French Toast

French Toast

I was 15 years old when the Academy Award winning movie Kramer vs. Kramer was playing in movie theaters. Thinking back, it was a pretty heavy movie for a 15 year old to be watching, after all, it dealt with divorce, probably the last thing on a high school kid's mind unless they were unfortunate enough to have had experienced it first hand. I have no idea what made me and the other kids I saw it with think it was going to be age appropriate, maybe because it won an Oscar and it seemed like a good idea at the time, either that or Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was already sold out.

After all these years, I can't remember much of the plot of the movie itself, I do however, remember a specific scene toward the end in which Dustin Hoffman had to prepare one final breakfast for his kid. Hoffman's character, a newly divorced father raising his young son played by a very young Justin Henry, frantically made a complete mess of his kitchen in his attempt to cook the perfect French toast. In addition to that very specific memory, I also recall that after the movie, all I could think of eating was French toast. That revealing fact in a nutshell seems to explain why I am a foodie today.

French toast, or Gypsy toast as it's known in parts of England, couldn't be easier to make. Beat some eggs, add a little milk, dunk some bread slices in it and fry it up in a little butter. Although some folks like their French toast with savory toppings, I like to treat it like a lazy man's pancake. Similar in concept, French toast boasts all the flavors of a nicely executed flapjack without the necessary technical skill to make one. You know how when you make a batch of pancakes the first couple are always sacrificial, meaning they always turn out funky before the pan gets the perfect seasoning to brown them correctly? Well French toast is by far easier to make.

I top mine with butter and maple syrup. This usually means I'll be having something salty like ham or sausages on the side to balance out the sweetness of the French toast. I know it's a pretty boring way to eat them given the fact that French toast is a perfect foundation for all kinds of toppings. For a few ideas, check out IHOP's menu.

Corned Beef Hash Patties

Corned Beef Hash Patties

You can get a plate of corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast at just about any diner in town. Some places pride themselves on featuring fresh corned beef in their hash, other places jazz up the recipe with the addition of fresh herbs or heavy cream. Even Worcestershire sauce has found it's way into some recipes I've come across. Technically speaking, hash is any dish made up of ingredients that are diced up finely and fried together in a pan so there's quite a lot of leeway when it comes to what constitutes a hash.

My preference when it comes to making corned beef hash is to keep it as simple as possible. I stick to just three ingredients; a can of corned beef, diced onion and potatoes. You can fry it all up loose and sloppy or make them into patties like I do.

In Hawaii, at local okazuya's or old-fashioned Japanese style deli's, you can always find corned beef hash patties ready for your bento box. Often, at these places, the ratio of potato to corned beef is heavy on the potato side of things but if you make your own, you can ensure you get a healthy serving of corned beef in every bite.

To one can of corned beef, I add a diced onion and two medium sized russet potatoes that have been peeled, sliced, cooked and roughly mashed. Mix everything up to incorporate, divide the mixture and roll into balls then pat them down into patties. Stick them in the refrigerator to cool while you heat up a large pan. When the pan is good and hot, pour in about a 1/4 inch of vegetable oil. When the oil begins to ripple, add the patties to the pan and fry them until they form a crispy crust.

Bacon Egg Spaghetti

Bacon Egg Spaghetti

This is sort of the Italian/Japanese version of the bacon and egg yakisoba I posted about earlier. I fry bacon in a wok and pour off most of the oil, add leftover spaghetti and stir fry a bit until warmed, crack an egg over the whole thing and stir it up again and allow it to scramble. That's all there is to it. Nothing fancy really.

On this day, I sprinkled furikake over it and garnished with kaiware (daikon radish) sprouts, Itameshiya style.

Breakfast Pita

Breakfast Pita

Once again, add bacon and egg and call it breakfast. It seemed like an original idea at the time. We had a couple of pieces of leftover pita bread from dinner the night before. I thought, why hasn't McDonald's come out with the McPita? After doing a search I found out, of course they've already thought of it and they stuffed it with tandoori chicken no less, according to a photo of just such a sandwich I found on flickr. Shucks! I guess I won't be trademarking that name and making a ton of money off of Micky D's any time soon. This got me thinking, I wonder what else you can get at McDonald's and found these actual menu items from McDonald's around the world:

• Hong Kong, Red Bean Pie
• Turkey, McTurco, Kofteburger
• Japan, McPork, Ebi Filet-o
• France, CroqMcDo-I like the sound of that one
• Germany, Schnitzel Nuggets mit Ketchup
• Romania, McPuisor, McToast, Cartofi Wedges
• Australia, McFeast, Chicken Tandoori
• Finland, McRuis
• Estonia, McLavass
• New Zealand, Kiwi Burger
• Singapore, McRendang, McSatay
• Hawaii, Spam breakfast platter, Saimin
• Morocco, McSahara
• India, Shahi Paneer McCurry Pan, McAloo Tikki, Chicken Maharaja Mac
• Egypt, McArabia
• Spain, Cuarto de Libra con Queso (Quarter Pounder with Cheese)
• Portugal, Sopa a Lavrador
• Brazil, McNifico Bacon
• Thailand, Samurai Pork Burger
• Greece, McFarm Pork Burger, McGreek
• UK, Chicken Legend

American's are criticized all too often for traveling to far away exotic places around the globe only to seek out the local McDonald's for their meals when in fact it is quite possible to sample some of the local flavor even if it is filtered through a McDonald's test kitchen. Of course it would be a shame if that's all you did.

