While steelheaders are often up and running to the river in the cold, rainy, predawn hours of winter, chugging gas station coffee and rigging with ‘dammit already numb’ fingers, many of us who cut our fly fishing teeth chasing trout on freestones in the Rockies (and lots of other places) find ourselves headed to the river in winter after the sun’s crawled well above the horizon.
It’s just too damned cold in southwest Montana to be on the river at dawn in December or January (as opposed to the 5 AM launch call in mid-July). That leaves time for a few more winks and a hearty breakfast on these cold winter mornings.
Throw what stones you might, but I’ll argue to the death that the South serves up the best breakfast menu on the planet. Say the words Southern Breakfast and visions of palm-sized flaky, steaming biscuits smothered in gravy with a side of artisanal ham or bacon pop into mind, complete with eggs, grits, hashbrowns and the works. A good friend says his southern grandmother never served breakfast without a fresh apple or pear compote on the table too.
Back a few years ago when we lived in Montana’s Flathead Valley there were, believe it it not, two quite good eateries in Whitefish that developed southern inspired menus. One of these places used to serve a corn griddle cake with either bacon or sausage pending the mood of the kitchen team that morning.
I pestered them for the recipe one January Saturday morning after barn chores were done and we’d gorged on a great breakfast; they wouldn’t give me all the details but the outline they gave me that morning became these Bacon Corn Griddle Cakes. They served ‘em with a homemade orange butter, though you’ll find a dozen other ways to enjoy these.
1/2 lb. good, thick-sliced bacon
1 1/2 cups fresh (or frozen, thawed) corn kernels
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup AP flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup grapeseed oil or clarified butter
Make the bacon magic. Fry the bacon until crisp; drain, cool and crumble. While the bacon is cooling, remove all but about 2 tbsp. of the bacon fat and dump the corn into the bacon skillet. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 to 6 minutes until the corn begins to brown; you’ll need to stir often. Transfer the corn to a medium mixing bowl and add the crumbled bacon.
Batter up. In another mixing bowl add the cornmeal, sugar, salt, pepper, baking soda and powder and cayenne; combine well. Whisk the buttermilk and eggs in a large bowl; add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Gently fold in the corn, bacon and green onions.
To the griddle. Reheat the bacon skillet and add a tbsp. of oil or butter; pour the batter in the heated pan by generous tablespoonfuls and cook until golden brown and crisp (3 minutes +/- for us). Turn and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Serve ‘em up. We first devoured these hot off the griddle with a jaw-droppingly good homemade orange butter, though they’re great with a drizzle of molasses too.
Enjoy.
