food international: The Eggberts Sunriser

There was (and is, still) a restaurant in my hometown called Eggberts.

Eggberts opened when I was a pre-teen, I think, with a maximum of eight booths and a few seats at the bar, which was about two feet away from all the cooking. That was my favorite place to sit as a twelve-year-old, as I got to watch all the eggs being cracked, all the waffle batter being spooned into the waffle irons, all the gravy being ladled onto the biscuits. It was such a magical, wonderful place.

As I headed into my teenage years, Eggberts became a hangout for my group of four or five very close friends (Hi, Jenn! Hi, Sarah! Hi, Jules! Hi Carrums!) Strangely, we’d go there on weeknights…weekday afternoons…Sunday nights—anytime we just needed a safe, familiar place to hang out. You’d think five teenage girls with acid wash jeans and Madonna bangles would find a less greasy place to take their Giorgio-perfumed adolescent bodies…but for some reason, Eggberts was our home.

And Eggberts welcomed us with open arms. I knew this once and for all one day during my junior year in high school. I’d just finished performing in “The Nutcracker” the previous weekend, and my friends and I met after school on Monday. I was tired of starving myself and I wanted to eat, man. And when we sat down at our regular booth, I saw that Eggberts had taped some newspaper photos of me—ballet publicity shots—on the window near the booth. It was their way of saying, “We support you, kid,” and I still tear up today when I think about it. As much as my mom and dad raised me, Eggberts raised me, too.

Just don’t tell my mom and dad I said that.

Here’s what I ordered that day after The Nutcracker/starvation season was over. It’s what I order to this day when I go to Eggberts—which has since moved to a much larger building—twice a year to meet Gaga for breakfast.

It’s called the Eggberts Sunriser. And it’s to die for.

 

Here are some of the things you need.

Ham—you can use the leftover stuff from Christmas! You could also use crumbled sausage or bacon instead; whatever you have lying around.

A jalapeno, if you can handle the heat and need a little excitement in your life, which, I’m convinced, spicy peppers bring.

No, really. I think there’s something psychological there. It causes a momentary euphoria as your mouth tries to reconcile the pain, etc…

Never mind. We’ll save that for another time.

Sharp cheddar or whatever other kind of cheese you’d like to use. Monterey Jack would be good. Pepper-Jack, too. A Colby-Jack mix would be divine.

Just grate it yourself, though. It’s the only way.

 

Bell peppers—green and red if you have them both. I just had green…

 

So I decided to use a little red onion for color…

Along with a regular yellow onion.

 

You need some eggs…

AND: Frozen hash browns and frozen small potato wedges.

 

Start by frying the hash browns. You can bake them according to the package directions, but I’m going the crispy, fried route: add a little canola oil to a frying pan and heat to medium.

 

Then carefully add a layer of hash browns.

Leave them undisturbed for a few minutes, and make sure the skillet’s not too hot.

Ideally, you’ll turn them only once or twice—you want them crispy and golden brown. Salt and pepper them while they’re frying. When they’re done, set them on a paper towel to drain.

 

Add more oil to the skillet for the potato wedges; they need to cook in more of a deep fry environment.

Again, you can bake these in the oven instead…

 

But why would you want to?

Chop up the veggies. Cut the onion in half from root to tip, then make several vertical slices.

 

Then slice downward to create a dice.

Next: ask for this knife from Santa. It’s magical.

Here’s a link: My Blessed Knife

But if you get one, please use it carefully. It’ll take off your thumbnail if you even look in its direction.

 

Dice up the red onion, too.

 

Seed the bell pepper and cut it into thick strips…

Then cut it into a large dice.

Finally, if you’ve got the cojones, slice the jalapeno in half. Seed it if you want to go easy on yourself; if not, leave all this stuff in!

Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

 

Use as much or as little as your soul will allow.

I’ll let you be the judge. I don’t want that responsibility.

Finally, dice up the ham.

Tada!

 

Why is ham so good?

