Short Order Hash Slingers Salute

Grand Marnier French Toast with Fresh Strawberries

• 1 pint strawberries, sliced into quarters
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons orange liqueur (Grand Marnier recommended)
• 6 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup Grand Marnier
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 2 Tablespoon orange juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 loaf of brioche, challah, or French baguette, cut into 1” thick slices
• 4 ounces butter
• 4 ounces maple syrup
• 4 ounces whipping cream

Directions: Slice strawberries into quarters from stem to tip and place in a non-reactive bowl. Add sugar and orange liqueur then stir to combine. Allow sugar and liqueur to infuse with berries for 30 minutes. In a medium sized bowl, add eggs, milk, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.

Slice bread in 1” thick slices. If using baguette, slice on the bias. In a large sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Soak bread in egg mixture to absorb custard. Place soaked bread slices in pan until browned, then turn and repeat. Place completed toast in center of plate overlapping each other then drizzle with maple syrup followed by sweetened strawberries. Serve with whipped cream.

Braised Pork and Sweet Potato Hash

When poaching eggs, the water temperature of the poaching liquid is critical. Eggs are best when cooked at around 180˚ degrees. Cooking eggs at higher temperatures gives them a rubbery mouth feel. Adding the vinegar to the water helps the egg form a tight ball when poaching, and while this is hotly contested in the breakfast cook community, I chose to add it to this recipe. A good egg person is patient with the eggs and maintains his or her pans at a medium temperature to avoid browning. Never rush the eggs and let them cook themselves.

Sadly, many breakfast houses do not use clarified butter to cook with, and to save money have replaced the golden nectar from the cow with an artificially flavored margarine product called Whirl®. At the Lime Kiln Café, we use the good stuff to cook our eggs and especially, our crispy hash browns.

• 2 pounds yams or sweet potatoes (orange preferred), peeled and chopped into ¾” pieces
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 12 ounces braised pork, chopped or pulled apart (leftover Sunday pot roast was the inspiration behind American hash. So be creative with your leftovers)
• 4 ounces bacon, sliced ¼”
• ½ cup red onion, chopped ½”
• ½ cup red pepper, chopped ½”
• 2 teaspoons garlic minced
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper ground
• ½ cup apple juice
• ½ cup chicken stock
• ½ cup Hollandaise sauce (see recipe)
• ¼ cup queso fresco
• 1 each egg poached (or any style you prefer)
• 1 Tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

Directions: In a 2-quart sauce pan, fill with 1 quart of salted water and bring to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and cook until they are cooked through but firm to the bite (cooking them too long will make them turn mush). Drain and rinse with cold water, then place in refrigerator until next step.

I prefer to use braised pork shoulder in this recipe but if you have leftover pork chops or a pork roast, they will work as well. To create the pulled pork, cut the meat into 1” thick slices then using your hands tear the meat into ¾” chunks.
In a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add sliced bacon and cook until the bacon is browned but not crisp. Add the butter to the cooked bacon and bacon fat, then add the sweet potatoes and pulled pork. Continue to sauté for 4 to 5 minutes until the sweet potatoes begin to brown. Add onion, peppers, garlic, salt, and pepper to potatoes and pork. Continue stirring until the peppers and onions are soft.

Add apple juice and chicken stock to hash and continue to stir until all the liquid is absorbed. At this point, our breakfast hero would be flipping the hash in the pan to brown and crisp up the outside edges. If you are not comfortable with the flip, simply continue stirring the hash and crisping up the edges.

While the hash is resting, prepare the eggs. Traditional hash is served with poached eggs but if you prefer your eggs cooked another way, go for it! I like to serve my hash with sunny-side up eggs.

To poach eggs, fill a sauce pan with 2” of water and bring to a simmer. Wait for small bubbles of air to start accumulating on the bottom of the pan and begin rushing to the top. Add about a tablespoon of white vinegar to the simmering water. Carefully crack the eggs into the water and allow them to cook for 10 to 12 minutes.

Place the hash in the center of a heated plate. Using a soup spoon, drizzle the hollandaise over the hash in a striping pattern, then top with poached egg and garnish with chopped parsley, serve immediately.

Hollandaise Sauce

• 4 each egg yolks
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice fresh squeezed
• ½ cup clarified butter
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, ground
• 2 drops Tabasco® sauce
• Sea salt to taste

Kitchen Tools: 3-quart sauce pan, 3-quart stainless steel bowl, and wire whip
Directions: Clarified butter is needed for this recipe and is really easy to make for those who have mastered it. The method I use at home starts by putting 2 to 4 ounces of butter cubes in my trusted Pyrex measuring cup. Place the butter in the microwave and heat until the butter is just melted and liquid.

Let the warm butter stand for a few minutes until you see three distinct layers. The bottom layer is a milky substance, the center layer is a clear yellow color, and the top layer is clear with white salty foam. The center yellow layer is what we are after, the top layer must be poured off and discarded. Don’t worry if you discard some of the yellow oil, it is important the top layer is completely removed.

The next step is to slowly pour off the yellow oil into a dish without any of the bottom milky layer contaminating it. Once this is done, discard the bottom layer and your dish containing the yellow oil can now be called clarified butter. Once clarified, the butter has a higher burn point and is an excellent oil for cooking your eggs and hash browns.

Once the clarified butter is made, hold it in a warm place. Fill a 3-quart sauce pan with a 1” of water over medium heat. Add the egg yolks and lemon juice to a stainless-steel bowl and whisk vigorously until the eggs have doubled. Place the bowl over the barely boiling water and continue whisking, do not allow the water to touch the bowl to avoid making scrambled eggs while slowly drizzling the clarified butter into the egg and lemon mixture until all the butter is added, the sauce has doubled in size, and is thick and creamy. Remove from heat and season with Tabasco, salt and white pepper. Cover and place in a warm spot until ready to serve.