they mix chopped olives into the meat? That sounds really good!! Do you have any idea about the ratio they use? Or are those olives just a topping along with the cheese?

[goodhealthgourmet]

mamachef, i forgot to ask, did you (or your Grandpa Harry) ever have fruit with sour cream for breakfast? that was a big treat for me with my Grandpa Sam. sour cream with strawberries, or sour cream with sliced banana and brown sugar. it came up in another discussion here on CH a couple of years ago, and i went on a kick of eating it for a while...though with low-fat sour cream ;)

[mamachef]

OMG, yes he surely did. I had completely forgotten that one, GHG!! Not completely on-topic, but my Grandpa Babe also loved something he called "Old Country Salad", big hunks of tomato, cucumber and onion with looootttttssss of sour cream - or as he called it, smetana.

[goodhealthgourmet]

i have to confess, that smetana doesn't sound half bad ;) better than what my Uncle Mickey used to do with salad - just cover it with shake, after shake, after shake...of SALT. blech.

[mamachef]

Dry? No vinaigrette whatsoever? No dressing of any kind? just Sodium? yeccccch. Poor uncle Mickey.

[goodhealthgourmet]

unfortunately yes. dry, no dressing, no oil, just SALT.

[ospreycove]

The old time dairy restaurants (R>Gross Dairy Restaurant long gone in the Garment Center) used to serve Sour Cream and fruit for Breakfast, I have to admit it was good!!!!!

[mamachef]

Grandpa Harry was also the one who turned me onto sour cream with blueberries at Ratner's dairy house in NYC, bless his heart...

[ospreycove]

Legs and Eggs meant Frog Legs,(local lake Okeeechobee) and Eggs, served with grits and biscuits in inland, Everglades Florida

[mamachef]

Hey, that's a good one. ospreycove. I also just read (here, unrelated thread) about a Welsh b-fast of cockles, seaweed (maybe carageenan custard or something?) and bacon, with eggs.

[chowmel]

Growing up it was often last nights leftovers - most likely American chop suey, creamed chip beef, welsh rarebit, chow mein (our familys attempt!), or canned soup and toast. There was also the usual cereal, eggs or pancakes but I remember the leftovers most. To this day my brother eats from whatevers in the fridge.

[serendipity3]

When I was little, my grandpa's favorite breakfast was pancakes with chokecherry syrup and kipper snacks. I usually just stuck with the pancakes and chokecherry syrup (my grandma does both from scratch, mmmmmmm) but one day I was feeling adventurous and Grandpa gave me some. I was surprised how tasty they were.

I'm not sure where he got the taste for them. He was German American who lived his whole life in North Dakota (not known for it's fish products), aside from a few years in the Army.

[amokscience]

I ate some combination of this almost every morning for a couple years:

Rice, raw egg, canned tuna, dried squid, kimchi, other miscellaneous pickled veggies, natto, nori, soy sauce.

[goodhealthgourmet]

nothing like a big bowl of umami to start your day off right! ;)

[amokscience]

We'd also usually have a bowl of corn flakes with a heaping helping of sugar, a couple toasted jelly and butter sandwiches, and a full pint of freshly delivered milk... active growing boys and all. Oh, and processed cheese in the rice mix too.

[Veggo]

I love fresh conch in every form, but it is usually a lunch or dinner item. BUT at Los Pelicanos in Puerto Morelos, Q. Roo, MX, one can have caracol al mojo de ajo, con huevos fritos. The only place I know in this hemisphere where I can have fresh grilled conch with eggs over easy and watch the sun rise from the water's edge.

[Isolda]

I love tsukemono on rice. I discovered this while staying in New York at a hotel that offered a Japanese breakfast buffet. I had no clue what I was eating at the time--think I threw in some broiled salmon, too--but it was delicious.

[khh1138]

I make this for myself all the time for breakfast: rice, some kind of fish (often a kipper or some other smoked fish), and tsukemono. So satisfying. The older I get, the more I want this kind of breakfast and the sadder I am with how most breakfast foods are sweet, sweet, sweet.