Okay, all we’re going to do here is just throw the vegetables and the ham into a hot skillet to

a) slightly warm them up

and

b) take away just a touch of the raw onion pungency.

This is a completely personal thing. I happen to get distracted sometimes by the strong flavor of raw onions—especially red ones. But if that doesn’t bother you, you could skip this step and just throw them into the dish raw. If you do this step, though, melt a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet…

Throw in the veggies (including the jalapenos)…

 

And toss them around—for just a few seconds, max.

Throw in the ham…

 

And toss it around for just a few seconds.

Turn off the heat and let it sit in the pan. You don’t want to soften the onions and peppers; just make ’em a tad more mild.

 

And now it’s time for the fun part! If you have some very small, individual iron skillets, those work best. Or you could just assemble one huge portion in a large iron skillet and have everyone serve themselves from it.

Either way, it’s lots of fun.

Begin with a layer of the crispy hash browns.

Add a generous layer of the ham/veggie mixture.

Then comes a generous layer of grated cheese.

Now pop the skillet right into a preheated 300-degree oven. You want it to stay in just until the cheese melts. Watch it (or have a helper watch it) to make sure the cheese doesn’t melt too much and start to sizzle and become hard.

While the cheese is melting, melt some butter in a nonstick skillet…

 

And fry up some eggs. You can fry them however you like ’em. I’m more of an over-medium gal, but for this dish I’m doing sunny side up.

It’s purtier that way.

Zee cheese…eez melted!

It almost went too far, too. I like it melted soft, not melted chewy and firm.

 

I’m losing daylight, so let’s move it over by my kitchen window.

Now, grab the warm, crispy potato wedges and lay a few over the top.

 

And yes, you can certainly slave away and make your own hash browns and potato wedges if you’d like…but it’s actually much more diner/greasy-spoonish to use the frozen stuff.

When they’re done, slide the eggs right over the top of the potato wedges.

Perfect!

And that, my friends, is an Eggberts Sunriser!

 

But it needs a little something.

It needs a little…salsa!

Check out my awesome manicure. Not.

Pico de gallo would also be absolutely divine.

But I’m plum out of fresh tomatoes. It’s cold here, man!

 

Plop this down right in front of a hungry human…then sit back and watch what happens.

The beauty of this is that the soft yolk sort of bursts forth and drips down and flavors the rest of the ingredients…

Ugh. I’m hungry.

Thank you, Eggberts, for raising me, for giving me a save place for my friends and me to hang out, and for your love and support through the years.

And thank you for your Sunriser. It’s gotten me through some pretty dicey moments in my life.

Enjoy, all!

Here’s the printable recipe.

Recipe

The Eggberts Sunriser

Prep Time:

20 Minutes

Difficulty:

Easy

Cook Time:

10 Minutes

Servings:

4 Servings

Ingredients

• 8 cups Frozen Hash Browns
• 20 whole Frozen Mini Potato Wedges
• Canola Oil, For Frying
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
• 1 whole Green Bell Pepper, Diced
• 1/2 whole Red Bell Pepper, Diced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Seeded And Diced (optional)
• 1-1/2 cup Diced Ham
• 1-1/2 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Grated
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 8 whole Eggs

Instructions

Fry hash browns and potato wedges in separate skillets according to package directions until golden brown and crisp. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (May bake in the oven if you prefer). Drain on a paper towel and keep warm.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Throw in veggies and ham; toss around for several seconds. Turn off heat and allow to stay in pan.

In four individual skillets (or one very large one) layer:

Hash browns
Veggie/ ham mixture
Grated cheese

Place into a preheated 300 degree oven for a minute or two, until the cheese is melted. Remove from oven with an oven mitt, as skillet will be hot.

Melt two tablespoons butter in a nonstick skillet and fry eggs to the specifications of your guests.

Place five potato wedges over the top of the melted cheese, then top with two eggs per skillet.

Spoon salsa or pico de gallo over the top and serve immediately. Enjoy!