I love breakfast. It is by far the best meal. What other meal can you have at any time of day? Waking up to a triple cheeseburger with grilled onions and avocado just doesn’t seem appropriate. Neither does hopping out of bed then setting to work on saffron risotto and a braised rack of lamb with mint hummus and pears poached in red wine. Dinner or lunch may not always be appropriate flavors in the morning, but bacon and eggs is always a good choice. Always. My point is this the flavors of morning time are a complex and subtle creature that must be respected. But I’ll let you in on a little secret. Add a fried egg on that triple cheeseburger and you’ve got yourself a breakfast item. Breakfast should really be respected and given the time it deserves. Too often is it is short-changed by cups of yogurt, pre-packaged bagels and bowls of cereal dusted with sweetener. I am guilty of throwing breakfast to the side in my rush out the door. This is because I, like 99.9% of America, am lazy. I enjoy my sleep and am too often late for work. This is why I keep granola bars and a bag of bagels at my desk. But when I do find the time for a quality early meal, I make sure to take the time to do it right.
I’ll share with you a couple secrets to make your breakfast just a little bit better with minimal effort. A classic example: pancakes, eggs, and grits. This meal is more about the order of preparation than anything else.
Let’s start with the most important ingredient in any recipe: bacon. Bacon is the key ingredient to goodness. It will literally make any food better. Don’t question my authority on this: my favorite food is the bacon-wrapped bacon-wrapped butter deep-fried in bacon grease served on a plate made of bacon woven together. Allow me to bestow some wisdom when buying bacon. Do NOT buy the packaged stuff out of the refrigerated aisle. This ‘bacon’ is so pumped full of nitrates and coloring you’re barely getting bacon. Go to the butcher and get some of his bacon, thick cut if you can. This is the real stuff and tastes so much better. You can thank me later.
Now, let’s begin. Fry up 2 strips of bacon to the ‘crispy’ setting and let drain on paper towels. If there is a lot of excess fat in your pan, mop up some of it with a paper towel.
You should start the grits now. I use quick grits, again, because I’m lazy and this is morning-time dammit. I don’t have patience. Just follow the instructions on the box, but when you add the grits, also add a healthy handful of your favorite shredded cheese.
Back to the skillet with bacon grease in it. Fry up a couple eggs using the bacon grease as your lubricant. Set those aside. Chop up the bacon to quarter-inch pieces. Now it’s time for the goodness.
Pancakes.
I use an organic whole wheat buttermilk mix. You can use whatever mix you like, but I like the specialty mixes better. Follow the prep instructions as you normally would, but throw your chopped up bacon into the batter. I usually also put a few pinches of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in the mix as well. And maybe a dash of vanilla extract. You should put in what you like—get creative. Lemon zest, chocolate chips, ricotta cheese, whatever. Sweet and savory. But bacon is a must. Then just cook up the pancakes as normal. If you are impatient [like me] and want a moist and fluffy pancake, try putting a lid on the skillet. This will lock in some of the heat and moisture and cook both sides of the pancake at the same time.
Serve! It should be noted that many people like coffee with their breakfast. I love coffee, but it’s my belief that if a breakfast is done right, coffee should be used at the end of the meal to fight off the ensuing food coma.