After spending all that time looking at McDonald's websites from around the world, I happened upon this somewhat informative, McFunny article and attached comments.

Ohayo Gozaimasu - Bacon and Egg Yakisoba

Bacon and Egg Yakisoba

So what do you do with leftover yakisoba noodles? Add a cracked egg and bacon and call it breakfast.

Bacon and Egg with a little help from Celery,
Cabbage and Broccoli Carrot Slaw

Breakfast

Come to think of it, the addition of bacon and egg to anything automatically turns whatever it's added to into breakfast really. We often have bacon and egg pasta with leftover spaghetti noodles kind of like a creamless carbonara, and I make breakfast maki sushi once in a while with... you guessed it, bacon and egg and then there are breakfast burritos with bacon and egg (or chorizo or potatoes and salsa or jamon or sausage or frijoles or whatever you have in the fridge). There are bacon and egg sandwiches on toast or bacon and egg soft tacos, and bacon and egg fried rice (one of my favorites). Bacon and eggs. The applications are almost limitless. Bacon and egg ice cream? Hmmmmmm..... I'll have to give that one some thought.

Miko Scottish Bangers- Breakfast of Champions

Miko Scottish Brand Bangers

Here's another type of sausage I ate growing up on Oahu. I remember getting up early on Sunday mornings and jumping in the car with my Dad to meet my Grandparents for breakfast at Zippy's on Nimitz highway near the harbor. My Grandfather, who spent his weeks working on the Big Island would come home to Honolulu on the weekends. For breakfast, he would sometimes order bangers and eggs. That's when I was first introduced to them.

Zippy's on Nimitz Highway

The Scottish banger is representative of many things that find their way to Hawaii's shores. The origins of how and why they made the long trek to such a distant remote island in the first place may be lost to history, but despite that, they become absorbed and adopted into Hawaii's culture and become as much a part of the islands as the people who initially brought them there and ended up staying.

Scottish bangers in Hawaii aren't very common. The only local company I know of that still makes them (or to my knowledge, ever made them) commercially is Miko Meat Corporation, a sausage and meat product manufacturer headquartered in Hilo-which may explain my Grandfather's affinity for them. The only place I know of where you used to be able to order them off the menu was at Zippy's. Unfortunately, I just checked out their website and they're no longer available there so I guess that means if I have a craving for them, I have to cook them up myself.

Fresh out of the Package, Wrinkles and All

If you can find them in the market, they come eight per package, tied off in pairs. Right on the package, it says, "How to prepare: Brown lightly in skillet or on rack in baking pan at 450 degree oven". When I would order them at Zippy's, they would come out really dark with an almost crispy casing. I think they must have deep fried them. I've found the way I like to cook them best is to cut them apart, put them in a hot pan with a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil and put the lid on. I let them brown up on one side, give the pan a shake like a jiffy pop popcorn pan and let them brown up on the other side. I don't know why they do it, but shaking the pan that way usually causes all the sausages to roll over onto their unbrowned side at the same time. Then I reduce the heat so they won't split open and let them cook through for a few more minutes.

Voila!

As Fat Bastard would say, "Get in my belly!"

In addition to all the other things that make their way into sausages these bangers contain 7.43% breadcrumbs or rusk...Wow, that's an exact figure!!! Not only do the breadcrumbs give the bangers their unique flavor and texture, they also aid in browning up a nice golden color.

That Looks Like 7.43% Breadcrumbs To Me

Breakfast of Champions

I always eat them with rice and a fried egg with a little shoyu drizzled on it, Hawaiian style.

Hi Ho Silva

Silva Sausage Breakfast Link Size Linguica

I found these breakfast size Portuguese sausage links at Nielsen's market while in Solvang so I thought I'd give them a try. I've tried Silva's regular Linguica before so I figured the only difference would be in the shape. I found the regular linguica at our local supermarket and having run out of Hawaiian style Portuguese sausage one day, figured it could be a similar enough stand-in.

