Bacon, Sausage And Ham: Popular Pork Ingredients in Both Traditional and Innovative Breakfast Items
Breakfast is never complete without some form of pork, whether it is a side of crispy bacon to compliment the eggs or sausage to add a protein punch to the breakfast sandwich. Ham is the third part of the pork trifecta, with menu applications from the traditional ham and eggs to the ham and cheese omelet. In addition to the conventional morning meals, chefs are using these meats in innovative dishes that are designed to cure the morning blues.
- Chris’ Family Restaurant, located in Allentown, PA, is a family run business that has been part of the community for over thirty years. The restaurant recently updated their menu, and added a Hawaiian Omelet, a modern twist of the popular Hawaiian pizza. Their omelet includes ham, pineapple and coconut.
- Ebru Fidan Caplan, the chef owner of Bru’s Wiffle: a waffle joint in Santa Monica, CA was born and raised in Turkey, and uses her European cooking background to create new breakfast dining experience here in the United States. She sends the traditional waffle into the flavor stratosphere by adding bacon and heat. The “Hot Mama!” is one of their specialty items, and features a jalapeño and smoked Applewood bacon waffle topped with Cheddar cheese, a fried egg and pico de gallo.
- Self-proclaimed suburban breakfast king Taki Kastanis founded Yolk, a Chicago, IL breakfast destination for both locals and tourists alike. They take the traditional omelet and give it an Italian twist in their “When In Rome….” – a three-egg omelet with Italian sausage, tomatoes, fresh spinach, and Mozzarella cheese, all topped with marinara sauce.
- Created by executive chef David Daniels, Aragosta’s cuisine is best described as Italian meets New England. Aragosta is located in North End Boston, MA and features a “Breakfast BLT”, made with fried eggs, bacon, lettuce and Cheddar cheese.
Pork Chops and Pulled Pork Create Hearty Breakfast Meals Sure to Squelch Stomach Grumbles
Pork’s domination at breakfast doesn’t stop with the pork trifecta of ham, bacon and sausage. Pork chops paired with eggs are a hearty breakfast tradition, and pulled pork’s exploding popularity has found its way onto the breakfast menu.
- Pork Store Café is a distinguished breakfast institution of San Francisco, CA dating back to 1916 when an immigrant couple from Czechoslovakia came to the states and opened the original Haight Street Pork Store. They now have two locations in San Francisco, and both feature the Pork Store Special, two pork chops served with two eggs any style, hash browned potatoes and a homemade biscuit.
- Jon Schlegel, who had a vision to develop a creative breakfast menu, established Snooze Eatery in Colorado in 2006, which focuses on made-from-scratch menu items. One of their signature dishes is Havana Daydreaming – house pulled pork, sliced ham, Jack cheese, homemade pickles and a sunny side egg with Dijon hollandaise served open face on a hoagie roll.
- Food Heads Café is a cool, kitschy deli in Austin, TX that is celebrated for their quality deli meats and cheeses. The breakfast menu offers a breakfast taco stuffed with eggs, pulled pork, onions and cilantro on corn tortillas.
Unique Cuts of Pork Add Flair and Pizzazz To Morning Menus
All parts of the pig are being used in breakfast and brunch items in restaurants across the United States.
Chefs are experimenting with less traditional cuts of pork to create distinctive dishes with a “wow” factor that sets them apart from the competition.
- Racine Plumbing was started in 1892 in Chicago, IL and was successfully run for over ninety years by the Racine family. The head Chef, Rob Mulvenna, is honoring this successful family business with a refined family restaurant featuring an innovative brunch menu that celebrates pork with their Pork Belly Benedict, made with two poached eggs, pork belly, and hollandaise sauce on an English muffin.
- The Charleston City paper announced that the “Best Breakfast Sandwich Probably Ever” is the Scrapple and Farm Egg Breakfast Sandwich with Cheddar on a hard roll served at Two Boroughs Larder, where the “golden runny yolk of the egg gushes into the savory scrapple and merges perfectly with the chewy roll.” This locally-owned restaurant in downtown Charleston, SC was designed for serious foodies by the husband and wife team Heather and Josh Keeler.
- Tusk & Trotter American Brasserie is a sophisticated restaurant in Arkansas known for their “seasonally correct” ingredients and is headlined by owner and executive chef, Rob Nelson. The brunch menu features an AM Nacho masterpiece with three types of pork: Crispy Pig Ear Nachos, made with fried pig ear chips, house-made Italian sausage, bacon, jalapeños, onions, pineapple, pico de gallo, sour cream, Cheddar cheese, and scallions.
Globally Inspired Breakfast Items Provide a Twist on The Familiar
American palates are becoming more adventurous, and people are experimenting with global flavors. This trend stems from a combination of factors, including a more ethnically diverse population as well as more frequent overseas travel. Operators can capitalize on this global trend by offering globally inspired breakfast items with traditional and authentic pork ingredients.
- Chef Marcus Samuelsson serves Jerk bacon and egg with brown beans, and Pikliz – Haitian-style spicy pickled vegetables at Red Rooster in Harlem, NY.
