Breakfast of champions. Or at least high schoolers.

My daughter is taking a nutrition class in high school. Her teacher has asked the students to bring in a "family favorite" as a dish to sample. Sara volunteered to be first, and that was today.

 

I tried to steer her towards a dish that would fool her teacher and classmates into thinking we ate responsibly. Sara wouldn't have any of that. She wanted me to make Potatoes Nelson.

 

"Nelson" was my college nickname. We played touch football, and I was the tight end. I had great hands and a willingness to block, making me perfect as a tight end. At that same time, Sim Nelson was a tight end for our nemesis, the University of Michigan. (I went to Michigan State University.) Michigan, being the prima donna glory hounds that they typically are, were all over the news, and the radios were full of news of "Sim Nelson, the big tight end". Anyways, that's how I came to have the nickname Nelson—I was a big tight end. [cue the snickers]

 

Potatoes Nelson was my signature dish then. I was poor, so I ate cheap. I usually dined on generic brand mac-n-cheese made with water. Hey, it was 10 or 15 boxes for $1. As a treat, I would make these potatoes on the weekend.

 

And I still make them for a breakfast treat.

 

Usually, I cook bacon beforehand, and use the bacon grease, plus crumble in the bacon. However, because I suspect some of the students wouldn't partake of refreshing pork, I left that out. I'm not kosher, but they are.

 

Today's was good, despite.

 

Potatoes Nelson

 

Ingredients (all quantities to taste and inclination)

Potatoes

Oil –or– bacon fat

Bacon (optional)

Onions

Green Peppers

 

Eggs

Tony Cachere's seasoning

Hot sauce

Water

 

Salt

Pepper

Cheese

 

Method

If you are going to use bacon, cook that first so that you can use the fat. Or not. Your choice. I cook mine in the oven (this time sans brown sugar, since I was using the drippings).

 

Oft times, I use baked potatoes from leftovers. But this time, I stuck potatoes with a fork and cooked them in the microwave. It was two large Idaho bakers, cooked for 15 minutes while I showered. By the time I came back, they'd been done and were cool enough to handle. I gave them a thick slice (1/4"), then cut the slices in half to make semi-circles.

 

I heat the pan I am cooking with first, then add the oil (or bacon fat). I am stuck on the old Frugal Gourmet adage, "hot pan, cold oil, food won't stick." I know that this is contrary to some Teflon guidance somewhere, but it's my pan and I'll ruin it if I want to.

 

The potatoes go into the now-hot oil. I resist turning them so that they brown. When I scent that they are brown, I flip them. That might be ten minutes, or maybe eight. Use your nose and learn your stove and pan.

 

After a while, when there is much potato brownness, I add the green peppers and onions. To save time, I used frozen chopped veggies. Those had been thawing for a while in a bowl lined with paper towel, to catch the water. Even so, the water on the veggies combining with hot oil was "exciting". Be careful.

 

It doesn't take much more than five minutes for the veggies to cook. Purty soon, the potatoes are brown, and the veggies are tender. (See picture above) If you have bacon cooked, you might consider chopping it up and adding it to the pan now to reheat it.

 

Got a broiler? Fire it up!

 

The Eggs

 

While all this is going on in the pan, I prepare the eggs. I make my usual scrambling mixture. I use Egg Beaters these days… saves time, is efficient since I can use as much as I want and put the rest back in the fridge, and is supposedly better for you.

 

I put the eggs into a bowl, and if they are real eggs, I whip them to make them to combine yolk with white. Then I add 1 teaspoon of water for each egg equivalent. I also add a drop or two of hot sauce. The water and hot sauce are from the Frugal Gourmet as well. The hot sauce helps the eggs have a "finished" taste. Don't use a lot, and no one will know what you used; it's just yummy. Got a hot tooth? Use more. I sprinkle some Tony's on top because I like my eggs to have flavor.

 

The point is, make a scrambled egg mixture because that's what's coming up.

 

Back to the Pan

 

I push the potatoes onto one half of the pan, leaving bear metal on the other half. I pour in the eggs, and scramble them. Not all the way like you'd serve on a plate, but enough so that you get scrambled eggs. Then I toss the eggs and potatoes together. The wet egg coats the potatoes, but you also have identifiable scrambled egg. Score!

 

I take some cheese now, and cover the eggs/potatoes. Back in the day, I used slices of generic "American Cheese"… it was certainly some homogenized oil product that was yellow. That's what I could afford. This morning, I found a bag of shredded Mexican Mix and a bag of shredded Sharp Cheddar. I used a Dave-sized handful of each and spread it evenly over the potatoes.

 

If you have a broiler, stick the pan in there. Let the golden heat melt and love-ify the cheese.

 

Now you can serve a delicious, bubbly pan of Potatoes Nelson. Note that I didn't salt or pepper the potatoes. I often will, but more often I'll just put the salt and pepper grinders on the table. My family is used to seasoning to their taste.

 

 

/FGR

/Things You May Not Know About Me

 

Done