Breakfast

[AndyBoy]

Thought we could use a Breakfast thread even though I hardly every have a "real" breakfast except maybe on weekends. This was last weekend, poached eggs and thinly sliced duck breast. I will take that over bacon any day of the week.

[Northside Food]

I'm making brunch tomorrow for the two of us and a friend.  Applesauce oatmeal muffins with cinnamon honey butter and assorted jellies, thick cut pepper bacon, and a winter fruit salad (pears, apples, dried apricots, cherries, toasted pecans and pomegranates tossed in a vanilla dressing).

[AndyBoy]

We had duck breast last night and I pan seared them instead of grilling outside so I had plenty of duck fat. This morning I grated a potato, squeezed the moisture out and made a potato cake in duck fat. There is something about potatoes and duck fat, they are made for each other.

[Melomom]

Article by John Edge in today's NYT about breakfast tacos in Austin:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/dining/10united.html?8dpc

[Northside Food]

Yesterday's was scrambled eggs with cheese, fruit salad (mango, peaches and strawberries) and toast with goat cheese.

Today was sausage patties on homemade biscuits with more fruit salad. This time, I added some lemon mint balm from my herb garden to the salad.  The sausage we picked up at the Riverside market from a family farm in Madison. The guy selling it had a special of 2 pounds for 5 dollars, which we thought was a fair price for local, sustainably raised meat.  We'll buy more from them in the future.

[Corky]

How about something from our house? Country ham, red eye gravy, cantaloupe and blueberries, cheese grits (smoked gouda), fried eggs and whole wheat pancakes with real maple syrup. It's a never fail guest pleaser (unless you are a yankee).

[rwcohen]

How about something from our house? Country ham, red eye gravy, cantaloupe and blueberries, cheese grits (smoked gouda), fried eggs and whole wheat pancakes with real maple syrup. It's a never fail guest pleaser (unless you are a yankee).

Ok, I'm coming for breakfast real soon.......


thankyouverymuch

[LizR]

How about something from our house? Country ham, red eye gravy, cantaloupe and blueberries, cheese grits (smoked gouda), fried eggs and whole wheat pancakes with real maple syrup. It's a never fail guest pleaser (unless you are a yankee).

Just curious - what don't the yankees like, the country ham?

[Foodgeek]

How about something from our house? Country ham, red eye gravy, cantaloupe and blueberries, cheese grits (smoked gouda), fried eggs and whole wheat pancakes with real maple syrup. It's a never fail guest pleaser (unless you are a yankee).

Yep, count me as another Yankee who has no idea why I'd not like any of these things, if they were served to me.

When it comes to Picc-yer-own-darned-dilly Cafeteria, I admit that I hate steam table garbage, but nothing in your description sounds yucky. Real maple syrup comes from New England and Canada, by the way, so I totally don't get the idea that Yankees won't be pleased.

Is smoked gouda indigenous to our area?

[totm]

How about something from our house? Country ham, red eye gravy, cantaloupe and blueberries, cheese grits (smoked gouda), fried eggs and whole wheat pancakes with real maple syrup. It's a never fail guest pleaser (unless you are a yankee).

Yep, count me as another Yankee who has no idea why I'd not like any of these things, if they were served to me.

Count me as a Damn Yankee (card carrying one for 36 non-contiguous years) who just doesn't get country ham, red eye gravy, and grits. My southern sister in law used to make country ham for my Damn Yankee father for his birthday so it is not hereditary.

[Jmolinari]

this weekend i was in NY, and had dinner at Ssam Bar, where they serve 4 or 5 different country hams.
They're sliced super thin, and served like prosciutto. I must say, they had nothing to envy Prosciutto di Parma, they were saltier, but equally delicious.

[Corky]

I apologize if I offended some of you by my "yankee" comment. Which prompts me to explain. When we have visitors from outside the South, most, not all, prefer not to have grits fixed in any manner, nor country ham or livermush. Whereas, visitors originally from the South tend to prefer a typical "Southern" breakfast. I will admit I have had some northern visitors ask where I get my country ham or grits for example. After they go home and I ask them if they had ordered some, you wouldn't believe some of the side comments, such as, "It would just go to waste." Which to me is a slap in the face.
Pancakes (in some form) are a pretty standard breakfast item around the world. I have my own recipe that I make from scratch. I prefer either Canadian or New England maple syrup, although there are some North Carolina farms that are producing very good syrup in very limited quantities. Sorghum is also used with pancakes, but I prefer the maple syrup from up north. So to answer some of you, I guess we just eat what we like no matter where it comes from. We also know what to buy at the grocery store in case we have some visitors that are not accustomed our family's way of eating.

[Foodgeek]

I will admit I have had some northern visitors ask where I get my country ham or grits for example. After they go home and I ask them if they had ordered some, you wouldn't believe some of the side comments, such as, "It would just go to waste." Which to me is a slap in the face.

I'm so sorry you felt that way, but my first thought would have been about the minimum quantities for shipping. Most visitors or transplanted northerners don't want to order a whole, or even half, country ham, and it's great to have good grits, but only if you know to keep them in the freezer. On top of that, there are so many things you might need to know, like how to prepare grits or country ham, and how to present them to people not familiar with them.

I hope no one meant to slap you in the face and you could get past this assumption.

[LizR]

And I, as technically a half Northerner and a half Southerner at this point, was certainly not offended, just curious. Growing up outside of Buffalo, we often had grits for breakfast, and I get the redeye gravy thing, but still not exactly the country ham thing. We even went to the Trigg Co Kentucky Ham Festival about 10 years ago just to investigate and get a true country ham, but despite the soaking it was just too salty and tough for our tastes.

[Minerva]

I ordered a whole smoked country ham at the holidays. Still have most of it in the freezer. As Northside Food said, we found it tough and too salty, despite our best efforts at trying different methods of cooking or just slicing thin and eating it with other items.

And yes, I am not a born Southerner.