[AdamD]

My wife is Japanese, so she makes Japanese breakfasts every weekend and once or twice during the week. Miso soup, some tofu, small chunk of leftover fish (usually salmon, but sometimes a small slice of eel, and yes Japanese pickles on rice. We tend to call them oshinko instead of tsukemono. She also serves green leaf salads, sesame spinach or some quickly sauted cabbage for breakfast. Too me awhile to get used to it, but now I crave it, especially in the winter. I will skip coffee when she makes it. The only strange items are the natto (fermented soy beans-which I cant stand) and those tiny dried fish(the name escapes me at the moment) which she sprinkles over the tofu
.
Japanese breakfasts really make you feel good-much better than a diner style meal-which I do love once in awhile.

[eclecticsynergy]

There's nothing quite so balancing and restorative as good miso soup. Ooh mommy!

[Tripeler]

A bar I used to go to here in Tokyo would serve you a small bowl of miso soup after you had your last drink. It seemed to minimize hangovers.

[just_M]

My husband likes to make what he calls a "nightmare", he and my son love it. A nightmare is like a chili size for breakfast - its a hot sausage patty (or what ever patty you like/have) covered in chili and topped with a sunny side up egg, jalapeños and cheese optional.

Then there is the Hawaiian "moco loco" rice topped w/hamburger patty, doused w/brown gravy and topped w/a fried egg. A DS favorite.

[mamachef]

I could eat loco moco all day long. That sounds like a pure plate of comfort. My brother called and reminded me of "mug o' breakfast": nuked bacon (he'd precook a pound and chop it), scrambled with a couple of eggs in a mug with a paper towel on top, and toast cubes at the last. I actually don't think there was anything that made this easier than just scrambling a couple of eggs with bacon the regular way, but the mug made it a novelty not to be taken lightly. He covered his with ketchup. Or sometimes maple syrup.

[just_M]

I'll bet my kids would love that!

[flylice2x]

It's LOCO MOCO...instead of the hamburger I like it with portugese sausage patties.
Other versions are rice topped with curry stew and eggs. Rice, hot dogs, chili and eggs...

[Tripeler]

Loco Moco with Portagee Sausage... Holy Ono!

[just_M]

Oops - my dyslexia is showing! The Portuguese sausage would be delicious.

[jhopp217]

Not really different, but I love blood pudding. Nothing beats a traditional Irish breakfast. I guess maybe the only strange pairing was due to me only having one egg left and leftovers in the fridge, so I did a mixed grill of a fried egg, corned beef hash, chicken fried steak and a piece of fried chicken....oh and bacon, of course.

[pinehurst]

That's also a breakfast you'll find in parts of French-speaking Canada, esp the Maritimes. In my house, it was just called boudin, not boudin noir or anything. Cretons is also big. Both are good stuff, if not spartan....sticks to your ribs.

[Passadumkeg]

We have both in Maine and ployes too; a dark buckwheat pancake, "Acadian".

[MarkEJacob]

President Woodrow Wilson breakfasted on two raw eggs in fruit juice every day.

[smartie]

my grandpa used to like cold fried fish on challah for breakfast - it was his saturday morning favourite.

[mamachef]

Oh, you just brought up a memory for me, smartie....my Grandpa Harry used to go to temple in the morning for minyan, pre-breakfast, and afterwards all the oldsters would gather for some creamed pickled herring and a shot or two of schnapps.......that one might just take the cake for the alltime strange breakfast. I can still smell it.

[smartie]

kiddush fish breath!!

[goodhealthgourmet]

mamachef, not to get too OT here, but speaking of herring, have you ever had the chopped herring salad from Barney Greengrass? how's this for strange - they featured it on Best Thing I Ever Ate on FN last week, and it turns out they put *applesauce* in it!

