The Breakfast Mystique

Of the three daily meals, somehow breakfast always seems to get more attention and notice than its counterparts, lunch and dinner. We hear people talk about "meeting for lunch" or "dinner and the theatre" but there just isn't the same emotional reaction we attach to breakfast. Perhaps the cause of our focus on breakfast has to do with morning hunger and "breaking the fast". Perhaps it is due to our ability to rationalize that a sticky, gooey Danish or cinnamon bun that would be a decadent dessert in any other context, is a reasonable breakfast. It could be that our attachment stems from the fact that for most of us, "making our own breakfast" was our first passage into the world of cooking. When our parents deemed us responsible enough, on Saturday morning we could get our own cereal and watch the cartoons while mom and dad got a few extra minutes of sleep. While it may have only been pouring some chocolate-coated sugar bombs into a bowl and adding milk, we could feel a small sense of self-sufficiency. If I was the cynical type (and I am) I might venture that it may even be related to caffeine addiction and getting that morning fix.

While I don't really know why breakfast overshadows the other meals, it clearly does. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day". It would be a rarity to hear someone give any importance at all to lunch. Denny's has breakfast available 24/7, but try to get a burger or a salad at 9 AM. Dads whose culinary abilities are otherwise limited to burning a burger on the grill nevertheless pride themselves on making pancakes every Sunday morning. Then of course there are the franchises that were built on breakfast, IHOP, Waffle House and Bob Evans. There's the romantic's dream of having a special date, asking him or her up for a nightcap and hoping that they will stay for breakfast. What do we do when we want to give someone extra special treatment? Why, it's breakfast in bed. (Although for the life of me, I've never understood how sleeping on crushed shredded wheat afterward makes you feel special). And while there's "My Dinner with Andre" it pales by comparison to "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Young children are treated to Breakfast with Santa and countless fundraisers have annual all-you-can-eat pancake breakfasts. I think it is clear that of the three choices, breakfast is first.

But as with many favorite relationships, sometimes we fall into a rut. Open the box, pour out the granola. Slice the bagel, into the toaster. Scramble an egg, pour out the orange juice. The shortcuts become habit and the magic evaporates. The good news is that it doesn't have to be that way. You can rekindle your love affair with breakfast right at home, without getting out of your bathrobe and without ordering the Grand Slam Skillet. While admittedly, making a less than ordinary breakfast will take a bit more time than filling a cereal bowl, the 30 minutes invested is well worth the effort.

Sunday Morning Breakfast (serves 6)

Cinnamon Spiced Coffee
Apple Flapjacks
Apricot-Glazed Canadian Bacon
Mimosas
Fresh Melon

Ingredients
For the Apricot-Glazed Canadian Bacon:
½ cup apricot preserves
1 TBSP. Honey
1 TBSP. Dijon Mustard
1 TBSP. Soy
1 & 1/2 lb. piece of Canadian bacon

For the Cinnamon Spiced Coffee:
Coffee
2 cinnamon sticks, crushed
¼ cup brown sugar

For the Apple Flapjacks:
2 Granny Smith apples quartered with skin left on
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 TBSP. cinnamon
3 TBSP. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking powder
3 TBSP vegetable Oil (or melted butter)

For the Mimosas:
1 quart fresh squeezed orange juice
Bottle of Brut Champagne

1 fresh, ripe melon

Procedure:
1) As you rub the sleep from your eyes, prepare coffee as you would normally, but add the brown sugar and crushed cinnamon stick to the brewing basket.
2) Preheat oven to 375º. Place Canadian bacon in a shallow pan. Mix apricot preserves, honey, mustard and soy together and spoon over bacon, and place in preheated oven, uncovered. Cook 30 minutes.
3) Slice melon in half, clean out seeds. Slice each half into 4 equal sections. In a single slice, cut the fruit from the rind (cutting 1/4 inch off). The separated rind can serve as a "bowl" for the fruit by cutting the fruit once lengthwise and 10-12 times width-wise. Maintain the shape of the sliced fruit and return to its original position on the rind. This is more of a presentation issue - it is certainly okay to simple whack the melon up into bite sized chunks and spoon it into side dishes.
4) Preheat a griddle or large frying pan. Place eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar apples, oil and salt in blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Add flour and baking powder. Process until well combined. Lightly oil preheated griddle and ladle 1/3 cup of batter per flapjack. When the sides appear dry, flip. Cooking time is longer then standard pancakes, and the final product quite moist.

5) Remove bacon from oven, slice. Serve with flapjacks (with powdered sugar or butter and syrup) with the melon on the side.

6) For mimosas, simultaneously pour equal amounts of chilled Champagne and Orange juice into large wine glasses.

7) Retire to a sunny spot in the living room, enjoy your breakfast, and do the New York Times crossword.
Read More on Chef Geoff
Volume 1, Issue 6, Posted 04.19 AM / 09th September 2005.