Breakfast Vacations - The Deep South
Continuing on with our series of Sunday breakfasts based on regional specialties, we come to a particular love of mine - the South. Ahh, Sunday mornings in
Oh, who am I kidding. I was a kid, I wanted Pop Tarts. I mean, I wouldn't turn my nose up at biscuits and grits, but I really loved those cinnamon brown sugar monstrosities that they were advertising every Saturday morning on Jonny Quest, Atom Ant and Space Ghost.
It wasn't till much later that I formed an appreciation for the wonders of a full Southern-style morning feed. Which, in our case of not-actually-traveling wish fulfillment, consists of the following menu:
- Eggs - cage free mainly because I think they taste better.
- Grits - NOT instant grits - these are an abomination. Get the regular grits. Substitute milk for ¼ to ½ of the water required for creamier grits.
- Country ham - see below
- Red eye gravy - also see below
- Biscuits - you know what's not bad? Pillsbury frozen country biscuits. Since you're already making all the other stuff for breakfast, these are a real time saver. They're not quite as good as homemade but they are surprisingly decent.
- Preserves - real preserves, like peach or strawberry, not sugared up jams.
The centerpiece of any great Southern breakfast is, of course, the country ham. Real country ham is a salt cured ham that is also usually smoked. Not for us Americans the effete mild, nutty flavor of the air-cured hams we left behind when we emigrated from
Now, it is traditional to buy a whole country ham, but then you have to soak it for a week or so and then there's the mold you have to trim off and all. We find it's not all that conducive to a leisurely Sunday morning feast when you have to start planning for it a month in advance. So we get our country ham the newfangled way - we order it presliced and de-molded and packed in plastic.
To date we've benefited by having family that lives in the South who can go over to their neighborhood grocery store and send us some packaged ham slices for our delectation. Since it occurs to us that not everyone has that advantage, I guess I'll have to conduct a little research and see what online vendors offer the best hams. That will be something for a future entry, and it gives me the opportunity to order and consume a variety of country ham offerings. Oh, the sacrifices I make in the pursuit of knowledge!
Anyhow, with any good country ham breakfast one also needs to make red eye gravy. This is actually pretty simple. Fry up the country ham slice in a cast iron skillet. You want to form a fond, as our Frenchy cousins would say. We Americans would say crust in the pan. After the ham is done, remove from pan and add a pat of butter and water to dissolve the fond. For real hardcore Southern red eye, use some coffee with or instead of the water. Let the gravy boil down until slightly reduced. It's going to be pretty thin. Now make a little crater in your grits and pour the red eye gravy over it. Ahh, perfection. One warning: the gravy will be pretty salty, so unless you're me, you won't want to add any additional salt to the grits.
After a breakfast like this, it's traditional in my family to lie around on the couches, idly glancing at the Sunday newspapers until it's time for football to start. Since we often have this breakfast in June, it means most of the summer is shot.
