Big Bad Breakfast: The Most Important Book of the Day

Big Bad Breakfast: The Most Important Book of the Day

by John Currence
Big Bad Breakfast: The Most Important Book of the Day

Big Bad Breakfast: The Most Important Book of the Day

by John Currence

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Overview

From the James Beard Award winner, Top Chef Masters contestant, and acclaimed author comes this fun, festive, and highly caffeinated ode to the joys and rituals of the Southern breakfast, with over 125 recipes inspired by the author's popular restaurant in Oxford, Mississippi.

John Currence is one of the most celebrated and well-loved chefs in the South. Among his string of highly successful restaurants in Oxford, Mississippi, Big Bad Breakfast holds a special place in diners' hearts: It is a gathering place where people from all walks come together to share the most important meal of the day, breakfast. Southerners know how to do breakfast right, and Currence has elevated it to an artform: dishes like Banana-Pecan Coffee Cake, Spicy Boudin and Poached Eggs, and Oyster Pot Pie are comforting, soulful, and packed with real Southern flavor. Big Bad Breakfast is full of delicious recipes that will make the day ahead that much better--not to mention stories of the wonderful characters who fill the restaurant every morning, and a meditation on why the Southern breakfast is one of America's most valuable culinary contributions.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781607747376
Publisher: Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date: 09/13/2016
Sold by: Random House
Format: eBook
Pages: 272
Sales rank: 971,240
File size: 179 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

John Currence opened City Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi in 1992. Since then, the City Grocery Restaurant Group has opened a number of restaurants, including Ajax Diner, Nacho Mama’s, Kalo’s Tavern, Big Bad Breakfast, Bouré, Lamar Lounge, The Main Event, and Snackbar. Currence is the recipient of the 2009 James Beard Award for Best Chef South and the Southern Foodways Alliance Guardian of the Tradition Award. He has appeared on television programs such as Parts Unknown, Mind of a Chef, Bizarre Foods, Treme, and Top Chef Masters and his writing has appeared in Food & Wine and Bon Appétit, among many others. He is a contributing editor for Garden & Gun magazine, a board member of No Kid Hungry (a project dedicated to eradicating childhood hunger in the United States), and an organizer and past board member of the prestigious annual Southern Foodways Symposium.

Read an Excerpt

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF BREAKFAST


   1. THOU SHALT EMBRACETH THE DAY.
First, accept that every day is new, fresh, and unique. Position yourself in the kitchen with an attitude that reflects your solemn purpose: you are about to prepare THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY, likely for someone you care for (otherwise you would not be up and at ’em at the stove). 

   2. THOU SHALT HOLD NO MEAL HIGHER THAN BREAKFAST.
Commit to raising this disregarded meal from the depths of neglect to the place of honor it deserves. Pledge to put the same effort and passion into preparing breakfast as you would lunch or dinner. In other words, make something other than just a plate of eggs. 

   3. THOU SHALT GET THY MIND RIGHT.
This is fun, damn it. Plan ahead so you don’t stress yourself out early in the morning: shop the day before, stock strong coffee, prep certain items in advance, and find some music that gets you going in the wee hours. All of these will make the chore at hand a little easier. 

   4. THOU SHALT SLATHER WITH BUTTER.
It will not kill you (consumed in quantities within reason, that is). Just let go for a few minutes and enjoy life a little. No fat tastes better on toast with jelly or when cooking eggs (bacon fat included). 

   5. THOU SHALT ANOINTETH WITH BLACK PEPPER.
Whenever pepper is called for in an ingredients list, use freshly cracked black pepper. (The only exception is when I specifically call for white pepper.) 

   6. THOU SHALT MAKE FROM SCRATCH.
It will certainly take more time and effort, but the essence of Big Bad Breakfast is scratch cooking. It’s what made grandmother’s cooking “grandmother’s cooking.” As a matter of fact, I am certain that if my grandmothers and great-grandmothers had not succumbed to other, more natural afflictions, shame over what we accept as food these days would certainly have consumed each of them. 

