Finding the perfect hangover cure can be a greater challenge than usual around the holiday season. It’s not unusual to wake up on a typical Sunday craving a big hot plate of French fries and bacon, and most of us in Halifax are lucky enough to be within stumbling distance of a diner. But between messy Christmas and New Year’s parties and visits to family homesteads, the ease of finding good hangover food diminishes steadily as the holiday season gets into full swing.
Luckily for all of us, there is a quick and easy solution to the problem of finding hangover food at the holidays—and it doesn’t require changing out of your pajamas or even leaving the house. It does require a bit of advance shopping, but in this day and age of liquor stores nestled in grocery stores, that shouldn’t be a problem. When you’re heading to the LC, swing on in to the grocery store and pick up a loaf of bread, some eggs, a tomato or two and a package of sausages and/or bacon. Pop it all in the fridge before you head to your soiree and you’ll be all set for the next day.
When it comes time to deal with that hangover hunger, head into the kitchen and throw a couple of sausages and two or three pieces of bacon per person into a skillet (obviously, the more servings, the more meat, the bigger the frying pan).
Set it over medium-high heat and cook until the bacon is beginning to crisp and the sausages begin turning brown. Add your tomatoes, halved, cut side down; when they are browned and beginning to “melt,” flip them over. Next, add two to three eggs per person, either cracked directly into the pan, as with fried eggs, or beaten with two tablespoons of milk per egg, as with scrambled eggs. The trick is to connect the sausages, bacon and tomatoes with the surrounding egg mixture. Cook until the eggs set and the yolks are the way you like them, add a bit of salt and pepper, and voila, you’ve got your hangover cure.
This tastes pretty good eaten out of the pan right off the stovetop, but with a bit of careful spatula work, you should be able to slide the hangover feast onto a plate in its entirety. Serve with ketchup, buttered toast and a big pot of coffee, and you just might abandon your New Year’s resolution never to drink again.
This article appears in Dec 29, 2005 – Jan 4, 2006.
mmmmmmmmmmmmm