This is just a basic ''throw things in the pan and fry them up'' type of breakfast. It's
hearty and will give you a good start on the day. Also dead-easy to cook on those
mornings you're not feeling your sharpest, and when you discover you're out of
bread so you can't make a Breakfast sandwich.
It's also plenty flexible. If you're missing an ingredient, don't worry about it, just leave it out or add something similar. The idea is to get fueled for the day, not to work yourself into a fuss trying to figure out what to eat.
Serves one. But you can double or triple the recipe if you've got a big enough pan.
Ingredients:
- Potato of some sort. Frozen hash-browns are easiest, but you can start with fresh raw potatoes as well. One hash-brown patty or one medium-sized potato is what you want.
- Two large eggs.
- Some sort of meat -- unless you're a vegetarian, chopped.
- Large handful cheese. Cheddar, mozarella, monterey jack, colby, whatever. Grated.
- 2-4 tbsp chopped onion.
- 2-4 tbsp chopped green pepper.
- Salt and black pepper to season.
- A little cayenne, garlic, paprika, curry powder, tobasco or other spice if desired.
Instructions:
- Fire up the stove, pre-heating a 8-10 inch skillet with enough olive oil in it to coat the bottom completely. If you don't have olive oil, butter or some other oil will do. You'll want ''medium'' heat, or maybe just a little lower.
- If you're working with frozen hash-browns, begin cooking the first side as per the package directions. With raw potatoes, slice them about 1/8 to 1/4 inch (about 5mm) thick. I leave the skin on, but if you don't like that, you're welcome to peel the spud.
- While the potatoes get going, chop the meat and vegetables.
- Flip the potatoes (this should be after about 5-7 minutes), move to one side of the pan, and hit them with a little bit of salt and pepper. If the oil smokes a lot when you do this, reduce the heat a bit.
- Toss the vegetables and meat into the other side of the pan and get them cooking. You may need to put down a little oil first to keep them from sticking.
- When the potatoes are nearly done (about another 3-5 minutes or so), stir everything in the pan together, breaking up the hash-brown patty if that's what you used for spuds.
- Form a well in the middle of the pile of potatoes, meat and vegetables.
- Break both eggs into this well. Break the yolks so they can mix in.
- After about a minute, begin stirring the eggs into the mixture. From this point on, you'll be stirring things every fifteen or twenty seconds.
- When most of the egg has cooked (you don't see any large runny bits anymore), flatten out the mixture into a largeish patty. It may not completely fill the skillet, but you want it spread out so the cheese can cover all of it.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the top, cover the pan, and turn the heat to the lowest setting.
- After a couple minutes, the cheese should be melted through everything and the bottom of the potato and egg mix should be a little crunchy. Scoop it out onto a plate and dig in.