Big Bad Breakfast

June 6, 2016
If the title is not enough of a hint, the very first recipe in this mega-hearty Southern-style collection tells you all you need to know about what chef Currence has in mind: it’s sausage cinnamon rolls, a salty-sweet belly bomb topped with cream cheese icing. Big Bad Breakfast is also the name of a Currence restaurant, one of six he oversees in Oxford, Miss. Though Currence later settled in Mississippi, his New Orleans upbringing is evident throughout the 75 recipes presented here. Across nine chapters, covering everything including omelets, breakfast sandwiches, and morning cocktails, Currence brings on the flavor and forgoes the calorie count, with choices such as a Creole skillet scramble, a cheese-and-fried-chicken biscuit, and the Decatur Street gutter punk, with equal parts gin, heavy cream, and espresso. The section on pancakes offers two extremes side-by-side: peanut butter and banana pancakes, and shrimp and pickled onion crepes. Perhaps the ultimate gastronomic collision, though, comes in the Breakfast for Dinner chapter, in the form of a meal called the pylon (for pile on). It’s a Belgian waffle, topped with hot dogs, chili, sweet slaw, cheddar, and a squadron of condiments. As filling as the foodstuffs, the pages themselves feel stuffed, with ingredient lists, directions, and the chef’s entertaining stories all thrown together. This approach leaves room for the irresistible full-page color close-ups of each dish from photographer Ed Anderson.

Starred review from August 1, 2016

James Beard Award-winning chef Currence (Pickles, Pigs, and Whiskey) owns several acclaimed restaurants in Oxford, MS, including City Grocery and Big Bad Breakfast. Recipes inspired by the latter establishment fill this exciting new collection, which features substantial dishes such as sausage cinnamon rolls, roasted potato and adobo frittata, Louisiana crab cake Benedict, and "The Pylon" (a Belgian waffle topped with hot dogs, chili, oyster crackers, and more). There are some basics--such as black pepper honey and fried eggs--but these are far outnumbered by creative entrees, sides, condiments, and beverages. Similiar to Lindsay Landis and Taylor Hackbarth's Breakfast for Dinner, this cookbook works for any time of day. VERDICT Essential for those who love hosting hearty breakfasts and brunches.

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