Breakfast Food Porn to Start the Day.

Even though I have lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and now reside in Monticello, Utah; anyone that knows me well can tell you that I'm still a New Yorker at heart.  Back in the late 1970's, I was living on Long Island and taking the Railroad into New York City to attend New York University.  I graduated in 1980 and began working in NYC, again taking the Railroad back and forth; at least I got some good extra sleep or reading done on those long, tedious trips.

A daily ritual I indulged in was stopping at a deli nearby work and ordering a breakfast sandwich and coffee to have at my desk as I prepped for the day.  In case you'd like to know, I'd had two different jobs in NYC, both for many years....a Controller for a theatrical lighting company associated with Lee International UK (Star Wars, James Bond movies, to name a couple); and then the head bookkeeper for a photographic company that specialized in advertising photos.  I have to admit that the Controller job was my very favorite as I was lucky to be able to meet producers, directors, film and music stars.  Anyway, back to the food talk...

The breakfast sandwich consisted of two fried eggs, cheese and bacon on a buttered roll; if you wanted salt, pepper and ketchup added, you had to ask for it.  You could order scrambled or over easy, but the completely fried eggs made it easier to eat at your desk and not have egg get all over you or the desk.  Coffee was made up for you as you liked it; no going to another counter to add sweetener, cream or milk; and none of those fancy lattes and such.  Coffee was pure, real coffee!

...and so today I'm going to give you some breakfast food porn.  Since I'm at home, I can make those over easy eggs, cut into them and have the luscious yolk ooze out and down along the rest of the sandwich.  The roll, toasted, is firm; dipped into the yolk, it sops up that lovely liquid which then coats the lips of the mouth with eggy goodness.  Hot for a New York Deli Style Breakfast sandwich now?  Lets make one....

The best kind of roll for this sandwich is the Kaiser roll; plain, or with poppy or sesame seeds, doesn't matter as they're all good. Cut the roll open so you get a top and bottom half. Now you can either butter the insides and toast them on a griddle or inside a skillet; or pop the halves in a wide mouth toaster and then butter them. You definitely want a slice of American cheese on both sides though.

Melt a little butter in a skillet, put the eggs in and listen to them sizzle as they give up their liquid to that heat. Fry them up "hard", so the yolk is totally cooked; or go for the "over easy" and those luscious yolky centers. Scrambled eggs tend to squeeze themselves out of the roll, as if they're trying to escape and then require a utensil to capture them off the plate. You want your hands and that entire sandwich to dance together as partners.

Lay those fried eggs down on that Kaiser roll bed and cover them with a blanket of crisp bacon. As your teeth crunch on the bacon, your senses come alive from the released smoky sensation. Oh, don't forget to add salt, ground black pepper and/or ketchup to your tastes, or should I say to what your senses desire?

...and there is your breakfast food porn for the morning.  Enjoy, I know I did.  *wink*

Mary Cokenour

It's Beefy, Eggy and Good Anytime.

Recently I enjoyed an adventure in making a Prime Rib for the first time. Then I did a bit of thinking, yes I do that on occasion, and wondered if the roasting technique I used on the prime rib could be done with other types of beef roasts. Instead of buying cold cuts at the supermarket, I usually roast my turkey and chicken breasts, glazed ham or roast beef; then thin slice them for sandwiches or chopped up for salads.

This time I had a lovely, lean eyeround roast waiting for its turn in the roasting pan.  Leaving out the rosemary and thyme, I only seasoned the meat with the salt, ground black pepper, garlic and onion powders; but cooked it the same way as I had done with the prime rib.  Again, I relied on my meat thermometer to tell me when it reached medium-rare.



Now one morning hubby wanted breakfast and he was thinking along the lines of eggs, bacon and cheese on a toasted roll.  Well he got more than he bargained for, as I like to think and cook outside the box.  You see, I had forgotten to take the bacon out of the freezer for defrosting, but the container holding that lovely roast caught my eye....and the cheddar cheese slices, and the mayonnaise, and the butter.  I never said this was going to be a heart healthy sandwich, but you can always tweak what I'm telling you here to your own needs.  Back to the story....

After slicing open the Kaiser roll, I buttered up the outside top and bottom of the roll, just like I was going to make a grilled cheese sandwich.

Heating both my griddle pan and 8 inch skillet, I opened up 2 eggs which went into the 8 inch skillet.  The Kaiser roll went butter side down on the griddle pan with a smear of mayonnaise on both face up sides.  A slice of mild cheddar cheese also went down over the mayonnaise; while several very thin slices of beef sat on one roll half.  I flipped the eggs over as hubby likes them over easy, let them cook a bit before sliding them on top of the beef.  Now here's the important part, place the cheese only side of the roll over the eggs and press down lightly; you don't want to break the yokes.   Let the sandwich fry for about another minute before moving it to a plate.

 

...and there you have it, the Beef and Egg Anytime Sandwich. Why did I name it "Anytime"? Hubby enjoyed it so much, he wanted one for dinner that night; and then again for lunch on another day.

Be warned though, you will need lots of napkins for this sandwich. Pick it up whole, bite into it and you'll get a gush of egg yolk all over your face and hands. Cut it in half, pick it up and the egg yolks will still get on you. However, once you taste it, you won't care the slightest. The crunch of the butter fried roll, the smooth melty cheese, seasoned beef enriched with the mayonnaise intertwined with yolky goodness. Yes, you will think, this is nirvana!!!

Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour
January 3, 2013