Breakfast on the griddle

Any grill masters also do breakfast? The griddle (on the grill, over the stove, or stand-alone) is to breakfast what the grill is to lunch and dinner.

I love to get up on the weekends, fire up the griddle and make a big breakfast. Pancakes or french toast, bacon, eggs, hashbrowns--oh yeah! I haven't mastered scrambled eggs straight on the griddle, because mine leans a little, but I have a steel ring that's great for eggs. It's good for perfect pancakes too, but we use a thicker batter so it holds its shape pretty well (plus an egg ring would make for tiny pancakes--though that would be great for the kids).

Unfortunately, finding good breakfast recipes has been difficult for me. It seems most cooking shows don't cover breakfast either...

Any great recipes, stories, or tips about breakfast on the griddle?

Tags: breakfast, cooking, cooking tips, recipe, tips

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by DaddyBryan on July 29, 2008 at 11:05am: I cook breakfast on the grill as well. Steak & eggs along with pancakes, suasage, bacon, etc., etc. Nothin beats grill cookin.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michael Lombardi on July 29, 2008 at 7:57pm: Thanks for weighing in DaddyBryan, glad I'm not the only one.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Matthew Pierce on July 29, 2008 at 8:38pm: In our house, we are apt to cook the big breakfast for dinner. It's a nice change of pace. My wife loves pancakes so I'm cooking them on a regular basis. Try changing up the pancakes. Put in some blueberries, chopped nuts, an over ripened bananna. Nice twist on an old standby. You can't make it on the griddle, but I've got a great receipe for a french toast casserole. It's similar to a bread pudding. I make it with Pepperidge Farms cinnamon swirl bread instead of regular white or wheat bread.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bravo on August 5, 2008 at 12:43am: I cook a bagel sandwich on the grill that a buddy of mine, and my wife love. I started making them when we went Camping in Montana in 98. They always tell me that they never tasted the same when we made them at home. I take whatever kinda lunch meat you like grill it until it almost done. Melt cheese on top. Toast the bagel and then you put what ever dressing (mustard, mayo) that you like on them. Pretty good. Other then that just bacon, and sausage on the grill for breakfast.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff on September 27, 2008 at 9:15am: Breakfast is awesome for any meal. Our family has a standing Sunday night breakfast meal. We cook everything from grits and corned beef hash to pancakes and bacon. I think I'm with Michael on this one though... nothing beats breakfast off the grill. But I normally only get to do this when we are either camping out or tailgating before the game early.

I have a theory about breakfast (or any meal really)... I call it my Bacon!theory. Yeah I know you say that's not a theory, its a food, but stick with me. What makes grits and eggs better? Bacon! What makes pancakes better? Bacon! What makes shrimp better? Wrap them in Bacon! What makes a Filet better? Wrap it in Bacon! Get it now? :-)

Here's a quick and easy recipie to try out for a grilled breakfast. I call it my breakfast camp cake.
You need a well seasoned iron skillet for this one, and some tin foil.
Bacon
Pancake mix (with Milk or water by directions) *you'll need enough batter to make 2 pancakes about 1/2 inch thick for the size of your skillet.)
Eggs
Syrup or Jelly

Make your pancake batter and mix it up by the directions on the box and keep set it to the side.

Get your grill and the skillet up pretty hot (400 or so).
Take your Bacon! and throw it all in the pan and cook it up (you'll need the grease later). Don't bother with laying out the stirps neatly... just put it in there and keep stiring it around, it will cook up "camp style". Take the bacon out and place it in the tin foil and put it on the top rack to keep it warm.

Keep your pan hot, but turn down the heat to around 325. Drain off most of the grease, but make sure there's still enough to coat the sides and to leave a slight pool in the bottom of the skillet. Keep the left over grease to the side, you'll need it.

Scramble your eggs and season to taste. Cook them until they are still a little bit runny, don't cook them all the way. Put the eggs in some foil and put it on your warming rack with the bacon.

Scrape off as much egg as you can from the skillet but it doesn't have to be clean. Put some of your bacon grease back in the skillet and coat it really good. Let the skillet get back up to temperature before you start the next step.

Now take half of your pancake batter and put it in the bottom to make one skillet sized pancake. Let the pancake start to cook until you start to see the bubbles. Let this one almost finish cooking fully. You still want the "top" (*which will become the middle) to still be slightly wet looking, but not too wet. Use your spatula to loosen the pancake from the pan. Take it out and put it in foil on your warming rack.

Now take the 2nd half of your pancake batter and start to cook that. Let it cook until it bubbles up pretty good. Again you want it almost cooke through, but still slightly wet looking.

Now take your scrambled eggs and your bacon and put it on top in the middle of the pancake in the pan. Now take the first pancake and put it on top. If you like you can put your syrup or jelly in the middle with the eggs and bacon. (that's what I do) Cover with the tinfoil (just re-use some of what you already have been using).

Take the skillet and put it on your warming rack and bump the heat on your grill back up to 400. Let it cook for another 15 minutes or so. This will make it all come together as a "filled pancake".

It took me a couple of tries to get this right, but you can't really mess it up too bad... even if it doesn't come out perfect, it's all still already cooked and edible.

Let me know what you think.

-Jeff; ▶ Reply to This