- Café Brazil is a quaint, yet eclectic, coffeehouse in Dallas, TX that has received widespread critical acclaim over the last few years for their breakfast items, as well as their coffee. They are known for their Brazilian breakfast foods, and feature a Breakfast Relleno made with a roasted poblano pepper filled with scrambled eggs, chorizo and Cheddar cheese, topped with homemade spicy cream sauce and served with fried sweet potatoes.
- Victoria’s Diner is a Classic American Diner in the heart of Boston, MA that was established over fifty years ago. Their breakfast menu features an Italian Omelet, made with thinly sliced prosciutto, roasted peppers and fresh Mozzarella.
- Uncle Mike’s Place in Chicago, IL serves a Filipino breakfast. The main highlight of the menu is the Tocino and Longanisa meal. Longanisa are sweet, garlicky, anise-spiced pork sausage links, and Tocino carries the same flavor profile, but in grilled, sliced pork form. Both are notable for their lipstick-red color, dyed with the annatto and they are served with a plate of garlic rice that is lightly fried. Even the eggs have an unmistakable Asian tinge — fried sunny side up in sesame oil for a nutty aroma, with flecks of red chili pepper atop.
- Kelly Cheng, general manager of Sun Wah BBQ, serves congee, a traditional breakfast porridge, with a variety of fixings, but the restaurant’s most popular variety is topped with lean pork and an egg.
New Menu Items at Chains
- McDonald’s brought back the McRib in mid-December. This tasty fan favorite is slathered in tangy barbecue sauce, slivered onions and tart pickles all on a hoagie style bun. (14,098 units, HQ in Oak Brook, IL)
- Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. added a Memphis BBQ thick burger, a burger topped with pulled pork, BBQ sauce, crispy onion strings on a seeded bun. The chains also added the Bacon Bacon Breakfast Biscuit. This breakfast delight is made with crispy bacon strips, Canadian bacon, American cheese, and folded egg all served on a fresh Made From Scratch Biscuit™. (2,811 units, HQ in St. Louis, MO)
- Krystal is featuring their Krystal Sunriser breakfast sandwiches for 2 for $2.00. The Original Krystal breakfast sandwich is served with a savory Jimmy Dean sausage patty, fluffy scrambled eggs and a slice of American cheese on a warm and steamy bun. (357 units, HQ in Chattanooga, TN)
- Cracker Barrel is featuring Apple Cider-Braised Pork Roast. The tender pork roast braised with an apple cider glaze and baked with fresh hand-sliced Gala apples, dried cranberries, and pecans. (608 units, HQ in Lebanon, TN)
- Sodexho developed four new pork items for their Healthcare segment starting in January, which will also be available in other segments as well, such as B&I, Colleges & University, and more; these four items include: (HQ in Gaithersburg, MD)
- Herbed Pork Chop: center cut pork chop coated with panko bread crumbs and herbs
- Moo Shu Pork Bun: marinated pork tenderloin on a roll
- Pork & Asparagus Stir-Fry: pork tenderloin stir-fried with sweet red peppers and asparagus in a savory sauce over brown rice
- Roast Pork Tamale Style: Ancho and Guajillo chile roast pork loin
- Papa John’s launched for a limited time the Five Sausage signature pizza. This large handcrafted pizza features their new Pork Chorizo Sausage: spicy and mild Italian sausage, sausage crumbles and smoked sausage. This promotion was a fully integrated campaign that was supported with the Pork ‘Be Inspired’ and Pork ‘El Sabor De Mil Platillos’ logos for all collateral, digital/social, print and other media including a 30 second National TV Commercial buy on all major networks including Hispanic markets like Univision & ESPN DeSportes. (3001 units, HQ in Lousiville, KY)
- Johnny Rockets promoted its Bacon Cheddar Fest. For a limited time, guests can order special entrees, including the Bacon Cheddar Double burger and BBQ Chicken Bacon Melt. (239 units, HQ in Aliso Viejo, CA)
- Jack in the Box is testing a late-night menu in San Jose, CA. Late-night entree choices include: (2,221 units, HQ in San Diego, CA)
- Loaded Nuggets: chicken nuggets covered with two cheeses, ranch sauce and bacon.
- Brunch Burger: a burger patty with a fried egg, bacon, cheese and crispy hash browns served on a croissant.
- Cousins Subs unveiled The Twisted Ham & Cheddar, featuring hot ham with Cheddar cheese, bistro sauce, lettuce, onions and tomatoes on pretzel bread. (146 units, HQ in Menomonee Falls, WI)
- Arby’s is featuring a LTO called Turkey Three Cheese & Bacon. It is made with hot, sliced roast turkey topped with melted Cheddar, Swiss and Parmesan cheese sauce, then finished off with crispy pepper bacon on a toasted sub roll. (3,484 units, HQ in Atlanta, GA)
- Red Robin brought back the Jim Beam Bacon Swiss Burger, made with hardwood-smoked bacon, caramelized onions and melted Swiss cheese. (445 units, HQ in Greenwood Village, Colorado)
- Longhorn Steakhouse added Rancher’s Sirloin: a juicy, grilled sirloin topped with hickory-smoked bacon, a sunny side up egg and bordelaise sauce. (367 units, HQ in Orlando, FL)
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