The Cooks : Breakfast Served All Day

Breakfast foods are among the most delicious of the day. Why should they be restricted to the morning meal?

There’s no reason to yield to the expected every time you cook a meal. The simple, straightforward dishes we eat after awakening are versatile, appealing and far less costly than most of what is served later in the day. Why not consider serving them for lunch or dinner?

Here are a few breakfast dishes that could easily be served any time of the day. Jaxx’s French Toast With Corn Flakes takes a perennial favorite to new heights. Fried Mush, the Amish counterpart to Italian polenta, is soothing, delicious and as versatile and inexpensive as a dish could be. The German Onion Cake, a cross between a coffee cake and an onion flan, is a satisfying old Midwestern recipe. Side dishes are suggested for each so that the meal will be complete.

Less is best with these foods, and side dishes can be equally simple. Depending on the time of day, you might serve a mixed fruit juice, fruit compote or warm applesauce; bacon, corned beef or smoked fish; light salads such as shredded carrots or diced apples and walnuts; fried potatoes or mild vegetables such as green beans or peas and onions.

This intriguing recipe was originally a dessert called Zweibelkuchen; it appeared in the sweets section of “The United States Regional Cook Book,” edited by Ruth Berolzheimer (Culinary Arts Institute, Chicago: 1947). However, when I made it, I found that it was perfectly suited to any time of the day. It has a sweet balance that works well with onions and bacon. The yeast base, quickly mixed ahead and refrigerated, has a tender, spongy texture. Serve it with sliced ham or smoked turkey and a fresh fruit salad.

GERMAN ONION CAKE

1 package dry yeast

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup warm milk

1 1/4 cups flour

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, softened

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, separated

Topping

Stir yeast and 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar into milk. Let stand until foamy.

Use wooden spoon to combine flour, remaining sugar, butter, salt and egg yolk in mixing bowl. Mix well. Add yeast mixture. Mix until combined.

Use electric or rotary mixer to whip egg white until stiff but still moist. Fold into batter. Cover bowl with plastic. Refrigerate overnight.

About 15 minutes before baking place rack in center of oven. Generously grease bottom and sides of 9 1/2-inch springform pan.

Roll dough on well-floured board to fit prepared pan. Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature. Dough will not rise.

When ready to bake, spread Topping (cooled or still warm) over dough.

Bake at 375 degrees until lightly browned on edges, about 50 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Serve warm, cut into wedges. Makes 1 (9 1/2 inch) round cake, 6 to 8 servings.

Note: Cake may be made day ahead, cooled completely and refrigerated, covered airtight. To reheat, bake, covered, at 375 degrees until warmed through, about 20 minutes. Or reheat in microwave oven at MEDIUM (50% power) until just warm, but not hot and steamy.

Topping

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine

2 large Spanish onions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon flour

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

Heat butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add onions and cook until tender, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Transfer onions to mixing bowl. Combine flour, eggs, salt and nutmeg in small bowl. Use fork to froth mixture. Add to onions. Mix to combine.

Just ask Steve Peterson, the chef of Jaxx’s restaurant in the new, stylish Hyatt Regency Suites Hotel in Chicago, about today’s cooking trends. He’ll tell you that his cooking is back-to-the-basics. Here he restyles French toast with a crunch of corn flakes on one side and garnishes it with sliced strawberries and orange segments. It’s a new look but a comfortable one. Serve it with ham, sausage or bacon on the side.

JAXX’S FRENCH TOAST WITH CORN FLAKES

4 eggs

1/2 cup orange juice

Powdered sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

Dash salt

2 2/3 cups corn flakes

8 thick (about 3/4-inch) slices egg bread, day old

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Powdered sugar

Sliced strawberries

Orange segments

Warm maple syrup

Whisk eggs, orange juice, 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt in mixing bowl until well blended. Spread about 1/3 cup corn flakes on center of sheet of plastic wrap.

Dip bread quickly into egg mixture, coating both sides. Place bread onto corn flakes. Use fork to press top of bread lightly to embed corn flakes into underside of bread until solidly coated.

Set aside, corn flake side down. Working quickly, repeat with remaining slices, using about 1/3 cup corn flakes per slice.

Divide butter and heat in 2 large non-stick griddles or skillets over medium heat until hot. Transfer slices, corn flakes side down, to griddles.

Cook until both sides are browned, about 4 minutes each side. Serve hot, corn flake side up. Lightly sieve powdered sugar over toast. Garnish plate with strawberries and orange segments. Pass warm maple syrup. Makes 4 servings.

Note: Lacking sufficient cooking surface, dip slices and coat with corn flakes as batches are cooked, keeping cooked slices in oven set at 200 degrees.

Many cookbooks from the past contain a recipe for mush, an economical, simple and sustaining cornmeal preparation that is first cooked, then cooled and fried. When fried, it is crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and surprisingly delicious. Mush is similar to Italian polenta in taste and texture yet much more versatile because it’s minus the cheese usually present in polenta (a little flour is added to the mush to smooth out its consistency). The Amish in Indiana serve mush with a gravy made from tomato juice and flour, or with maple syrup. As a sweet topping, I prefer maple syrup mixed with sliced strawberries and heated. Side dishes of warm applesauce and crisp bacon or Canadian bacon make a great meal. The slices can also be served with such savory toppings as a tomato pasta sauce or salsa, creamed chicken, sauteed mushrooms, chili or stew for more substantial eating. In that case, a shredded carrot salad or a mixed green salad tossed in a light vinaigrette would be a perfect complement.

FRIED MUSH

Vegetable oil

4 cups water

Salt

1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal

3 tablespoons flour

Peanut oil, for frying

Oil 4-cup loaf pan. Set aside.

Bring water, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt and 1 tablespoon oil to boil in 2-quart saucepan. Meanwhile, combine cornmeal and flour in small bowl. Reduce boiling liquid to simmer. Slowly add cornmeal mixture in thin, steady stream, whisking constantly.

Cook gently, stirring often, until very thick, about 3 minutes. Transfer to prepared pan. Smooth surface with spatula. Cool completely and refrigerate at least 3 hours until chilled. Can be refrigerated as long as 3 days.

Cut chilled mush into desired size slices. Add oil to 1/8-inch depth in large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. When hot, add chilled slices in single layer without crowding.

Brown both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Can be kept warm in oven set at 200 degrees while frying remaining slices. Makes 14 (1/2-inch) slices.

Note: Serve hot with sweet or savory toppings.