CORRECTION... The Real Montana Breakfast

The REAL Montana Breakfast.....

This is Abby’s boyfriend, and I’ve taken over Abby’s her blog for today.  She is preoccupied at the moment and will not be able to get to the computer.  That duct tape is great stuff.

I’m here to inform you of a slight misguidance made in a previous post by our beloved Hot Mess Abby.  Her pies are always quite good (especially her apple pie); however, pie is only but a slice of that which embraces the term “Montana Breakfast”.  Anything labeled Montana I get very sensitive about.  If you’re going to label something “Montana” you better have it right.  I’m a born and raised Montana boy, 5th generation, and pie alone simply isn’t worthy of being the breakfast that is Montana.  So, please sit back, loosen your belt, take a Lipitor and prepare yourself for the gorging and indulgence of a Montana man’s breakfast that is nothing short of a serious health risk.  Yes, I’m about 25 lbs over weight, but I’m dead sexy!

Montana Breakfast (noun):  A hearty, greasy, salty meal, usually served before 11am, and requires a noon nap time.  Designed to feed two or three, but prepared for one.  Piled with meat, eggs, potatoes, biscuits and gravy.  Finished with a slice of apple pie.

Take notice that I said apple pie.  I didn’t say cherry, nor peach, nor some lemon meringue pot of pudding sorry excuse of a pie.  Apple pie.

Best Ever Biscuits

1 cup white flour

1/4 cup butter; cut into small pieces

1/2 tsp salt. 

1.2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 cup low fat milk

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, add the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder combining with a whisk. Gradually cut in the butter. Using your hands (yes, get in there) combine the flour and butter until a course meal is formed. Add the baking powder and milk and stir to combine making a thick batter.

3.  Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and drop 1/2 cup sized biscuits onto the cooking sheet. This recipe will make 4-5 good sized drop biscuits. Bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes. Then remove and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Gut Stickin' Gravy

1 pound package sage sausage

1/2 cup salted butter

1/2 cup flour

2 cups milk

1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1. First, the gravy.  The number one ingredient is sausage (sage flavored sausage to be exact). 

2. Brown the sausage, don't drain it.  Some use vegetable oil for the gravy, but they’re wasting their time, and good sausage grease. Wasting good bacon and/or sausage grease is a sin, and you will lose a hand in some countries if caught doing so. 

3. Add the flour and continue browning the sausage over medium heat until the flour has cooked... Approximately 3-5 minutes. Add the milk and stir using a wooden spoon until the gravy has thickened to resemble a creamy custard like texture. If it is too thick, feel free to add a few tablespoons of water, one at a time to thin it. Add the salt and pepper and the gravy is ready to go.

 Chicken Fried Steak

1 cube round steak (ours was large enough to serve 2+)

1 egg
1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1. Place the round steak between two sheets of suran wrap and beat with a mallet until the steak is thinned to 1 inch.

2. Create a dredging station. In one bowl crack and scramble the egg. In a separate bowl combine the flour, cayanne pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (or bacon grease if you have that lying around like I do). Place each steak first in the egg and then in the flour mixture. Then drop in the heated oil in the skillet. Brown on each side for 3 minutes. Once both sides are cooked remove from skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate.

Homemade Hash browns

 4 red skinned potatoes; shredded

1/4 white onion shredded

1/4 cup fresh chives; minced

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. In a large oven proof pot combine the shredded red potatoes and onion. Why red potatoes? Because they are simply the best, just like our Hot Mess Abby.

2. Brown on both sides. Add the chives and salt and pepper after 7-10 minutes of browning over medium high heat. During the last 5 minutes  add the cheddar cheese over the top and place under the broiler for 3 minutes to brown the top of the hashbrowns.

Eggs

Eggs should be done over-easy, end of story, let’s move on. The plating and eating starts now.

To Plate:

1. Take your biscuit and cut in half and lay open faced on the plate. Add a hearty portion of hash browns next to the biscuit. Place your chicken fried steak over your hash browns and add your eggs on top of the steak. Place a hearty portion of gravy over the whole plate and add salt and pepper and maybe Tabasco to taste. You can also add bacon to this meal, cooked the way you like it. Dipping bacon in gravy.. Is there anything better? I think not. That's why I'm a Montana guy.

Mental health tip:

You’re in Montana.  Go big or go home.

 Okay folks, It's Abby again... The duct tape has been removed. It was fun to go big for breakfast and if your going to do it, breakfast is the right time. It gives you the rest of the day to digest. To be honest, it reminded me of breakfast with my grandma cooking in the kitchen biscuits and gravy... we used her recipe even. In the end the kitchen was a mess, our stomachs were full, and Scott was happy. That is what cooking should be: sharing food, memories, and making each other happy. 

 He cooked, making me happy. He shared his Montana recipes, making him happy. You and I both know that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. As you can tell my the picture... He is happy.

Remember, Go big or go home. No matter what you do... Do it with all your heart.

~ This little Hot Mess in a dirty kitchen, but with a morning off!