Hot Potato

Of all the foods in the diner breakfast pantheon, it's hash browns that deserve more attention; what with bacon hogging the spotlight (looking back, that's a truly awful pun; sorry about that), even sausage has been relegated to the background, coming to prominence only infrequently on things like biscuits, but the minimal attention paid to sausage puts it on the C-list compared to the scoop-it-off-the-grill-and-forget-about-it nature of breakfast potatoes.

Potatoes have, in general, been stuck at the side of the plate for too long, which is a shame considering all the tasty things you can do to them - they're even good boiled, a fate I wouldn't usually reserve to the blandest of foods.

To hell with that, I say. Attention must be paid to potatoes, and breakfast is as good a place as any to start.
The diner breakfast trifecta is familiar the country over - eggs on one third of the plate, meats on another third and potatoes on the remaining third. This recipe brings the starch to the forefront by putting it smack-dab in the middle of the plate with everything else catering to it, for once. You'll notice that the proportions are similarly balanced in the potatoes' favor as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 mediumish potato, cubed
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter

• Pinches of Rosemary, Parsley and Thyme
• Dashes of Paprika and Celery Salt
• Salt and Pepper

• 1 Egg
• 1 tbsp half-and-half
  

optional:

• 1 cup (or so) sliced smoked hot Chorizo
• 2 dashes of Louisiana hot - Frank's, etc.
  

The Gist:

Melt the butter in a pan with the olive oil over medium heat, and throw in the potato and onion once the butter is bubbling. Toss to combine.

Potatoes are hardy starches - you're going to have to cook them for awhile at a relatively low temperature to simultaneously cook them and keep them from burning, about 10-15 minutes should do it. Add the spices and chorizo (if you went that way) halfway through - if you ever wondered what makes diner hash browns that distinctive slight-orange color, by the way, it's the butter and the paprika.

Once the potatoes are cooked, beat an egg with the half-and-half, pinches of salt and pepper and, if you like, the hot sauce. Pour into the pan directly over the potatoes and tilt the pan around for an even distribution. Don't touch it after that, just let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes. The eggs will be cooked through but slightly soft on one side, the potatoes will be fork-tender and the sausage will be warm and slightly crispy.

Serve with coffee and, if you think you can deal with the added starch, toast.

Notes:

• Chorizo translates to "sausage," but in practice (in the United States at least) Chorizo is almost always sold smoked, not raw. If the chorizo you have is raw, you'll need to cook it first.
• Sour cream can be substituted for the half-and-half. So can water; it's just a stretching agent.
• And speaking of sour cream, it works wonders here as a garnish.
• So does grated cheddar.
  

This recipe results in a diner-sized portion - I can eat this much by myself without so much as blinking, though you could probably feed two normal people with it. If you're cooking for two hungry people, add another egg and you should be fine. I serve it on one plate with two forks, but that's me.

Broth Matters

At some point when I wasn't looking, broth became a steak delivery system.

Don't get me wrong; I positively adore steak delivery systems; most of the time, I am one. But broth should be hearty more-or-less on its own - you don't need to put an entire chicken in it to make it taste like something.

Part of it is an expectations game - pre-made soup companies nowadays focus on the stuff floating in the broth instead of the broth itself. This is fine, I guess, but it's gotten to the point where the broth in a can of hearty soup isn't anything more than salt water with beef concentrate in it. It's a shame, and it's a bit of a nomenclature problem - maybe it's just me, but soup that's more ingredients than stock isn't soup; it's stew.

Broth matters. And I, for one, think it's about time that some attention was paid to it.

This:
...is about as much attention as broth can possibly get while still being graced with some bulk. The potatoes work in conjunction with the gelatin from the bones as a thickener without having to use flour (which can get messy) and the mushrooms mostly act as a broth concentrator.

A nice side effect of this recipe is, like most soups, it's made up of things you probably would have thrown away if you weren't thinking ahead. Remember when I said it's smart to buy whole chicken wings for frying and save the tips? This is where the tips go. I can feed 3-4 people with this recipe and all it will cost me is a handful of vegetables, some scraps from the freezer and some spices.

Ingredients:

Stock:

• 2-4 pork chop bones, depending on size
• 12 chicken wing tips
• 2 whole cloves garlic
• 1 onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 celery stalks, roughly cut up
• Enough water to fill a medium pot
  
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• salt and pepper

Bulk:

• 2 potatoes, cubed
• 6-8 mushrooms, roughly chopped
• green onion as garnish
  

The Gist:

Combine the stock ingredients in a big pot. Bring to a boil before reducing the heat to provide an energetic simmer. Simmer covered for an hour or so, then remove the lid and continue simmering.

When the liquid volume has halved itself (30 minutes to an hour, depending), top it off with water. When it's halved itself again, run the liquid through a strainer, discard the solid ingredients and put the stock in the fridge overnight.

Come the next day, you'll find that the stock's fat has risen to the top of the pot and solidified. Skim it off with a ladle.

An hour or so before serving, add the potatoes and mushrooms to the pot and return to a simmer. Heat until the potatoes are soft, ladle into bowls, garnish with green onion and serve with buttered bread.

Considerations:

• Don't let the stock boil for too long before letting it simmer - boiling the bones too roughly will lead to a bitter stock. Be gentle with it and your stock will remain hearty and mildly sweet.
• We (at least, I) have become used to salty soups, but the purpose of this one is to showcase the broth; go easy on the salt and let the stock speak for itself for a change.
• I haven't tried it yet, but I think this soup would be amazing with tofu substituted for half or all of the potatoes.