"Mother-in-law's Mean, Throw-down Breakfast" : Top Culinary Memory # 9 of My Alaskan Adventure

The first week in Kenai my son-in-law, Rusty and Phil drove to the Russian River each day to salmon fish. I would send them off with a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs, breakfast. When Rusty returned to Wichita he told my daughter, Lesli,

"Your mother can sure "throw down a mean breakfast!"

I took that as a great compliment coming from one of my favorite men. There were two varieties I assume he was talking about:

#1: "Mean Throw-down Breakfast" consisted of a stack of:
two fried tamales (homemade and fried crisp before serving)
fried potatoes, with onions and green potatoes
grated cheese
bacon - fried crisp and cut in small pieces
two fried eggs
roasted green chilies (out of our garden)

A side dish of warm rhubarb sauce
went over quite nicely!

#2 "Summertime Mean Throw-down Casserole"

In a small casserole dish, layer:

4 corn tortillas - fried crisp in hot oil and broken up in small pieces

1/2 c. Cheddar cheese shredded

1/2 large sweet* onion, 1/2 green pepper cooked together

4 strips bacon cooked crisp and broken up

1/2 c cheddar cheese

4 eggs, fried, over-easy Don't break the yolks!

salsa verde

Serve with warm, flour tortillas and hot coffee! (Single helping version pictured above)

I discovered, in these improvised meals how much the flavor of corn meal (in the tamales or tortillas) adds to a breakfast dish. "Throwing down" some Fritos on the plate first is also a tasty touch. What makes this a culinary memory, though, was sharing it with the guys I love (and Pat made it one morning, too) in my "cozy camper" on morning they were so exuberant about the prospects of salmon fishing that day!

* Thus the name "summertime casserole". Sweet onions such as Walla walla sweets, 1015s, Vidalia, and Noonday are only available in the summer time because they do not keep. They are large and so sweet! They are a party to the onion eater's palate!