Jeff Houck

The Tampa Tribune’s food writer since 2005, Jeff Houck covers the way people live through their food. He also hosts the Table Conversations food podcast and believes that everything crunchy is good.

 @JeffHouck
 The Stew
 Table Conversations
 StewVision
 Foodspotting
 Email Jeff Houck

Most Recent Entries

• USF showcases creationism critic tonight
• Times reporter goes to work at USF St. Pete
• Slutty Brownies, Homemade Snickers And Bacon-Wrapped Beef Hot Dogs [This Week’s Weekend Eats]
• USF Poly board member quits, saying USF is scuttling the “Poly model”
• Decision 2012: Florida’s Pizza Primary [Every Slice Of Newsroom Pie Tells A Story]
• USF gets big grant for veterans research
• Merlot Jelly, Korean Fried Chicken and Grand Marnier Souffle [This Week’s Weekend Eats]
• Researchers say cell phone waves can reverse Alzheimer’s
• Klasko and Obama grip and grin
• Genocide, memory and art the focus of USF conference
• Poly announces budget cuts; fires top administrators
• Debate turns into test of free speech. Some students failed.
• Homemade Potsticker, Pulled Pork With Fried Egg, And Unstuffed Pork Chops [This Week’s Weekend Eats]
• What’s up with the USF debate?
• Local power players work behind the scenes

More

• The Stew
• The Dirt
• Hot Pursuits
• HOMEwork
• Inside USF
• L Archive
  • Green Lite
  • Bring It!

Monthly Archives

• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• October 2011
• September 2011

Taylor Made (Or, concoctions you always wanted to make but were scared to eat…)

Posted Mar 28, 2006 by Jeff Houck

Updated Mar 28, 2006 at 01:04 PM

I’m endlessly fascinated by the recipe variations people make in their kitchens.

Maybe it’s because when I was a kid, my mom let me and my friend Keith experiment with a blender to make our own milkshakes. We used milk and ice cream, of course. Then we’d throw in chocolate syrup, peanut butter, raw eggs, you name it. It tasted like ca-ca, but to us, it was frozen nectar of the gods.

That’s what happens in some people’s kitchens. They tweak recipes and try new things. Sometimes it’s treasure. Sometimes it’s trash. Most times it’s trash that tastes like treasure to them.

So when my friend and former colleague Mike Taylor, who also invented and sells a great office device called the Cubescope shared some pictures of a recent breakfast he made, I felt the need to pass along his wisdom.

Mike writes:

Facing a big day of yard work Sunday, I needed a breakfast that would stick to the ribs. Introducing:

THE TOWER OF POWER BREAKFAST

Ingredients:
½ package Ore-Ida frozen hash browns
3 eggs
½ onion
2 ½ cups homemade chili con turkey carne
1 ½ cups Original Frito’s Corn Chips

DIRECTIONS

Foundation:
Begin cooking hash browns according to directions on package. (Medium-high heat). Top with finely chopped onion. When skillet-side is browned, flip potatoes. (To facilitate flipping, cut circle of hash browns into quarters with edge of spatula and flip each fourth separately using a large spatula.)

Nudge hash-brown quarters back into place to form unified circle. Using edge of spatula again, gently tamp potatoes starting in the center and moving outward to create a small depression in potato mass.

Crack three eggs and let them settle into potato depression. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 5 minutes.

When egg whites begin to go from clear to solid white, add 1/16 cup of water directly to skillet metal (not onto food) and cover. Allow to steam-cook until yolks are done according to individual preference, usually when watery giggliness is eliminated but the yolks are not yet cooked to a solid state.

Main floor:

Reduce heat to low. Top potato foundation with homemade chili con turkey carne and cover for 4½ minutes.

Penthouse level:

Top with Fritos Original Corn Chips.

Enjoy with your favorite low-calorie sports drink.

Or, what the hell, you’ve come this far … a big glass of eggnog.

Serves: 1