I’m going to the trend I started in this post by describing simple meals you should know how to make and will appreciate because they will become a part of your daily life. One of the things I feel for a lot of people is intimidating about the kitchen is that they see these magnificient, elaborate dishes as unobtainable when there’s very satisfying simple dishes they could be making. I love this dish in particular because it blends my wife’s family heritage (Cajun) and my heritage (Jewish American) with virtually no technique and a few ingredients.

Let me back up, because every dish has a good story. For many Jewish Americans, you’ll recognize this as a variation on Fried Matzo, or Matzo Brie. Hands down, my father makes the best Fried Matzo this side of the Hudson, and it is one of my favorite comfort foods. My father isn’t a bad cook, but this one of the dishes he really excels at. That dish is as simple and wonderful as this one, but I’ll admit I almost never stock matzah outside of Passover season.

On my wife’s mother’s side, her grandfather Papa grew up in Depression era Louisiana, one of 8 children, and often there were simply not that many ingredients available. But you know what they did have? Rice, cause it grows there, and eggs, cause they kept hens. And even that, their mother MawMaw, had to find a way to stretch. Hence, Yankee Rice.

Now, like most egg based dishes, you can add a variety of meats, vegetables and cheeses - I’ll give my two favorite variations below - but this first time through, I want you to confine yourself to only these ingredients

  1. 1/2 - 1 and 1/2 cups cooked white rice
  2. 2-3 eggs
  3. 1-2 tbsp butter
  4. pinch of salt
  5. pinch of freshly ground black pepper

The dish works best when you make the rice right before you make the dish, and because it’s not going to be on its own, you can use instant rice if you choose. If you’re making the rice right before assembling the dish, cook it to be about 90% done - there should still be some liquid in the pot you’re cooking the rice in. You’ll finish cooking in the pan. If you’re making Fried Matzah, you’d break it up and soak in near boiling water for a few minutes. If you’re using left over rice, a very small amount of water can help to rehydrate it. Fresh cooked rice will absorb the egg better but this is a dish of convenience and originates in poverty, so don’t get cute. If you want to use leftovers, go for it.

While that’s soaking, put butter in a pan over medium-low heat. This is a fast enough dish on its own, it doesn’t need a ton of heat. When the butter foams and bubbles, start putting in the rice and don’t be shy about the liquid. If using matzah, use tongs to take it out of the soak into the pan.

Turn up the heat a little and stir to coat, about 30 seconds to one minute. Next, take your eggs and crack them right into the pan, stirring them until thoroughly incorporated, about 2-3 minutes. The rice almost prevents large curds from forming, and smaller curds mean softer, creamier eggs.

Remove from heat, keep stirring as you add a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Plate and serve. If you’re like me, you’ll add a small amount of Tobasco or Dodie’s to it, but this is entirely optional.

Don’t be fooled - simple often means satisfying and this proves that rule.

Ok, variation time:

What’s breakfast with out bacon, right? What about cheese? Here’s how to do that. This is essentially Carbonara:

  1. Rice (same as above)
  2. 3-4 strips of bacon, cut in to cubes
  3. 2-3 eggs
  4. a metric f— ton of a salty hard cheese (Pecorino Romano if you have it or Parmesean Reggiano if not), finely grated.
  5. freshly ground black pepper.

Virtually everything stays the same as above, except we’re going to render the fat off the bacon instead of using a different lipid, like butter. Again, medium low heat is best, and just when the bacon begins to really crisp up, that’s when you add the rice. Make sure it’s coated in rendered fat, add the eggs and stir for a minute before adding some cheese now. Remove from heat, continue stirring and add the pepper. Plate and finish with even more cheese, because well, this pretty decadent.

Here’s the other most common variation we make, and it’s a good chance to practice your knife skills. It’s exactly the same as the first one, except we’re going to finely dice one small onion, and one bell pepper, sweat them in butter first until soft, add more butter, then the rice, then the eggs. You can top this with whatever cheese you have lying around, and for us that’s usually either Monteray Jack or Sharp Cheddar, but personally I don’t think it needs that.

I can’t stress enough that is a dish of convenience - use a little of what you have lying around and apply the principles you see here. This is the answer to your breakfast, late nights, or emergency dinners.