Pankeggs (and American Breakfasts)

The older I get, the more finicky I become about breakfast. Mostly I poke at it, trying my best to take seriously what only seems like an abstract need for food in the morning. The food often seems too rich, like it’s trying to feed me. Awfully presumptuous of it, don’t you think? Breakfasts in American restaurants are the most offensive in this regard. Their menus full of terrifying practicality, like every customer is in a state of emergency and has got to GET SOME FOOD IN THERE, stat. They don’t waste time on trivial things that aren’t dense with protein, fat, and carbohydrates. And they would never dream of skimping; they err on the side of making you explode. Don’t they understand that breakfast is a time of nausea? It’s in the name. Following a fast, one does not gorge oneself on bacon, eggs, butter, potatoes, and coffee. One might be very hungry, but one needs to ease into the fact of eating. One needs to be seduced. The purveyors of American breakfasts seem completely ignorant of the erotics of eating. To consider the mediative process by which food gets from plate to stomach would be, what, too French?

(I know, I just romanticized Frenchness. Sigh.)

Nonetheless, this morning I made pankegg. It’s one of those gimmicky breakfast foods that fuses a fried egg with some starchy substrate. Actually I can only think of two such foods: egg-in-a-hole and pankegg. Yeah, alright, so maybe it’s not a whole genre.

Pancakes
1 egg
~3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

Pankeggs
3 more eggs, one for each pancake

In a medium bowl combine egg, milk, and oil. Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Thoroughly whisk everything together. Let stand for five minutes while the pan heats on medium heat.

Oil the pan. Pour pancake onto pan. When there are lots of bubbles, remove it to a plate, uncooked side up. Crack an egg into the center of the pan. Immediately place the pancake on top of this, uncooked side down. Cook for a few minutes, so that the yolk in still runny. Serve egg side up. Repeat for remainder of pancake batter (should make 3).

Match cut to the second to last photo?

There isn't roughly 3/4 cup milk like the recipe says. I just fill the
measuring cup to the 1 cup mark.

Tierra del Pancake-o

It's true, taking this photo allowed the egg to cook for too long without
the pancake. I'm sure it was cold and alone for those ten seconds.

Pregnant pancake!

Little known fact: eggs scream at frequencies we can't hear.

Ugh.