August 10, 2016 by chefpaulette

My Crazy Breakfasts

biscuits and butter

I live in the South and for breakfast I sometimes have biscuits. And sometimes I have grits. (Not on the same day.) This is not new to my new Southern living. When I lived in NYC I often ate biscuits for breakfast. And sometimes made grits. I love biscuits. And I love grits.

So my biscuit roots and my grits roots are not Southern roots. My favorite biscuit recipe is from Betty Crocker’s 1950 cookbook, a book my mom had when I was a baby and so I have it, too.

Betty Crocker

My mom was born and raised in Brooklyn and she made Betty Crocker’s biscuits. That’s how I learned it.

My grits recipe snuck into my repertoire somewhere in the 1990’s while living on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and followed me to Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx and has followed me to the South. (Sorry, everyone, I use instant grits…what do you expect a New Yorker to do?) I call my breakfast grits “crazy grits” because they are certifiable.

These are both breakfasts I eagerly look forward to. Mondays are usually grits mornings (Duane says it’s his favorite breakfast). For a while I refrained from making biscuits at all because we were trying to lose weight and bready, starchy things are weighty. But just this past Sunday morning I threw diet to the wind and made biscuits. I could (literally) eat the whole batch, but I didn’t. But I wanted to.

Page 67. That’s the page Betty Crocker’s biscuits are on. Even if I think I have it memorized I take out the book (red Pennsylvania Dutch pattern with a missing spine) and go immediately to page 67 for the recipe.

page 67

This past Sunday, tho, I just went with my whimsy (and left the book on the shelf). A cup and a half of flour. A teaspoon and a half of baking powder, a large pinch of salt, a bit of aleppo, 4 tablespoons of butter, cut in with a pastry cutter. Betty then adds milk. I was feeling devil-may-care. I had a leftover 1/4 cup of ricotta. And a leftover 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Oh yeah.

I barely knead it. Just push together to stick and pat into a thick disk.

cut biscuit dough straight down. no wiggling.

just baked biscuits

Over easy eggs. A few chorizo sausages chopped up. Some summer sliced tomatoes. And biscuits and butter.

breakfast of champions. or silly people. or both.

On Monday… the grits. Here’s why they’re crazy. I top them with a sauté of vegetables (etc) that are hanging out in the refrigerator. This time there were 3 kinds of tomatoes, 2 kinds of peppers, mushrooms, onion, scallions, arugula, and some more chorizo. I sauté these up in a medium fry pan, while the grits simmer in a medium saucepan. I add salt, parmigiano, cumin and some aleppo to the grits. I add cumin, salt, pepper, turmeric (just a tad) to the veggies. Sometimes I splash a bit of vermouth.

vegetable saute

The grits go first into the bowl and then the tasty chopped wonders on top. Duane adds one of his hot toppings: ghost pepper sauce, tabasco, or sriracha. I just take it straight.

grits for me and Duane

grits for me

Breakfast. Break that fast with delicious. Nothing much Italian about these dishes, but a palate must roam.

my friend, the biscuit

April 27, 2015 by chefpaulette

Fav Nashville Eats: Beacon Light Tea Room (Bon Aqua)

Beacon Light Tea Room w Duane

Last Sunday, when the first spring air breezed on by, we decided to drive miles away. In the opposite direction of downtown. We wanted to be in the middle of lots of new spring greenery, feel the warm open air, trace the avenues of not-our-usual Sunday. And have breakfast.

So we went to the Beacon Light Tea Room in Hickman County.

Beacon Light Tea Room

We’d been there once before a few years ago. On a Sunday. For breakfast. It’s a drive but the ride is smooth on Highway 100 and there’s enough to entertain out the windows along the way.

For us Sunday breakfast is around noon or 1 o’ clock. And we usually want eggs.

The Beacon Light Tearoom is the place for eggs. They serve them all day long with their full menu of serious eats. The Beacon is also the place for biscuits. And for the trimmings that go with eggs. Like bacon. Ham. Sausage patties. Hash browns. And homemade jam for biscuits.

Beacon Biscuits

What I love about the biscuits is their saltiness. Yep. They got a saltiness. Which makes the jam you put on them *POP* with yum-ful taste.