[mamachef]

I have eaten that herring salad, and I loooooved that salad. There WAS an undefinable sweetness to it, and a freshness. It was freaking delicious. Applesauce? APPLESAUCE? Seriously? I wonder how they eliminate any grainy factor? That is some good stuff. Grampa Harry would've loved it for his morning nosh. With the Slivo.

[goodhealthgourmet]

they actually add sugar to it as well, so it would still be sweet without the applesauce. but i had the same reaction - i couldn't believe it :) as far as the texture, i'm pretty sure he said they make the applesauce in-house, so perhaps they just blend it really well. anyway, i thought you'd get a kick out of that.

[critter101]

I have an old recipe for chopped herring that I used to make for my father - everything went through the old-fashioned grinder that you turn by hand (pre food processor days). It contains herring fillets, onions, a few pieces of bread, vinegar,
hard-cooked eggs, sugar, chopped apple, and oil. It's from a Jennie Grossinger book from the 50's.

[mamachef]

Grossinger, like as in Grossingers? We went there once or twice, ok, every Summer, for the longest time....

[critter101]

Yup - here's her story:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/j...

[mamachef]

That was sweet. And patriotic.

[junescook]

I remember her from tv, and I very much miss the rye bread that was licensed under her brand. It was nice and dense and sour and chewy. I've still not been able to find anything widely available to replace it.

[iL Divo]

as I hide behind a couch, I'm thinking that actually sounds good.........

[goodhealthgourmet]

i once heard someone wax poetic about a "Spam breakfast bagel" - Spam egg and cheese on a bagel...i guess it's a Spam-lover's take on a ham & egg breakfast sandwich. not something i would ever want to eat personally, but i understand the concept.

[mamachef]

I love this phrase, "but I understand the concept." I feel that way about a lot of things: I get the concept of cleaning my oven pans on a regular basis - just not as it applies to me personally. So I buy new ones. : )
Spam brekkie bagel - Jewish/Hawaiian breakfast food. I'm not a spam-person by a long shot, but the one time I tasted it, during an emergency rations dinner during a storm, it was pretty darn tasty. Dear friend made a hash out of cubed spam, steamed potatoes and sweet potatoes, onions and some shaved fennel. It worked, ya know? It shouldn't have, there was no reason or rhyme, but it worked.

[just_M]

<< It worked, ya know? It shouldn't have, there was no reason or rhyme, but it worked. >>

I swear that should be spam's new motto ;-)

[goodhealthgourmet]

well, Spam certainly wasn't on the shelf in our Jewish home when i was a kid, and as an adult, i've never had even the slightest desire to try it :) oh, and as for my comment about understanding the concept, i feel the same way about my former home - NYC. i get why some people love it, but i'd never want to live there again!

[mamachef]

Oh, I meant the bagel part, not the spam part.

[currentlycraving]

i always enjoy the look on my friends' faces when i tell them that i love spam, and i tell them that i'm pretty sure it's an asian thing, and i know for sure in hawaii it's really popular. it's funny, i remember once i packed spam sandwich for school, thinking nothing of it, and when i told my 2nd grade teacher what it was, she had a thinly veiled look of confused and disgust.
i grew up with my mom always putting spam in korean stews and it was just something i got used to. i'm trying to condition my boyfriend to get used to it but i'm pretty sure he'll just pick around it.
on a side note, it's more expensive than i thought it was!

[GraydonCarter]

I'll have the egg, spam, sausage, spam, spam, bacon, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam, spam, spam, spam, tomato and spam, please.

[mamachef]

I'm picking up the vibe that GraydonCarter likes his spam, spam, spam, spam. ;-)

[eclecticsynergy]

And the chorus in the background sings, "Lovely spam, wonderful spaaam!"

[Passadumkeg]

Sounds like asong from Spamalot.

[GraydonCarter]

...or Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and spam.

[Passadumkeg]

With the left overs from Sat. night lobster feeds, I do make a mean lobster, feta and fresh mint omelet.

[EWSflash]

Sadly, I don't get enough lobster to share it with other ingredients, so I'll have one of your omelets, hold the eggs, mint, and feta, please. ;-)

[Passadumkeg]

Lobster, garden asparagus, and fresh grated parm omelet?

