Eggs are something that have grown on me over the years. I’ve went from not eating them to loving just about every type of egg you can serve up, so long as they’re a bit wet (unless it’s tamago, in which case, dry is fine).

One of my favorite ways to prepare eggs is with Thai chilis. The heat of the eggs, the sweet, savory flavor of good onions, washed down with a bit of tropical juice (mango or guava being my favorites) sets the tone for a great day. And they really don’t take all that long to make. Chop the onions to get everything going, and pull out the rest of the ingredients while they saute, and you’ve added on 5 minutes at the most to your standard, plain scrambled egg. (more…)

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Breakfast, Dairy free, Gluten free, Indian, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian by Courtney

Over a week ago I got back from Tennessee and promised you a Southern breakfast favorite, at least in my house, stickies. The old hard drive bit the dust, I went into a period of mourning, but I’ve finally snapped out of it and decided to get back on the horse, so to speak.

When I was a kid, I would get so excited by these. They’re not all that extravagant — just a way to use up all of your scrap biscuit dough, so they’re rather frugal. (more…)

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Breakfast, Comfort food by Courtney

Boiled tofu and condiments

When we were in Japan, I had a bit of a revelation. I really like tofu. It’s not that I disliked it before, it’s that what I had over there was so good I would actually crave tofu.

The tipping point was the first breakfast we had while staying at Yachiyo Ryokan in Kyoto. Boiled tofu has never sounded appetizing to me, in fact, it sounds borderline disgusting. I think it has something to do with a friend of mine talking about boiled chicken once upon a time, and now anything with “boiled” preceding it just sounds tasteless and slimy.

The first morning we get to our table, and we have tofu sitting in a clay pot, just waiting to be boiled. We sit and awaited the towels, and we’re amazed at the spread that is brought out for breakfast. (more…)

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Breakfast, World traveller by Courtney

Country ham is a staple breakfast food in the South. It is such a staple, that the thought never crossed my mind that it might not be a universal breakfast food. Oh how my world was rocked on my first visit to Kansas City.

Growing up in Johnson City, Tennessee, Saturday and Sunday morning breakfast meant heading to Hardee’s or your local gas station if you were in a hurry and didn’t want to cook. And that meant biscuits – for me, a ham biscuit and a sausage biscuit – hashrounds if we were at Hardee’s, and an orange juice or occasionally a coke, if I could get away with it. The ham biscuit was awesome – salty country ham, oozing it’s grease into the fluffy biscuit, wrapped in a paper wrapper, hot and just waiting to be eaten.

So imagine my surprise the first time I get a ham biscuit at Hardee’s in Kansas City. I bite into it, and… deli ham??!! What the heck was this? Fast forward 14 years, and every time I leave Tennessee to head back to California, there are a few vacuum-sealed ham steaks stuffed in my luggage, no doubt puzzling the TSA when they search it. If you don’t head to the South frequently, you can also purchase these vacuum-sealed packages (or a whole ham) online.

Once I get home, I freeze the steaks, and pull them out on Saturdays or Sundays, when I’m ready for a good, hearty Southern breakfast. (more…)

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Breakfast, Comfort food, Southern by Courtney