Growing up in Hawaii we ate a lot of Portuguese sausage, mainly as a breakfast meat along with Spam and bacon or as the key ingredient in Portuguese bean soup, a Hawaiian favorite. Hawaiian style Portuguese sausage, of which there are many different brands today, are all similarly identifiable in flavor; porky, spicy, smoky, salty and very, very garlicky. The main differences between the various brands seems to be hot or mild and the coarseness of the grind. Silva's linguica tastes similar but has a pronounced "paprikaness" to it reminiscent of chorizo. Only slightly spicy hot, the breakfast size links seemed a bit leaner too, perhaps a little lighter in fat content. The hand tied, natural sheep casings give the sausage a good bite resulting in a sausage more a kin to an Algerian merguez in texture.

The Line Up
"Number three, turn to your left"

All things considered, a great tasting sausage. Not exactly like Hawaiian style Portuguese sausage but tasty nonetheless in it's own unique way. If memory serves me correctly, the Portuguese that initially came to Hawaii were from the Azores, so maybe Hawaiian style Portuguese sausage is actually more specifically Azoreian style Portuguese sausage if there is such a thing. In any case, Portuguese sausage, no matter what it's regionality remains one of my favorites.

Good To Go

Medisterpolse

On my first trip to England to visit T1's family, we landed at London Heathrow and were met by T1's Mum and Pop. We then jumped in Pop's car for the long car ride back to Liverpool. I can't remember why we just didn't fly into Manchester Airport which would have made more sense but I'm glad we didn't. In retrospect, the car ride, which took the whole afternoon gave me a chance to see the beautiful English countryside. I'm glad we drove the 200 or so miles instead. Thanks to Pop's impeccable driving skills we made the journey in good time and along the way we stopped at a Granada rest stop on the side of the motorway to stretch our legs and get a drink and a prawn sandwich. The rest stops in England seem quite civilized compared to the ones you see here in the states. It was clean for one thing and the cafeteria area offered hot plates as well as pre-packaged sandwiches. It was here in the steam table that I saw for the first time, a savory, coiled, snake-like rope of mince occupying it's own pan and bathed in it's own gravy. "What the heck is that?" I asked T1. She said it was a Cumberland sausage. I never got to try one while in England but the image of that thing sitting there waiting for my fork remained in my mind all these years.

The Setting: Solvang Countryside

Fast forward to last week. We were in Solvang on our road trip. I did a little research on Solvang before the Folks came out and ran across an image of what I thought was a Cumberland Sausage. Turns out it was a Danish sausage called a Medisterpolse. Looked very similar to my memory of a Cumberland sausage. We went to a local supermarket in town called Nielsen's to pick up provisions so I beelined over to the refrigerated meat case and that's where I found the Medisterpolse. Needless to say, I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to try this thing and bought it.

Medisterpolse from Nielsen's (my thumb went through the package)

The next morning I cooked it up in our kitchen equipped room to have for breakfast with some scrambled eggs, potatoes, fruit, pastry and bagels.

Medisterpolse Done!

Now That's a Breakfast!

It rocked! Although the label doesn't reveal the ingredients, (sometimes when it comes to sausages, you're better off not knowing) I could taste perhaps pork or veal and a hint of mild spice like allspice or clove maybe. Anyway, it all went together well. A few years ago while visiting Solvang, I had a sausage with an order of aebleskivers and it was served on the plate with some berry jam. I can't remember if it was Medisterpolse. It didn't share the same coiled shape, but the jam complimented the sausage nicely. For this Medisterpolse, I ate it with a good strong mustard.

Waste Not Want Not

Salmon Hash

This morning for breakfast I had salmon hash with a fried egg on it, a couple of slices of wheat toast and some orange juice. The hash was made with flaked fresh grilled salmon filet, potatoes, red onion and a bit of parsley for color. It tasted great and was filling to say the least.


Alright, I have a confession to make. You perceptive types may have picked up on the fact that the potatoes in the picture look suspiciously uniform. No, they're not the frozen type that are already cut into little cubes.

Last night, T1 and I decided to go out for dinner. We like to frequent Pann's, an authentic diner from the fifties because it's affordable there, we know all the waitresses on a first name basis and the food is just plain good. Not much has changed in this place except the menu which is pretty modern for a diner. In addition to great unpretentious burgers and all the usual diner faves, they also serve things like bouillabaisse and braised short ribs of beef. Their breakfasts are hearty and their pies and cakes are killer. I ordered a bacon cheddar burger with fries and T1 ordered the grilled salmon filet. (Okay now you might have figured out where this is going) We ate until we were stuffed but being the kitchen forager that I am, I couldn't not take a doggy bag home with me. In it were the fixin's of the breakfast to be, salmon hash. YES! Those are day old french fries!!! I know the concept of recycled leftovers may not seem palatable to some so to those who have trouble warming up to the idea, I'll euphamistically refer to it as "recontextualized cuisine". Well, it did the job and started my day so it was good for that purpose I suppose.

Once again, as with the old potato post, if you happen to be at my place for breakfast, I promise not to serve you a recontextualized breakfast-at least that you're aware of anyway.

One Man's Trash

Is Another Man's Hash