Comfort Food

I hit the wall last Saturday, the wall that is winter. It was cold and snowy and damp and utterly miserable here, and although it has not been a terribly bad winter, I had had enough of it. I’m tired of bundling up to get out the door, I’m tired of my nose being cold, I’m tired of cleaning off the car, I’m tired of watching every single step to see if I'm about to slip and fall like a cartoon character. If I could, I would get into bed with a cup of tea and a book for the next month or so and only get out when it’s spring.

Last Saturday, as I came in the door from work, I was cold and starving and defeated, and I had nothing ready for dinner. And then I realized I had all the ingredients for Breakfast Potatoes, and the world seemed a little brighter.

Breakfast Potatoes got their name, not because I’ve ever had them for breakfast, although you totally could, but because they have breakfasty ingredients. I served these with a fruit salad, and things looked a whole lot better.

Breakfast Potatoes serves 2

1 baking potato

3 eggs

3 strips bacon

¼ cup shredded cheese

Poke the potato a few times and bake it in the microwave on HIGH for 10 to 12 minutes. (If I am very organized, I do this the night before or in the morning before I go to work.)

When the potato is cooked through, cut it into bite-sized pieces. Melt some butter and oil in a frying pan and add the potato and let cook without stirring until nice and brown and crusty. Flip the potatoes over, and let cook until all the sides are browned, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, microwave the bacon and shred the cheese.

Crack the eggs in a bowl and beat them until combined. When the potatoes are all browned, push them over to one side of the pan to get them out of the way, and add the eggs and scramble them. When the eggs are starting to firm up, stir the eggs and potatoes together.

Sprinkle the cheese and bacon over the eggs and potatoes, and either run the pan under the broiler to melt the cheese, or do it the lazy way, and lower the heat to quite low (so the eggs don’t over cook) and cover the pan with some foil or a plate for a few minutes.

Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately. (Or eat right out of the pan if you have no shame.)