Cracker Barrel Style Breakfast
I've only eaten at Cracker Barrel a few times, but I generally like the breakfast food. I decided to emulate one of their menu items in this contest since eggs were a featured ingredient. The four parts to this plating are: Parmesan and Italian Bread Crumb coated Pork Chops, Fried Egg, Onion Hash Browns, and Homemade Biscuits with homemade Apple Butter. The whole egg portion was the Fried Egg, and the incorporated portion was the egg used as a breading/coating medium for the pork chops.
Ingredient List
McIntosh Apples
Apple Cider
Honey
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cloves
Salt
Potatoes
onion
AP Flour
egg
canola oil
pepper
Baking powder
sugar
butter
milk
pork steaks
Parmesan cheese
Italian Style Bread Crumbs
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cayenne Pepper
To make Apple Butter:
1. Chop four apples using an apple slicer. You can leave the peel on. Transfer them to a saucepan.
2. To the same saucepan add: 1/3 cup apple cider, 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, a pinch of cloves, a bit of cayenne pepper, and a pinch of sea salt.
3. Heat the pan on low heat, and cover. Cook for 1 hour. Stir occasionally so the apples don't stick.
4. Leaving the skin on the applies is fine, but if you don't want to hassle with the blender issues, take them off first. I was able to relatively easily chop them up in a blender with the skins on. Either way, blend until smooth.
5. Refrigerate until needed.
To make Parmesan Pork Chops:
1. Cut your Pork loin into 1/2- 1 inch steaks. Salt and pepper both sides generously. This is important because you should always use more salt when browning meat in this way than you think you would need. You don't really taste it at all.
2. Pour about 1 cup Parmesan cheese in large container, and 1 cup Italian Style (preferably Panko) bread crumbs into a separate container. Beat 2-3 eggs in a mixing bowl.
3. When ready, dip a pre-salted/peppered pork loin in the parmesan cheese. Coat all sides well.
4. Dip pork steak into the egg, then again in the Italian Style Bread crumbs. Coat all sides well.
5. Set aside or refrigerate until needed.
6. When ready, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil in a large skillet with lid. Dust with some cayenne pepper.
7. Cook three pork steaks at a time on medium heat; 6 minutes on a side.
8. After each batch, add some more oil. Otherwise, you will burn off all your oil eventually.
9. Remove from heat, and serve.
To make Homemade Biscuits:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups AP flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon sugar.
3. Measure out 1/3 cup butter, and use scissors to clip it in pieces into the bowl with the flour.
4. Add 1 cup milk gradually, until the dough pulls away from surface.
5. place dough in a mixing bowl or parchment paper coated with oil or cooking spray, and refrigerate until needed.
6. When ready, turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead 15-20 times. The dough will be very sticky, so constant add flour in small amounts to prevent this as much as possible.
7. Use a cookie cutter or cutting tool to cut circles out of the dough. Place these on an ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Recycle the dough until all of it has been used up.
9. Cook in oven 14 minutes or until done.
To make Hash Browns:
1. Peel 3 potatoes. Slice an onion in half, remove ends.
2. Shred the potato using a cheese grater, and cut the onion into very small pieces.
3. In a large mixing bowl add: the shredded potatoes, the onion pieces, 1/4 cup AP Flour, some light salt and pepper, and 1 beaten egg.
4. Mix this all well until evenly coated.
5. Heat a small layer of oil in a large skillet with a lid on medium heat.
6. Using your hands or other method, form potato mixture into general patties.
7. Cook them in the oil 5 minutes on a side, or until done. As oil heats cooking will go faster.
8. Remove from heat and serve.
9. Salt and pepper again to taste, and then serve with hot sauce or your condiment of choice. I used El Jefe sauce.
To make Fried Egg:
1. Melt some butter in a skillet.
2. Crack an egg, and immediately salt and pepper it.
3. Wait for the egg to start bubbling, then flip it half over like a bivalve shell.
4. Salt and pepper the other side.
5. Let it cook until it sizzles well and looks done. The longer you cook it the more done the middle will be. I like over medium-ish doneness.
6. Remove from heat and serve.