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Breakfast Foods
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Breakfast foods are wholesome and satisfying. That’s why some places serve breakfast all day long. In addition, an entire food culture has developed around the drinks that normally accompany breakfast—coffee bars and tea rooms.
Pancakes, Waffles, Crêpes, and French Toast
Other popular breakfast foods include pancakes, crêpes, waffles, and French toast. The batters for these items are simple to make. Many can be cooked in a few minutes.
Make pancakes with a medium-weight pour batter, and cook them on an open, lightly oiled griddle. Crêpes (CRAPES or CREPPS) are very thin pancake-type items with a high egg content. The result is a delicate, unleavened griddlecake. Crêpes are traditionally cooked in a lightly oiled, very hot sauté pan. Make Swedish pancakes with a slightly sweetened batter that is a bit heavier than a crêpe batter. Cook these pancakes on a flat griddle or in a special fluted pan. For waffles, use a medium-weight pour batter similar to pancake batter, but with more egg and oil. Cook waffles in a specially designed waffle maker, or iron, that creates grid-like holes or specialty designs. French toast is sliced bread (preferably a day old) dipped in an egg-and-milk mixture. Chefs often season the mixture lightly with cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook French toast on a lightly oiled griddle or flat pan, or pan-fry it in clarified butter in a hot sauté pan. Serve pancakes, crêpes, waffles, and French toast with butter and syrup, powdered sugar, fresh fruit, or whipped cream. For additional variety, add ingredients such as chocolate chips or blueberries to pancake or waffle batters.
Pancakes
Crêpes
French Toast
Breakfast Meats
Operations often include breakfast meats, such as bacon, sausage, ham, Canadian bacon, and hash, to complete the breakfast meal. Bacon and sausage food preparers can cook bacon and sausage in advance. Bacon is about 70 percent fat and shrinks quite a bit. Cook bacon until it is crisp, and then drain it of fat. Cook sausage completely through. It should be slightly browned on the outside but juicy on the inside. Some operations have begun using precooked bacon and sausage. These items help to reduce labor cost and equipment requirements.
Ham for breakfast service is a smoked or cured item that only needs to be heated and browned slightly on a griddle or under the broiler. Canadian bacon is boneless pork loin that has been cured and smoked. Cook it the same way as ham, by heating and browning it. Ham and Canadian bacon don’t hold well. Cook them as close to service as is practical.
Fish operations often offer fish, such as smoked salmon or trout, on breakfast and brunch menus. Generally, these items are served cold; all such fish items should remain properly refrigerated until as close to service as is practical. Items such as broiled trout are particularly popular for breakfast at certain types of resorts.
Hash is a mixture of chopped meat (fresh, smoked, or cured), potatoes, and onions. The ratio of meat to vegetable is not an exact one, and the chef can include a wide variety of vegetables to give the dish color and flavor. The goal of the dish is to achieve a flavorful balance of meat, potatoes, and onion.
Hash can be prepared from leftover meat. The meat should always be of high quality; otherwise, the result will not be a quality product. Hash is often formed into patties and fried.
Potatoes
Hashed browns
Potatoes are prepared in a variety of ways for breakfast and brunch. Most often chefs make them into hashed brown potatoes or home fries. Prepare hashed brown potatoes, or hash browns, by steaming or simmering them in lightly salted water and then peeling, chilling, and shredding the potatoes. Cook the shredded potato on a lightly oiled griddle on medium heat to a light golden brown on both sides. Home fries are raw potatoes that have been peeled and then sliced, diced, or shredded. Cook them on a well-oiled griddle, or pan-fry them until golden brown and cooked through. Season hash browns and homefried potatoes well during cooking.
Home Fried
Cereals
Hot and cold cereals have become more popular as breakfast entrées. A wide variety of cold cereals featuring oat bran and granola are common breakfast requests. Cold, prepackaged cereals need no formal preparation. Serve cold cereals with accompanying milk or cream, sugar (brown sugar is attractive), and fresh fruit, such as sliced bananas or strawberries. Some kitchens prefer to make their own granola, often serving it with yogurt and fresh or stewed fruit.
There are two types of hot cereal: whole, cracked, or flaked (oatmeal and cracked wheat) and granular (farina and cornmeal). When preparing hot cereal, be sure to measure the correct amount of water, salt, and cereal according to package directions. Adding milk makes the cereal creamier—and more expensive. When using milk, take care not to boil or scorch it. Always add the cereal to the liquid slowly, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. “Instant” hot cereals are precooked and dried cereals that are reconstituted in hot water or milk. These cereals have become popular in homes and commercial kitchens because they need little preparation time and do not lump easily. To prevent hot cereals from drying out, keep them covered until they are served. Oatmeal, cream of wheat or rice, grits, and cornmeal mush are all typical hot cereals.
Breads and Pastries
The most common breakfast bread in the United States is probably the simple slice of toast—white, wheat, and sourdough, for example, grace many tables. Other bread and pastry options include bagels, biscuits, muffins, croissants, doughnuts, cornbread, coffeecake, English muffins, and sweet rolls, among many others. Chefs typically serve breakfast breads hot or warm, accompanied by butter, honey, cream cheese, or jam. Fruit A number of fruits are commonly associated with the breakfast table. Halved grapefruit, either raw or broiled with brown sugar, is very popular on breakfast menus. Although fresh fruits—whole or sliced, depending on the type—may appear with cereals, many people enjoy a light fruit salad as part of this meal. Compotes and jams made of fresh or dried fruits also play a role: for instance, slather apples cooked in cinnamon on top of a stack of pancakes. Fruit juices, especially orange and tomato, are traditional at this time as well.
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