Southern Comfort Breakfast Bowl

Not THAT kind of Southern Comfort!

Southern comfort? Is that rocking away on the front porch drinking a glass of sweet tea waiting for those grand kids to come so you can say “Come give me some sugar” (kisses – and that’s exactly what one of my grandmas use to say, and I would never say that) or is a good pimento cheese sandwich on white bread your southern comfort; and sitting on a stool in a drug store would make that so much better. Maybe a pan of good cornbread or grits or maybe just taking that dog for a long walk on a hot sweltering day is your idea Southern comfort and this recipe certainly isn’t made from the Southern Comfort we use to drink years ago.

Well, I’m fixin to give you a recipe that isn’t a recipe at all; so before you have a hissy fit and say what’s she talkin about, this can be any breakfast ingredient of your choice served in a bowl. It’s all in the presentation and if you are one of those people who don’t like their foods touching then you may not like this.

WARNING: This is a big hungry man breakfast. If it is too heavy for you for the summer, then save it for a cool autumn morning.

One rainy weekend morning I had my head in the refrigerator trying to come up with something yummy. I had seen a episode of Diner, Dives and Drive-Ins months earlier where Guy was in some diner eating a bowl full of gravy and other ingredients.

I decided for my bowl of Southern comfort goodness I was going to start with some browned frozen hash browns and then from there go with a homemade biscuit or two topped with peppered sausage gravy then some bacon “planking” the top with a perfectly poached egg to the side.

I just knew my husband was going to love this. I made him a large size and I ate my biscuit and gravy separate. Big pasta bowls were the perfect dish to serve this in for this rainy day breakfast.

I’m sure everyone knows how to make perfect gravy but to me the most important part of the gravy making is to stir the flour into the bacon fat (or sausage fat) to brown it a little. Doing this will guarantee that your gravy doesn’t have a raw flour taste. I’ve seen people put flour and milk in a jar and shake before adding to a pan. Believe me, this method will not give you good results and who wants to ruin a great breakfast by taking shortcuts.

I’m making just plain old buttermilk biscuits for my bowl. I also think a base of grits, then biscuit, egg, gravy would be yummy to try.

I had this post ready to go a long time ago and has been waiting in the wings for the right moment. I forgot about it and now that it’s summer already, I’m giving it to you anyway even though it may be a little more filling than you would want for this time of year. You get the idea anyway — for a lighter version, how about a little grits on the bottom topped with some sautéed spinach then a poached egg on top; or even a pile sweet potato hash browns topped with vegetable and egg would be yummy.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Tomato Watermelon Salad is one of my favorite salads. Now that winter is behind us we can start looking forward to fresh produce at our farmer’s markets.

I had some leftover sausage so I was one step ahead. I just had to crumble it.

Cook the hash browns per package directions; I like mine extra brown.

Make your gravy and add the crumbled sausage.

Fry bacon, drain and set aside.

To assemble your bowl, scatter some of the hash browns across the bottom of the bowl.

Top hash browns with a split biscuit or two.

Top the biscuits with some of your sausage gravy.

Top bowl with your poached or fried egg.

Top with the fried bacon strips and serve.