Build a breakfast sandwich that'll sustain you till noon - includes recipes

Sunset, August, 1988

Egg-based breakfast sandwiches are no novelty, thanks to recent efforts on the part of several fast-food chains. But James Hensinger's breakfast sandwich, on the other hand, is genuinely novel---a hybrid between a BLT and a peanut butter sandwich. Don't condemn it without trying it; the combination is unexpectedly delicious, and the sandwich will sustain you until midday.

It could, in fact, become a brown bag lunch if you carry the tomato separately and add it just before eating. Hensinger believes that the success of the sandwich depends upon having a really ripe, homegrown tomato.

What, a Breakfast Sandwich?

4 thick-cut bacon slices

2 slices whole-wheat bread

About 3 tablespoons chunk-style peanut butter

1 thick slice of a large, ripe beefsteak-type tomato

Salt

Cook bacon in a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over medium heat until crisp; drain well on paper towels. Meanwhile, toast bread; generously spread 1 slice with peanut butter. Top peanut butter with the cooked bacon and set tomato on bacon; add salt to taste. Top with remaining toast slice. Makes I hearty sandwich.

Per serving : 64 5 cal.; 31 g protein; 29 g carbo.; 48 g fat; 37 mg chol.; 1,115 mg sodium.

Chipotles--smoked jalapeno chilies-are, like most other smoked foods, the offspring of necessity Before canning was even dreamed of, our ancestors kept flies off their food by suspending it in the smoke of the campfire, the same smoke that kept mosquitoes off their relatively hairless hides. The accompanying heat also dried the victuals and helped preserve them from mold. Refinements in the process eventually led to such smoky delights as bacon, provolone cheese, lapsang souchong tea, and Virginia ham.

When Cortez landed in Mexico he found the native inhabitants employing a wide variety of chili peppers in a wide variety of ways. If not consumed fresh, chilies with thin walls were (and still are) merely air-dried; those with thicker flesh (notably jalapenos) were suspended in smoke and heat to ensure drying before spoilage could occur. Smoked jalapenos are chipotles, and they are the essential flavoring element in Arthur Vinsel's Popotla's Chipotle Pork, a dish which incorporates the best elements of Mexican carnitas and Italian risotto, at the same time exercising your glottal stops.

And what about Popotla? It is a tiny pottery-making town south of Tijuana.

Popotla's Chipotle Pork

About 1-1/2 pounds boneless pork butt or shoulder

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 medium-size onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1 canned chipotle chili in adobo sauce and 1 tablespoon of the adobo sauce

1 cup dry sherry

1 cup water

1 cup long-grain white rice Salt or garlic salt

1 medium-size ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and sliced

Thinly sliced green onions, including tops

Fresh cilantro (coriander) sprigs

Trim and discard excess fat from pork; cut meat into 1-1/2-inch cubes. Melt butter in a 5- to 6-quart pan over medium-high heat; add pork, a portion at a time, and cook until browned on all sides, then lift out and set aside. Add onion, bell pepper, and carrot to pan and stir occasionally until onion is limp, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, puree chipotle chili, adobo sauce, and sherry in a blender; add to the onion mixture. Also return pork to pan, Bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat, and simmer until pork is very tender when pierced, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Add water and rice; stir to mix. Cover and continue to cook until rice is tender to bite and liquid is absorbed, 20 to 25 more minutes; stir once or twice. Season to taste with salt. Transfer mixture to a platter and garnish with avocado, green onions, and cilantro. Makes 4 or 5 servings.

Per serving: 469cal.; 26g protein; 42g carbo.; 22 g fat; 91 mg chol.; 161 mg sodium.

A popular culinary trend-spotter (a specialized journalist whose occupation permits nay, requires him to eat out a great deal on an expense account) has said that Cajun is out and Southwestern is in. Southwestern cuisine is noted for labeling each recipe with the magic words Santa Fe. Why should Chefs of the West try to row against the current?

Thomas Stone's Chicken Santa Fe is more than trendy, though. It is delicious, spicy but not really hot, and attractively garnished and flavored by green chilies those innocuous-looking vegetables whose mysterious flavor is practically addictive.

Chicken Santa Fe

1 large can (7 oz.) whole green

chilies

2 slices bacon

1 broiler-fryer chicken (about 31/2 lb.),

cut up

1 large onion, cut lengthwise into

eighths

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 cup each dry white wine and

regular-strength chicken broth

1 tablespoon prepared hot taco

sauce

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt and freshly ground black

pepper

Dice half the chilies; cut the remaining ones lengthwise into thin strips. Set aside in separate containers.

In a 12-inch frying pan or 5- to 6-quart pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Lift out and drain on paper towels. Add chicken pieces to bacon drippings, without crowding. Cook over mediumhigh heat until browned on all sides; lift out pieces as browned and add remaining ones. Set browned chicken aside. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the drippings.