Breakfast! The most important meal of the day (2004-2011)

[Ann_T]

Oh my!!!! That jungle curry looks amazing. That's a breakfast that would make both Moe and I happy. He would have his eggs and I've have curry and rice.

Kim, your pancakes look perfect to me. Just the way I make my buttermilk pancakes. I like them on the thin side so I thin out the batter.

I picked up some farm fresh eggs from one of the local farms and made poached eggs for yesterday's breakfast.

[patrickamory]

Sweet, I have not yet tried that one. If you get a chance, post on the too-long-dormant Thai Cooking at Home thread.

I have read that thread - all 29 pages of it - three times through! And learned so much.

[Cass]

An egg on some polenta, with a few slices of Tartine Bread Baguette toast.

[rarerollingobject]

Baked some scones - feta, bacon, and green onion. Slathered with a VERY hot habanero compound butter for a bit of early morning terror.

[Jenni]

Idli upma with peanut chutney. My idlis are not super perfect when eaten straight as idlis (fermentation is a tad slow and incomplete in current weather ), but they make lovely upma!

[Jenni]

Ok, so actually most recent idlis came out pretty good. Sambar and coconut chutney were damn fine too!

[Ashen]

Hi folks.. This is my first post here so if I get out of bounds let me know

I love breakfast so this topic drew me in immediately.

breafast today was a toasted sourdough bagel,with two sunny side up eggs over a hash of leftover debreziner sausage, onion and russet potato. the hash was seasoned with pinches of mexican oregano, dried golden thyme ( the last bit of my homegrown crop from last year) , ground cumin, chili powder( homemade blend) ,my hot batch chile blend( another homemade blend with combo of spices and bought chile powders and my homemade smoked habanero powder), kosher salt, and fresh cracked black pepper.

Also couldn't forget the coffee.

french press using fresh ground espresso beans.

[kayb]

An extremely busy month so far -- new grandchild on Feb. 28, and work stuff when I got back in town a week later -- has kept me away from this thread and most of eGullet (and much of the rest of the internet). But this weekend, I got serious about cooking. To do that, of course, one must fuel oneself properly:

Corned beef hash, made from leftover corned beef and mashed potatos I'd made for an early St. Patrick's Day dinner. With an over easy free-range egg. And a slice of spicy cheese bread, spread with fig preserves. A gal can cook all day on that. Except I went to the racetrack instead.

Edited March 20, 2011 by kayb (log)

[Ann_T]

I don't know what I want more, either of Jen's breakfasts or Cass's eggs and polenta.

Welcome Ashen. We drink the same coffee - French Press espresso.

Yesterday I baked biscuits for breakfast.

Today's breakfast - Leftover biscuits - Biscuits and Sausage Gravy. It would be rare to find this on a menu in Canada. Not sure why since it tastes soooooo good.

Served with scrambled eggs. Farm fresh.

[Blether]

Those all look great, Ann. Would you mind explaining to a poor uninitiated furriner what that sausage gravy is, that is to say, how you make it ?

[Ann_T]

Blether, this is really an "American" dish. But this is how this Canadian makes it.

I squeezed the sausage meat out of the casings and sauted them in a cast iron skillet until they started to brown. Drained off the sausage fat and added a tablespoon or so of butter (I never measure). Added enough flour, and cooked for a few minutes and then added a cup of coffee cream and then thinned it out a more with milk. You can use all milk, but I like the richness that the cream adds. Seasoned with sage and lots and lots of fresh ground black pepper. Simmered for 20 minutes or so and served over buttermilk biscuits.

Ann

[emilyr]

Blether, this is really an "American" dish. But this is how this Canadian makes it.

I squeezed the sausage meat out of the casings and sauted them in a cast iron skillet until they started to brown. Drained off the sausage fat and added a tablespoon or so of butter (I never measure). Added enough flour, and cooked for a few minutes and then added a cup of coffee cream and then thinned it out a more with milk. You can use all milk, but I like the richness that the cream adds. Seasoned with sage and lots and lots of fresh ground black pepper. Simmered for 20 minutes or so and served over buttermilk biscuits.

Ann

That sounds about right to this southern(ish) girl. We, too, add a little bit of light cream or half-and-half and sage, though those are just additions my mom added; most people around here usually use all milk and just tons of black pepper.

[Blether]

Thanks, Ann & Emily. It does sound 'right tasty'. Where I come from, we'd call that 'sausage in white sauce' or 'sausage in cream'. It's funny how the language has diverged, isn't it ? In the UK 'gravy', traditionally at least, is exclusively the brown, flour-thickened sauce made up from roasting pan drippings (or sauce made from instant powders that purport to give something similar).

Talking of which, it's dinner for breakfast again. In fact it's exactly the same as the last dinner I posted in Dinner!, just as good if not better: I didn't forget to dress the sprouts with salt & butter this time. Roast pork 'n gravy, bacon-y mash:

- fuzzy handheld photo shot on top of some scuzzy notes on my desk. I wasn't going to bother, which is why it's half-eaten already. Think I'll score a coffee before getting back to the coal-face.