[Isobel_A]

My first introduction to spam was a Japanese friend at school in NZ sharing her sandwiches with me. I thought it was delicious, but then I was an enforced vegetarian. My parents were vegetarian and insisted I be, at 13. I ate meat at any given opportunity when I didn't think they'd find out. Almost any meat was therefore immediately wonderful, including things like luncheon meat and bacon and egg pies that I'd probably think were awful now. I've not tried spam since, so I'm not sure what I'd think of it!

[Will Owen]

I deeply love fried fish with eggs. The Cracker Barrel chain has fried catfish on the breakfast menu with eggs under "Cousin Hershel's Favorite" (I think), and it's really good. Another great fish & eggs choice is at Square One Dining in Hollywood, where they have a dish of house-cured salmon on these fried bird's-nest potato cakes, topped with freshly poached eggs and hollandaise. You can get it with grits or a green salad. I was forced to get the latter because they were out of grits, and fell madly in love with the combo. I would urge anyone to try it.

[mamachef]

Is Square One dining still there, Will Owen? I must needs try that on my next trip to the Southland.....I have an idea about the crispy potato nests, but I would need to get a visual and taste it before attempting at home....

[Will Owen]

Square One appears to be quite durable, being very busy all day most days. It is on Fountain, behind the Scientology Android Central (my term, not theirs) which fronts Sunset. You may see black-and-white clad "celebrities" chain-smoking in large groups behind their building any time you come by. There is usually ample parking along there.

Those nests are a matter of great interest to me: "nests" is the closest I can get to what they look like, being a loosely but solidly woven assemblage of crisply-fried shreds, kinda like a fried-potato Brillo pad. I am determined to discover their secret. They are delicious.

[mamachef]

If I am recalling this correctly - or even halfway correctly - I saw something similar and have never tried it. It called for long shreds of potato, drained and then mixed w/ a touch of potato starch. The potatoes were patted into a strainer (fairly small) and then topped off with another, smaller strainer that kept them in shape for the fairly brief deep-fry. I can't remember for the life of me where I saw it, but I recall that in this particular incarnation it was served with a chicken potpie-type filling.

[MRS]

almost sounds like an Irish boxty...yum!

[JungMann]

I also get a hankering for fried fish in the morning -- though my preference is for something smoked or cured like kippers, typically with garlic fried rice instead of toast and eggs over hard.

[MrsT]

I used to work "A.M" drive in radio. At 9 A.M. the cafeteria would get a sushi delivery and my co-worker (now husband) would go down and get some California rolls for us. Technically it was lunchtime for us since we were already work for 4 hours

[ZenSojourner]

I like upma for breakfast. Or lunch or dinner for that matter. It's basically curried Cream o' Wheat.

I have a bad habit of sprinkling it with soy sauce, an oddity picked up from my ex.

[mamachef]

Upma? Where is that from? Sounds almost like a variation in grain (do you use semolina for it?) that's not too different from jook (I know you know that's rice porridge). The soy sauce - different, but I do use it on my jook when I eat it, along with some sesame oil and chopped scallions. But Upma. I have never, never heard of Upma. I'm fascinated by this one.

[Rasam]

Upma or uppuma is a very standard South Indian breakfast. Can be made with cream of wheat, cracked wheat/bulgur, couscous, even quinoa, just about any type of grain product.
You can even make it with leftover bread crusts or cubes, leftovre cubed idlis, whatever.

It is very tasty and nutritious (depending on what you make it with).

Zes Sojourner, I know you mean well, but describing it as "curried" cream of wheat is really not accurate (because the word curry is such a loose and catch all and inaccurate term). Especially on a board like this where people purport to know something about food.

Upma is seasoned with South Indian spices - if you used other spices (e.g. with a Northern or Eastern Indian profile) it would no longer be upma but something else.

A basic recipe would be: buy cream of wheat (not the instant kind), (called sooji in the Indian store).