   7. THOU SHALT USE RESTRAINT WITH INGREDIENTS.
Lots of folks get the wrong idea about recipes and lean toward “the more flavors and ingredients I add, the more complex the end product.” This could not be farther from the truth. The best cooking celebrates the elemental beauty of ingredients. You want to be able to taste everything in the dish, not create something that is just a muddle. 

   8. THOU SHALT SEEKETH LOCAL WHENEVER POSSIBLE.
Honey, eggs, grits, bacon, sausage, jellies, coffee, flour—whatever it is, a local product is more often than not going to have a more singular character. Visit farmers’ markets, bake sales, local farms, and locally owned grocery stores. 

   9. THOU SHALT NOT OVERCOOK.
I am fascinated with the American worry about “undercooking things.” Food can always be cooked more if it is not cooked enough, but YOU CAN’T FUCKING UNCOOK IT if you cook it too long. Granted, we shouldn’t rub raw factory chicken on our toast right before we eat, but I have been making fresh mayonnaise and Caesar dressing with raw eggs for thirty-five years and nobody has ever been sick. Trichinosis is not carried by domestic pigs, and a piece of cooked pork that’s still a little pink beats the crap out of a well-done, dried-out offering. Try the yolk runny, people. With a little salt, it transforms dishes from good to resplendent. 

   10. THOU SHALT REMEMBER THE SABBATH, BUT COOK FROM THIS BOOK EVERY DAY.
You can make pancakes for your kids, freeze them, and rewarm them later. You can make a breakfast casserole or assemble sweet rolls the night before and just turn on the oven the next day. Breakfast is a fun meal, and most of the time, it doesn’t require a ton of effort or mess. More often than not, it’s just about clearing your eyes and committing to loved ones. Remember, breakfast is a joy, not a chore, and the possibilities are endless. It just comes at a weird time of day. And if that’s the deal breaker for you, well, shit, make breakfast for dinner.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword John Besh xi

Foreword David Chang xii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Welcome Basket 6

