One-Eyed Jacks

This recipe comes by way of my good friend Styles, who uses the simplest of ingredients for a quick, healthy breakfast that will please everyone from cherub-faced wee ones to hungover household hippies:

You will need:

- 1 egg
- 1 slice bread, any type
- Butter
- Salt & pepper
- 1 drinking glass (the mouth should be smaller than a slice of bread)
- Cutting board or clean level surface

Directions:

- Preheat a pan or griddle to medium-high
- Lay slice of bread on cutting board
- Turn glass upside-down and carefully cut a circle in the bread using a twisting motion
- Lightly butter the pan
- Briefly lay slice of bread in pan to soak up some butter, then flip to soak other side
- Crack egg into the "eye" of the bread and cook for 2-3 mins
- Flip with a spatula to cook other side for another minute
- Season to taste and serve with a side of hash browns

Optional:

- Try melting a slice of cheese on the one-eyed jack and serve with hot salsa
- For a sweet n' salty variation, try using cinnamon raisin bread

Griddle Timing

Greetings, Hungry Readers!

In the time since my last post I have become a father. Another wonderful mouth to feed! Although my son's breakfasts currently consist of mother's milk, I can't help but ponder what delectable secrets will unfold in our future kitchen: will he want waffles? prefer pancakes? seek out cereal? ogle an oversized omelette? The mind reels...

But today my mind drifts to matters of the griddle. I watch countless families and friends prepare pancakes for their morning meal on many a Sunday morning, and it prompts me to pontificate what separates a light n' fluffy flapjack from a burnt-out charcoaled disk of batter unsuitable for knife or fork? The answer quite often lies not in the ingredients, type of pan or cooking medium, but in that most elusive and intangible of all elements of not only breakfast, but as well of life: timing.

It is important to remember that a hot griddle (or pan) has a beautiful temperature arc: the heat gathers slowly throughout the metal surface, mantains an even keel at its maximum setting, and retains its warmth in a slow decay long after the knob is turned off.

It's elementary to say that at different points along this heat curve, your pancakes will turn out differently. That's why the first batch always seems to lull even the most experienced flapper into a false sense of security about how quickly his cakes will cook! It is easily assumed that three minutes will be enough to produce a perfectly golden-brown confection; during the next round, as the heat rises on the surface of the pan, those same three minutes are just enough time to blacken your hotcakes like a Cajun catfish, rendering them inedible for even the most iron of stomachs.

A good rule of thumb is to do the "drop water" test: when you feel the griddle has reached its peak temp, splash a drop of water from your fingers onto the surface; it should skid across and sizzle away in seconds. The first batch should be even-steven, and it just gets better from there.

Don't be afraid to let the first batch go "to the dogs"; if all else fails, try, try again, and keep one eye and ear to the griddle at all times. Now I've got to go change some diapers, so keep those cakes hot until I get back!