The Most Impressive 15 Minute Breakfast Ever!

In an effort to get myself out of bed at a decent hour and to start the day off right gastronomically, I've decided to start making breakfast for me and my husband. I'm not talking cereal here. I'm talking the whole shebang: Eggs, meat, and bread. This morning, I channeled the 1950s housewife in me and preheated the oven. On the menu: Paula Deen's Easy Rolls*, bacon, and scrambled eggs. Total preparation time, not including preheating the oven? 15 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:
for the rolls (makes 6)...
1 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup milk (I used whole milk, my husband's favorite)
2 tbsp mayonnaise (Yup. You read that right!)
1 tsp sugar

for the bacon (makes 1 serving)...
5 slices of smoked bacon

for the eggs (makes 1 serving)...
2 eggs
1 tbsp whole milk (again, per my husband)
salt
pepper
cheese can be nice as well, although I forgot to add it this morning! Try parmesan, cheddar, swiss, or something milder

METHOD:
Timing here is everything. The first thing I did this morning is turn on the oven to 350 degrees. I then checked my email, read NPR.org, etc. etc. until the oven was hot (and my husband was in the shower; no reason to make breakfast just so it sits around!). The rolls truly live up to their name: Mix flour and milk together, add mayo and sugar, and spoon onto a greased cookie sheet. Pop in the oven for 12-15 minutes and you're done!

While the rolls (biscuits, really) are baking, cheat on the bacon. I find skillet-fried bacon too messy and time consuming. Instead, line a dinner plate with a paper towel, lay bacon on top of the paper towel (I can fit about five strips on my plates), and place another paper towel on top. Cook in the microwave 2-2:30 minutes for 3 slices and 3:30 minutes for 5 slices. I like to let the bacon sit in the microwave after it's done for a few minutes because the plate gets really hot, as do the paper towels, which are now soaked with grease (at least you can chuck them instead of siphoning it into a grease jar!).

As the bacon is cooking, melt butter in a small frying pan on medium heat. Beat the two eggs and tablespoon of milk together in a small bowl. When the butter is completely melted and foam-free (thanks for this tip, Julia Child!), add the egg mixture. Add salt and pepper (and cheese!) to taste, and let sit about two minutes, or until eggs start to set. After that, keep a close eye on them; it's easy to burn pan-fried eggs. After two minutes, start to scramble the eggs in the pan, stirring occasionally until they reach your desired consistency. Move to a plate immediately to prevent burning.

By now, the biscuits should be done or near done; all you need to do is make up the plates! My husband was amazed this morning when he had a full, protein-rich breakfast waiting for him when he was out of the shower. I was pretty impressed, too.

Enjoy!
Miss Browning

*Deen, Paula H. The Lady & Sons: Savannah Country Cookbook. New York: Random House, 1997. pg. 96.