Take ~ 1 cup cream of wheat, and toast it in a wok or skillet untl golden brown and fragrant. Keep aside.

In the same wok, add a little oil, and temper (tarka) the following spices in the following order, stir a few seconds in between each: 1/8 tsp hing, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, a few peanuts or cashew nuts, 1/2 inch ginger minced, 1 hot green chili diced (adjust amount to taste), 4-5 fresh curry leaves.

When the spices pop, add about 1/2 cup chopped veggies in small dice - e.g. onion, carrot, green peas, tomato, potato (a variety is nice). When the veggies are about half done, add the cream of wheat back, toast again for a minute, then add about 2 to 3 cups water. Mix well and let cook until all is donw (another 5 minutes or so).

If you prefer a mushier end product use more water, if you prefer drier and firmer, use less.

Add salt to taste. Taste, and add some lemon juice if there is not enough sour in the balance. Some people even add buttermilk or diluted yogurt here for this reason. Garnish wtih cilantro.

Serve hot or warm, with sides that can include plain yogurt, sliced banana, etc.

[ZenSojourner]

My. Sorry but I disagree. Calling it "basically curried cream of wheat" is as good a description as any, without going into the details of the recipe. Your recipe differs from mine, which is no surprise, given the huge regional variations in recipes in India.

I'm sure you meant well. LOL!

[Rasam]

You may disagree, but facts are facts.

On a food oriented board, where most people share respect for accuracy related to food, it just won't do to say that "curried cream of wheat is as good a description as any without going into details".

It may be a challenge to get the right balance of details, but the details can get distorted to the point of being plain wrong. It was easy enough to say that upma is "Cream of Wheat with Southern Indian spices" (for e.g.).

Would you have this overly broad approach about any other cuisine? Would you for e.g. describe any and every pasta sauce as "Ragu'ed" this or that? Maybe you would, but my point would still stand.

And while there are huge regional variations in Indian recipes, and there may be variations in Upma recipes, that doesn't address the main point that upma is not "curried" anything.

The way the word curry is thrown around to describe sauced/gravy-ied dishes, or dry dishes, or anything with any remotely Indian spices, is just pointless.

I meant to be polite actually. But this level of misinformation is too much. If you like a recipe the least you can do (on this type of forum) is to get your facts straight. "You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts".

[ZenSojourner]

Would I describe something that uses pasta sauce as Ragu'ed something or other?

Absolutely, if "Ragu" was a term that had meaning to the person I was talking to.

It's not misinformation. It's just a partially tongue-in-cheek way to describe something quickly. Shortcuts are often accurate in an overarching sense while being absolutely INaccurate in a micro-sense. And frankly, on a cooking board like this where I feel I can safely assume the vast majority of people actually do know that "curry" is a vague term with little actual meaning except in the broadest sense, I am MORE likely to use a term like that, because I'm COUNTING on people being sophisticated enough to know what is meant without me having to go into the long story about how "curry doesn't really mean anything".

[Pia]

Tangent: I'm also guilty of calling Indian-spiced things "curry" just to avoid having to describe what it actually is, even though I know it's inaccurate... Rasam, do you have a better idea? Or do I then have to go into a recipe and go down the rabbithole of explaining what "hing" is and how there's this brown seed thing, but I don't remember what it's called in English?

[ZenSojourner]

hing = asafoetida, and btw, why can't I get this unadulterated anymore? I can only find it these days mixed with liberal amounts of flour.

And my stab at the brown seed thing might be methi or fenugreek?

(tongue firmly in cheek, my guess is you're not REALLY asking, LOL!)

BTW, Rasam, you're recipe isn't as different from mine as I thought at first. The carrots and peas threw me. We don't use those, and I missed that you ARE using potatoes and tomatoes. The rest of it's pretty similar.

[mamachef]

Either way, it sounds gooood to me!! especially with an egg - but then, IMHO, eggs improve anything, especially correctly done (to my taste), firm whites with NO egg jello, and a lovely runny yolk.

