On our recent trip to Scotland, my wife and I stayed at a bed and breakfast. I’ve also served as a guest chef at a bed and breakfast and I’ve found that breakfast is probably the most favored meal of the day for many (if not most) people. At least the ones I’ve encountered.
I find it odd then, that so many people choose to skip breakfast. They say they’re too rushed, too late, too this or too that. For many, a cup of coffee suffices. For most American breakfast-eaters, it’s cereal with too much sugar, or sugar in other forms – such as doughnuts, pastries, pancakes, French toast, etc.
Meanwhile, back at the Scottish bed and breakfast, everything they served, except for the three granola-type cereals, was savory and distinctly not sweet. In my own experience as a chef at a bed and breakfast, most guests were more apt to request savory dishes (except when it came to my crème brulée French toast – a subject for another time).
The “Scottish Breakfast” listed on the menu consisted of one fried egg (usually overcooked), sautéed mushrooms, baked tomatoes and bacon that was more like ham. On the side was toasted brown bread with butter and marmalade. I noted, also, that the proprietors required a day’s notice if you wanted kippers or potato cakes for breakfast, the latter being extra savory (if you’ve ever eaten kippered herring, then you know what I mean).
The B&B guests I cooked for seemed to like my baked eggs in tomato cups and while my goal was no repeats during my weeklong stint, I bowed to popular demand. Again, more evidence of favoring savory dishes over sweet.
Since then, I’ve dabbled a bit more in savory breakfasts and when I came across a Tex-Mex style savory pancake dish I knew I might have stumbled on one of the greatest breakfasts ever.
Tex-Mex food in its finer forms is not simply meat, beans and cheese wrapped in tortillas for every meal, like the clichéd versions seen at fast food joints or in the ethnic food aisle at your supermarket. There is real technique and flavor profiling that has a refinement that the aforementioned clichéd foods do not.
Envision this pancake made without sugar and served without maple syrup and a whole new horizon will open for you. It has a piquant flavor that wakes up the sour, salt and spice sensors on your tongue. Serve it with a cooked salsa-style topping and I think you’ll see what I mean when I say this is a breakfast that will get your day going in the best possible way.
Begin by sautéing in just a tablespoon of oil a half-cup each of finely diced red and green bell peppers and finely chopped green onions. Add in a half jalapeño pepper that’s been seeded and minced. When the vegetables have softened, set them aside and keep warm.
To make the pancake batter, combine the dry ingredients: a cup each of all-purpose flour and yellow corn meal; a tablespoon of baking powder, and a half-teaspoon of salt. Then mix together the wet ingredients: three large eggs lightly beaten, and then beat in 8 ounces of plain yogurt, one-third cup of milk and one-third cup of melted butter.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined and still lumpy.
Heat a griddle until hot, grease with some additional butter and ladle the batter onto the griddle. When bubbles form along the sides and you see the bottoms browning, flip and cook until the second side is golden brown.
Top with the sautéed vegetables and shredded Jack cheese. For an additional kick, serve the pancakes with jalapeño jelly on the side.
If I were to open a B&B, I have no doubt the enterprise would become known for this breakfast. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.