[andiesenji]

Blether, in the south "milk" gravy goes with pork, sausage, chops and etc., and with chicken -

"smothered" pork chops are usually topped with milk gravy, at least in western Kentucky, where I grew up.

Many southern diners, cafes, etc., serve biscuits and milk gravy, with or without sausage.

Ham and pork roasts, are usually served with 'red-eye' gravy made with black coffee, no milk. Beef and game is served with brown gravy, some contain a dash of vinegar and there is also turkey gravy - goose and turkey or duck - brown and silky, no milk and different than regular "brown" gravy.

And there there is the "black pepper gravy" served with game - especially venison but also with wild pig, raccoon and etc. Raccoon is an extremely fatty meat.

In my opinion, the south has more versions of gravy than any other region/country.

[judiu]

Don't forget the cream gravy with the chicken fried steak, please!

[Blether]

Blether, in the south "milk" gravy goes with pork, sausage, chops and etc., and with chicken...

Thanks, andiesenji. I always appreciate your erudition, and that gives me a good framework to remember American gravy by (we'll get round to the Canadians and their Poutine later I did actually put a little balsamic in the gravy above, in case you didn't read about it before.

With the combination of flour & cream, Ann's recipe reminded me of this dish from last year. You get a far greater variety of game across America, in general, than I'm used to - well, there was plenty of game in the Scottish countryside, even back in the 70's, of course. Here in Japan I've eaten bear in the deep mountains; I can imagine raccoon being similar. The bear was certainly fatty.

[andiesenji]

Don't forget the cream gravy with the chicken fried steak, please!

You are so right! I missed that one - it's similar to the pork chop gravy. By "milk" gravy I meant any of the dairy gravies, milk, cream, etc. Our milk was from Jersey cows and was more like today's half & half than regular milk.

The first time I ever saw a bare "cube" steak I thought it was going to be treated like chicken-fried steak and was shocked when it was fried plain, with no coating and no gravy. UGH!

I also forgot to mention buttermilk gravy - I think it is a western KY regional thing - little sausage meatballs browned and simmered in this gravy which was served with dumplings or on split biscuits.

Years later when I was first served "Swedish Meatballs" I realized it was very similar to that food I had loved in childhood.

Edited March 22, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[MSRadell]

I squeezed the sausage meat out of the casings and sauted them in a cast iron skillet until they started to brown. Drained off the sausage fat and added a tablespoon or so of butter (I never measure). Added enough flour, and cooked for a few minutes and then added a cup of coffee cream and then thinned it out a more with milk. You can use all milk, but I like the richness that the cream adds. Seasoned with sage and lots and lots of fresh ground black pepper. Simmered for 20 minutes or so and served over buttermilk biscuits.

Rather than taking the sausage meat out of the casings in most areas of the south you're able to buy the meat in bulk form like hamburger so that eliminates a step. I personally never remove the sausage fat (it adds flavor) before adding the butter required. I certainly do agree on the fresh ground black pepper however, the more the better.

[menuinprogress]

Yesterday I baked biscuits for breakfast.

Those biscuits look absolutely fantastic! And your eggs look great, as well.

[Pierogi]

Fresh biscuits and sausage gravy are one of the absolute 10 best dishes in the world. Ever. And those look stellar, Ann !

[Blether]

Breadmaker white toast, Skippy on the one hand, and on the other, some of the small batch of lemon curd I put down in the autumn thinking I'd use it to sauce pudding, before yuzu later fell into my lap:

Lemon curd and East African coffee - what a combination !

[percyn]

Been traveling to Rome, Paris and Berlin for the past 2 weeks.

Here is a croque monsieur being enjoyed in my Paris hotel room with a view of Tour Eiffel in the background (not clearly visible.

[SobaAddict70]

Boring breakfast:

Whey shake -- 1 scoop whey/egg powder, 8 oz. water

Glass of whole milk

1 cup whole milk, 1 cup muesli with dried fruit (dried blueberries, dried cherries, dried blackberries, raisins, currants)

No pic though. My breakfasts during the week aren't exactly pic-worthy.

[BadRabbit]

Breakfast this Sunday was a homemade English muffin with a fried egg (runny yolk, of course!) and a slice of prosciutto.

This is what I have almost every morning except I use country ham and add a little cheese.

If I'm really in a hurry, I'll spray down a round creme brulet ramekin (about 3.5 in diameter) and cook an egg in it in the microwave for 45 seconds. You have to cover the ramekin well but it actually makes a pretty decent egg. It's light and fluffy with a done white and runny yolk. It also happens to be a perfect diameter for my homemade English muffins and provides a uniform thickness of egg throughout. It's not as good as a fried egg but it's a lot better than no egg.

[Blether]

... spray down a round creme brulet ramekin (about 3.5 in diameter) and cook an egg in it in the microwave for 45 seconds...

Nice.