[ZenSojourner]

OW! You had me there - right up to the runny yolk, LOL!

See how tastes differ? I love my eggs cooked crispy brown, broken, and over hard. My dad liked 'em over easy and runny yolks. So I'd make his eggs first, and if I overcooked it or accidentally broke the yolk, that became my egg. Eventually I'd have 2 eggs for him and 2 or 3 for me. Depending on how steady my had was that morning - or wasn't. LOL!

[mamachef]

I love my fried-egg sandwich with ketchup and strawberry jam on an English muffin, and for that purpose, yes, the egg must be well-done with a broken yolk. At least for me.

[ZenSojourner]

For my dad and most of the rest of my family, too. They used to take the toast and sop up any runny-yolk leavings.

I'm the oddball of the bunch for most things, it seems.

[mamachef]

I had the distinct privilege many years ago of being the first one to wake up after a house party in the UK. My body was screaming for sustenance, so I headed into the kitchen and fired up the Aga and proceeded to attempt to make eggs to order for a traditional "fryup." There were30 or so of us there, so it was kind of a tall order. My hand was not remotely steady that morning, but for some reason a sort of synergy happened and despite the handicap, they all turned out perfectly. Never happened before or since, not that I'm in the habit of doing eggs to order for 30 - but I'm betting if I tried it today, things just wouldn't work out that well. 20-year-olds recover from that sort of thing so much faster, don't they? I'd probably offer the option of scrambled eggs, which I know is a bastard version, but hey, they're eggs, right? Eat 'em and be happy!

[EWSflash]

Brava to you for not caving to scrambled eggs that day. I don't know why I feel that way, I wasn't there! Guess I'm not a big fan of scram eggs at all, so I wanted to give you a thumbs up for taking the high road, even if you'd never do it again.

[CookieLee]

I found asafoetida powder in an Indian grocery where I live. (Brookline, MA)

[ZenSojourner]

If it's an ounce or two (50g or 100g) it's the "compounded" asafoetida.

If it's a little tiny tin, containing only 5 or 10 g, then it's most likely the pure stuff.

I got used to cooking with the pure stuff, and just a pinch, literally, is all you want. The odor is intense and the flavor is sharp and bitter if you're not careful and you overdo it. But I don't have a feel for the "compounded" stuff. I'm not sure how much is the real spice and how much is the filler (mostly rice flour).

But I've not seen the pure stuff for oh, I think something over 20 years. Not here in the US at any rate.

[CookieLee]

The ingredients list says "wheat starch". When I do use it, following recipes in an Indian cookbook, I do use v. little as directed. Having no experience with pure asafoetida, I will say that this seems to work fine. There is a depth of flavor I've not experienced before. And, the stuff does stink to high heaven! I now have the container double bagged in plastic, but only after I opened the cabinet and had my nose practically burned out from the odor!

[ZenSojourner]

Yeah, it's pretty awful, isn't it? One of those things you wonder how anybody ever though it would be a good thing to eat.

And yet you don't want to leave it out.

[Vetter]

I just know that asafoetida is the only thing I've ever had irreparably ruin my Nalgene water bottles. I used to store my empty Nalgene bottles in a cupboard near a bin of spices. I'm sure what I had was the cut stuff. I can ONLY image that you're not exaggerating about the pure stuff!

[ZenSojourner]

Oh wow, yeah it would thoroughly stink up anything plastic near it! I don't store mine in the cupboard at all. I bag it in a ziploc freezer bag (extra thick plastic) and keep it out on my spice lazy Suzan with only stuff in glass or metal containers near it. There's still a little bit of an odor, but out in the open it doesn't get the chance to build up.

[Rasam]

Pia and ZenS:

I am sure that a group of well educated and food aware people (like those here) will find it feasible to come up with an accurate descriptor of Indian dishes that doesn't have to go into myriad detail of individual spices and yet not be so vague as to be pointless.

