our daily bread: breakfast

The Greatest Egg Sandwich Ever

This was seriously the most delicious egg sandwich I have ever eaten. I am not even kidding, I would like to see the competition. On Sunday morning we walked down to Mississippi street in Portland where there's a parking lot turn food cart lot which housed what we had been told was The Greatest Egg Sandwich Ever. And as it turns out, it was. Drew & I split two different sandwiches, one was called the Portlander & consisted of two eggs, your choice of cheddar cheese, Fontina or Gorgonzola (I chose gorgonzola), fresh chive & country dijon mustard & Applewood smoked bacon, on grilled brioche bread. The second sandwich was called The Arbor Lodge & this one had one egg, grilled portobello mushrooms, caramelized balsamic onions & arugula with roasted garlic & herb aioli on grilled brioche. I mean, just reading the descriptions makes me wish I could have another one right now, for dinner.

Portland has such great food carts. I've seen a couple of places like this where once an empty lot now holds a cluster of unique food carts. I've seen converted air streams, old school buses, carts that look like little shacks, donut trucks, etc... I don't know why there aren't more of these set-ups everywhere in the country. It seems like a very focused, smart & community oriented way of serving food. So many people, with good reason, are deterred from opening a restaurant because of the massive debt you have to take on, the incredible responsibility & the high rate of failure. But with food carts you can focus & become really good at one thing, like egg sandwiches for instance. There's way less overhead & usually only a handful of employees & it's perfect for people who don't want to be stuck in an airless kitchen all day & really want to meet their customers & interact with the community. There's something about that kind of simplicity & some of the best food I've eaten has come from carts like these.

Nov 12, 2009 4:55:54 PM | breakfast

Fried Green Tomatoes

I'd never had fried green tomatoes before. I don't know why, we've grown tons of tomatoes in our garden over the last few years & never once tried them out. But last weekend we finally did with some end of the season tomatoes from Kim & Ryan's garden. They were delicious. We sliced 'em up, sprinkled with salt and pepper & let that soak into them for a little while. Then we took the slices, dipped them in milk, flour, eggs and cornmeal & fried them in a couple teaspoons of olive oil. They were soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside, sweet yet salty. We sprinkled a little shredded cheese on top, garnished with cilantro & called it breakfast.

Nov 9, 2009 11:42:10 AM | breakfast

Soft Boiled Eggs

We made soft boiled eggs for breakfast this morning. This was one of my most favorite breakfasts growing up & I probably haven't had it for over 15 years. Why, I wonder? It's one of those things that just slipped through the passage of time only to be recollected for whatever reason at 9am this morning. So we boiled some water, put a couple of eggs into it & cooked 'em for 4 minutes. While those were cooking we put some bread in the toaster. Then we took the eggs out of the water, cut off the tops & scooped the insides out onto the toast so that the yolks poured down the sides & onto the plate, soaking it all up in the process. It tasted just how I remembered. A nice way to start the week.

And Amber, if you're looking at the pictures below & thinking to yourself that that bowl looks really familiar, it's because it's yours. You left it at our house during our wedding week extravaganza & I've been using it for the last 3 years, along with a mug you also left that I drank coffee out of everyday until Drew accidentally elbowed it off our porch a few days before we left Minnesota. I'll just hold it for you here, as ransom, until your next visit....

Oct 19, 2009 11:58:15 AM | breakfast

Oatmeal Epiphany

I had an oatmeal epiphany the other morning. We were getting ready to make our standard oatmeal, cooked in water with some honey or brown sugar, topped with bananas. Hearty & good. Then I decided to glance at my Williams-Sonama cookbook, the one Debra got me for my birthday this year & I use almost everyday. The recipes are fantastic! So I looked up their recipe for oatmeal & it turns out they cook the oats in milk instead of water & swirl in a little butter at the end. I'm sure there are people out there that grew up eating oatmeal this way, however I was not one of them and this marked quite a turning point in my outlook on breakfast. So we tried it & at this point I'm not sure if I can go back to eating oatmeal the old way. I almost felt like I was doing something wrong, like it's not supposed to taste that good. I'm just supposed to eat it & feel good about myself because I'm not hungry again for 4 hours & I'm pumped full of nutrients. But even cooked this way I still felt all those things & more importantly I actually enjoyed eating it, which I think is key, especially when it comes to breakfast, a meal that gets so much attention on the weekends but not so much on a Tuesday.

Oct 15, 2009 8:08:50 PM | breakfast

Brunch with Kim & Ryan

Kim & Ryan came to visit this past weekend. Our first visitors here in Seattle! As always, it was the greatest of times. Each time we hang out I wonder how we'll top it the next time, and somehow we always do. I can't even tell you how happy it makes me that we now only live a few hours away from each other. It's about time.

So for dinner on Saturday night we made roasted salmon with lentils, it was too dark to take a picture so you'll just have to use your imagination. It was delicious! I am still amazed at just how incredibly fresh the seafood is out here. I don't know if I'll ever really get used to it. I hope I don't.

On Sunday morning we made breakfast over the course of a few hours which eventually turned into brunch. Whenever we cook with Kim & Ryan somehow those last few vegetables sitting in the fridge that you've been meaning to use up turn into an incredible meal. And this was one of them. Kim made crispy potatoes, roasting them in the oven with olive oil, rosemary & sea salt. Ryan & I made scrambled eggs with mushrooms & green onions. And Drew made sure we had the right music to cook to, a very important job in the Manney McDaniel house. Then we rounded the whole meal out with fresh tomatoes from their garden, a few slices of avocado & then topped the whole thing with a few dollops of Clancy's Fancy, Ann Arbor's finest hot sauce.

The next time we cook with them will be in a few weeks when we go down to Portland for their Asian inspired going away party. My mind is already racing with ideas for what we'll cook. Spring rolls, miso soup, Pho, dumplings.....the options are endless, I can't wait!

Oct 14, 2009 2:51:44 PM | breakfast, lunch