Sausage Cinnamon Rolls 9

Buttermilk Cake Doughnuts 10

Banana Pecan Coffee Cake 13

Sourdough English Muffins 14

Dried Fig Calas 16

Honey Buns 18

Blueberry Muffin Tops 19

Rum Raisin and Orange Scones 21

Monkey Bread 22

Baked Cornmeal and Buttermilk Doughnuts 24

Chapter 2 The Incredible, Edible, Omnipresent Egg 26

Fried Eggs Master Recipe 30

Scrambled Eggs Master Recipe 31

Poached Eggs Master Recipe 31

Big Bad Breakfast Egg Bake 32

"Broiled" Tomato Benedict 35

North Mississippi Eggs Benedict 37

Big Bad Breakfast Quesadilla 38

Louisiana Crab Cake Benedict 40

Chorizo Migas 43

Double-Boiled Eggs with Black Truffle 45

Shrimp Breakfast Enchiladas 46

"Double Oyster" Hangtown Fry 48

Summer Vegetable Quiche 51

Tugboat Galley Eggs and Dirty Rice 52

Eggs Sardou 55

Spicy Boudin and Poached Eggs 57

Hillbilly Eggs Hussarde 61

Shakshouka 62

Chapter 3 Omelets and Frittatas 64

French-Style Omelet Master Recipe 66

American-Style Omelet Master Recipe 66

French Omelet with Gruyère, Asparagus, and American Bacon 68

Big Bad Breakfast Chili and Cheese Omelet 71

The "J.Y.D." An American Omelet 73

Pepper and Chorizo Frittata 74

Roasted Potato and Adobo Frittata 77

Open-Faced Stewed Okra and Tomato Fritt-Omelet with Swiss Cheese 79

Herbolace, aka the Original Fines Herbes Omelet 83

Shrimp and Bacon Omelet with Soft Cheese and Pesto 84

Shrimp Fried Rice Omurice 85

Low Country Cast-iron Skillet Scramble 87

Creole Skillet Scramble 91

Roasted Mushroom Skillet Scramble 92

Yard Work Skillet Scramble 93

Chapter 4 Pancakes, Waffles, Crepes and other Things "Bready" 94

Silver Dollar and Short Stack Buttermilk Pancakes 96

Belgian Waffles 98

Peanut Butter and Banana Pancakes 99

Shrimp and Pickled Onion Crepes with Mornay 101

Multigrain Pancakes 103

Hoecakes 104

Toasted Oatmeal Pancakes 107

Fresh Corn Arepas 108

Mamie's Favorite French Toast 109

Brioche French Toast 110

German Pancake 113

Big Bad Breakfast Pain Perdu 114

Homemade Pop-Tarts 115

Chapter 5 BFO: Breakfast for Dinner (and Vice Versa) 118

Shrimp and Grits 121

Bruléed Grapefruit 122

Breakfast "Succot-hash" 124

Shrimp Gravy Biscuit Sundae 125

Crawfish Cakes 127

The Pylon 129

Roasted Tomato Cobbler 130

Crawfish Étouffée 132

Sautéed Trout, Soft Scrambled Eggs, Chanterelle Mushrooms 134

Oyster "Potpie" 137

Pork Tenderloin 662 with Crabmeat and Pecan Butter 138

Creamed "Chipped" Mushrooms on Toast 140

The Egg Bowl 143

Huevos Cocineros 144

Chapter 6 Cereals, Grains, and Other Pseudo-Virtuous Things 146

Homemade Vanilla and Double Almond Granola 148

Cinnamon and Citrus Oatmeal with Dried Black Mission Figs 150

Homemade Frosted Cornflakes 151

Homemade Grape-Nuts and Fruit Parfait 152

Grits and Collard Soufflé 155

Italian Sausage, Spinach, Hominy "Risotto" 156

Pork Posole 159

Creamed Toasted Barley with Nuts and Dried Fruit 160

Homemade Crispy Rice "Elvis" Treats 161

Chapter 7 Breakfast Sandwiches 162

Fried Chicken Cathead 164

With Signs Following 167

Monte Cristo 168

Mountey Crisco 169

Egg and Rice Burrito 171

Chicken Sausage Pancake Sandwich 172

Breakfast Croque Monsieur 174

Grilled Ham and Pimento Cheese Sandwich 176

Country Ham Egg Muffin 177

Egg Salad 179

Chapter 8 Sides, Condiments, Meats, and Extras 180

Black Pepper Buttermilk Biscuits 183

Garlic Cheese Grits 187

Cayenne Pepper Sauce 188

Louisiana Satsuma Jelly 189

Black Pepper Honey 191

Spicy Bacon Onion Jam 192

Fig Preserves 195

Pontchatoula Strawberry Jam 196

Red-Eye Gravy 198

Sausage Gravy 199

Tomato Gravy 201

Saucy Black Beans 202

Pimento Cheese 204

Mayonnaise 205

Strawberry Cream Cheese 206

Apple Butter 207

Raspberry Butter 208

Blackberry Mascarpone 210

Comeback Sauce 211

Breakfast Sausage 213

Chicken Sausage 214

Chorizo 215

Livermush 217

Gravlax (Lox) 218

Chapter 9 Eye-Openers 220

Grapefruit Mimosa 223

Michelada and a Shot 224

Ojen Frappé 227

Big Bad Breakfast Bloody Mary 228

The Idiot's Champagne Cocktail 229

Bloody Bull Shot 230

Advantage: Connors Celery Soda 233

Eggnog 234

Dad's Milk Shake 237

Peach Lassi 238

Uptown Express 241

Decatur Street Gutter Punk 242

11:00 a.m. Kickoff 243

Falling Down Brown Cow 245

Donkey Punch 246

The Vacation Wife 248

About the Author 251

Index 253

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