Beacon Biscuits w Jam

Scrambled eggs are rich. Almost creamy. My plate of breakfast arrived from Central Casting. A movie star.

Beacon Scrambled Eggs

Duane’s eggs over easy with sawmill gravy and sausage patties beamed happily… congratulating him for requesting this perfect combo.

w sawmill gravy

The Beacon Light Tea Room started out in 1936 across the street from where a lighthouse stood to guide prop planes around the area. The Beacon thanks the Loveless for following in their footsteps and keeping up the country cooking tradition.

The Beacon Story

The Beacon Light Tea Room is the smaller, less Disney version of the Loveless. It’s sincerely un-fancy; authentically homegrown.

sign at the door

road sign

And, for us, a perfect destination when the wheels of the car need to roll around new territory. And when our brains need to be swept of cobwebs. And when our palates are longing for straightforward delicious.

on the road

along the road

November 10, 2014 by chefpaulette

Fav Nashville Eats: Wendell Smith’s

Wendell Smith’s

If a place has some character, serves good food (read: GOOD food…not necessarily complicated food, but GOOD), and the prices are reasonable…it gets my attention. Sure I love to sample what chefs create, but if I’m not in a sampling mood and just want something comfy and consistent and in an atmosphere where I relax easily…then I go to the ole reliables.

I lived in NYC for many years and one of my all-time favorite reliables was the local diner. Any one of them!

Malibu Diner in NYC

NY diners are usually run by Greeks with a menu that includes some Greek specialties, but the big draw for me was the all-day/all-night breakfast. Sure they had classic sandwiches, big burgers, a zillion salads, sometimes even lobster tails, steak, plus a lit-up carousel filled with mile-high cakes and pies (these I never ordered) (too much sweet for my timid sweet tooth). Gimme the eggs; I want the home fries.

Here in Nashville, diners aren’t on every other corner like they (used to be) in NYC (even there, they’re disappearing). But I’ve happily connected to 3 restaurants that do the diner thing and THEN SOME.

Today I’ll just start with one. Wendell Smith’s. To say I’ve discovered Wendell Smith’s just goes to show you what a Nashville greenhorn I am. When you walk into Wendell Smith’s for the first time you realize everyone in there has been going for YEARS. That maiden visit I almost felt like an intruder. But they greet you friendly enough. And now Wendell’s tickles me every time I walk in their door.

From what I understand the restaurant started in the 1950’s. The place still looks like the 1950’s including some wear and tear from the passage of decades. But that’s all added charm.

Wendell’s menus

It used to have a drive-up window that they closed in to add more tables. A friend’s mom and dad met at that drive-up window years ago!

Wendell’s is not necessarily known for its breakfast food. It’s a meat and 3 with a changing daily menu. Their permanent menu has the eggs and omelets, burgers, and sandwiches, and things like tuna-stuffed tomato.

Wendell’s bacon cheeseburger

But I’ve got my favorite breakfast dish and order it almost every time: 2 eggs, scrambled soft, home fries, and sliced tomatoes. (Okay, occasionally I get the cheese omelet.)

Wendell’s eggs, tomatoes, home fries

Wendell’s is big on tomatoes. They ALWAYS have big, ripe fresh tomatoes on hand. And they sell them by the pound, too.

Local tomatoes by the pound at Wendell’s

On some days they have Polish Sausage on the meat and 3 menu. Duane will always order that. And if their yumfest fried chicken is on the menu I’ll skip my breakfast for that. I also LOVE their turnip greens.

Meat & 2

Meat & 3 Menu

The place gets packed at lunch (when I seem to usually have breakfast) but each time we go there’s a booth available.

Wendell’s at lunchtime

ADDED BONUS: Wendell’s waitresses are the best in town. Serious career waitresses. They already know what we’re gonna order. And we love that feeling of being regulars.

Wendell Smith’s is true Nashville.

Wendell’s is Open

Wendell’s

Chef Paulette

A little bit of Italy at home.

breakfast

My Crazy Breakfasts

Fav Nashville Eats: Beacon Light Tea Room (Bon Aqua)

Fav Nashville Eats: Wendell Smith’s

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