I had already given one example: you could call upma "savory cream of wheat with South Indian spices". You could perhaps come up with a better / more succinct / whatever descriptor that would make sense to your audience, and yet not totally mislead them.
If the people you are talking to ask for details of the spices, you could go into less or more detail: e.g. "what spices are those", "oh, things like mustard seeds, curry leaves, ginger and green chilies and a couple of other things". Basically, where there is a will there is a way.

Also, I stand firm that it is not too much to expect on a foodie board, that people won't use a totally nonsense term like "curried" whatever - since it *is* misleading and just too vague (meaning totally different things to different people).
On a general board where you may be talking with people who have likely never seen fresh ginger in their lives, you could have more excuse for saying whatever.
But on a board where people have a high degree of sophistication about almost all kinds of food ways, ranging from micro regional Italian cuisine to all kinds of cheeses and wines and sausage, it is too cavalier and disingenuous to say "oh it's tongue in cheek" or whatever. The same basic respect that is taken for granted with regard to European (for e.g.) food should be accorded to Indian and other cuisines too.

HIng is the resin of a plant that grows widely in Afghanistan (and nearby regions). I don't know why they are not grown elsewhere, or if anyone has tried or not since 1.2 billion Indians are clamoring for more hing. I have heard that because these regions are war torn nowadays, hing supplies are down. So the powdered hing products are getting more and more "cut" with flour etc. I've had to adjust all my recipes that used to call for 1/8 tsp of hing to use 1/2 tsp of hing!

And yes, I know my upma recipe is accurate - I've grown up eating it, and make it regularly for my family. :)
I've also lived in many different regions of India and learnt a few things about regional variations ...

[Isobel_A]

I would argue that 'curried' has a specific meaning also, but only for particular anglicized things like curried eggs, or something like kedgeree - any of those Victorian creations. They either don't have a traditional Indian background at all, or are so bastardized as to be unrecognisable from the original.

Maybe that's just a British association with the word.

[ZenSojourner]

Yup, semolina. Regular old breakfast Cream o' Wheat is fine. Not the instant type, as Rasam mentioned.

Soy sauce is definitely not "authentic" but it's a bad habit I picked up from my ex, who's from Andhra.

[small h]

The Pink Teacup in Manhattan serves fried eggs with a salmon cake (and home fries, and grits). I love this. It's different to me, but I'm sure it's run-of-the-mill for plenty of people.

[mamachef]

Exactly the kind of thing I meant....at least, it's new to me too. I'd try it with soft-poached eggs, and crumble some bacon onto the grits, but it sounds close enough to perfect for me!

[Jay F]

I used to love the Pink Teacup when I lived in the Village. My other two breakfast haunts were Sandolino's and Elephant & Castle. Are they still there?

[small h]

Sandolino's was replaced by Perilla, I think. Elephant & Castle is still going strong, though. And the Pink Teacup went out of business and then returned - I haven't been to its new incarnation yet.

[iL Divo]

In Alaska, I went out on a limb "once" and had Crab and Salmon Benedict.
I said I did it once for a reason. Not a fan.
That said, also another time in Alaska, I froze walking to Saks for breakfast and it had to have been -3856°, our eyes were freezing shut. I was so cold that when the server mentioned having California style Eggs Benedict, I jumped on it. All I remember is that beautiful avocado was on there as well as other typical California ingredients and all I thought about was warmth, it worked.

[Passadumkeg]

In Maine, lobster and crab "Benedict".

[EWSflash]

Prefer the lobster/crab, but will gladly "settle" for either

[iL Divo]

you may give me lobster Benedict any time and I'll only smile and say thank you very much. I ate a whole bug Bar Harbor. even the tamale. my husband was very proud, delicious

[Passadumkeg]

Next time try the lobber Bennie at Chester Pike's Galley in Sullivan. Illicit.

[small h]

I find the combination of runny egg yolk and seafood very appealing, ditto runny egg yolk and avocado. But I see where crab & salmon might get old in Alaska, whereas California produce would not.