Requirements: Must be breakfasty, and easy to pick up and place down without being a distraction from other morning activities (reading news, checking emails, feeding children and pets, etc.). In other words: No utensils involved. Must pair well with coffee -- for whatever reason -- and be very delicious.
5. Homemade corn bread or biscuits with butter. Jam optional.
Key word here is homemade, which means it will be fresh, warm, and aromatic -- and the butter will melt in. Makes for a simple but very soothing companion for the cup of joe.
4. Eggs softly scrambled with bacon, onion, and cheese on a Kaiser roll
Remove the onions if you must, but don't argue: Bacon, eggs, and coffee
is a classic combo. The Kaiser offers a tiny crunch, but is soft enough
to chew without effort.
3. Cinnamon bun
It has to be a quality one, and you've gotta heat it up so the frosting
(preferably cream cheese based) gets all soft and oozy. The aroma of
cinnamon seeping from the oven will alone make the coffee taste better.
2. Bagel, cream cheese and smoked salmon with tomato, red onion and capers
I'm not sure if or why coffee and smoked fish flavors work. And coffee
with capers? Jeez. But somehow when the other ingredients are added,
the whole matches with coffee like a gefilte fish takes to Manishewitz.
1. Warm scone with mascarpone
I used to work as the chef of an upscale takeout shop in midtown Manhattan called Mangia.
It was the original venue of what is now a foursome of stores. When
I'd arrive in the kitchen each morning at 6:00 a.m., the baker would be
pulling racks of freshly baked scones from convection ovens. These
were big, puffy, wheaty, rectangular scones. I'd cut one open, let the
steam escape, and then smear an unfathomably obscene amount of Galbani Mascarpone on each slice (the soft cheese would melt in). Nothing has ever tasted better with my morning cup of coffee. Try recreating it at home and you won't be disappointed. Unless, that is, you're trying to lose weight.
