Friday, May 16, 2008

A Summertime Breakfast

When it's cold, a hot meal, with a generous portion of protein and carbos is the perfect breakfast to get me going in the morning. Fried eggs, hash browns, toast with butter and jam, a couple of slices of bacon, and a cup of coffee. Pancakes with sausages, scrambled eggs, and lots of hot maple syrup is good too. Or, an omelet with cheddar cheese, sautéed chicken livers, caramelized onions and mushrooms. They're all delicious.

But once again in LA the temperature is pushing into the 90s. When that happens, my "perfect" cold weather breakfast leaves me feeling sluggish.

With the heat, I need to switch gears and have something lighter in the morning: a toasted bagel, a croissant, a bowl of cereal, granola with fruit, yogurt, a fresh fruit salad, or as our older son Frank prefers, a fruit smoothie with protein powder. There are plenty of choices.

I want to recommend my new favorite warm-weather breakfast. It may sounds austere but it has so many flavors and textures, it's a great way to start the day. Please write in with your favorite breakfast so we can compare notes.

Apple, Bacon, and Cheese Breakfast

1 large Fuji apple, peeled, cored (preferably farmers market fresh)
4 slices of bacon, crisp
4 ounces of cheese

My son Michael prefers his apples unpeeled. I agree that there are valuable vitamins and minerals in the skin. In this, Michael and my mom had the same opinion, but I prefer the clean taste of a peeled apple. The bacon needs to be very crisp and well-drained. For a semi-soft cheese, I like Jarlsberg, Irish cheddar, or Comte. If you prefer a soft cheese like Brie, Saint André, or chèvre, you can spread the cheese on the apple or a piece of toast. Proscuitto is a good alternative for the bacon.

Serves 1. Preparation Time: 5 minutes. Cooking Time: 10 minutes.

2 comments:

Dave Sandell said...

If you can get them, you've gotta go the Honeycrisp apple route.

David Latt said...

A friend who is as passionate as I am about cooking and food wrote in that I had stumbled on her secret breakfast. Here is her email. I love the excitement she feels for food. I know the feeling.
David,
you've stolen my secret favorite breakfast!!! I often use salami as my meat, to be really disgusting, or none at all. And I like to add a big spoonful of grainy peanut butter to smear on my apple slices. And sometimes a nice slice of toasted whole grain bread from La Brea Bakery. While watching my weight or general diet, I skip fatty meats, limit the cheese to a tiny wedge and go heavy on the apple, peanut butter, whole grain toast. Top this off with fresh squeezed blood orange juice and a cup of milky English tea....heaven.
xxxxo sasha

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