Lox 'n' Onions & Eggs with Grits and Avocado

My Lox 'n' Onions & Eggs with Grits and Avocado dish goes along great with cut #1 on the KitCHEN MuSIC album, "Misty," written by Erroll Garner, one of the most-recorded tunes in the Great American Songbook.
On the album I'm accompanied by a rhythm section, backup vocals and guitars.



I created this dish in honor of Flushing, NY, circa 1969, a jewish neighborhood at that time, full of ethnic eaterieis from Eastern Europe. The recipe and directions, including "how to cook grits," are below.

To me, "eggs" = "breakfast." I'll eat eggs with any food, no matter how bizarre the combination. I routinely cook eggs scrambled disgustingly soft, or over easy, or over easy yolks broken, or poached, or dropped on toast, or hard boiled, with whatever was left over from last night's dinner. Lox 'n Eggs (smoked salmon & onions scrambled into eggs) is a favorite from my old schol days in Flushing, NY. My version includes southern style grits and fresh avocado. Wierd, but delicious. Heaven at 7am.

Lox 'n' Onions & Eggs with Grits and Avocado

PREP TIME: 10 minutes. Cook time: 07 minutes. Tools: Chef's knife for chopping, butter knife for slicing avocado, wisk for the eggs, spatula, large sauté pan

INGREDIENTS
• Canola oil, butter, light olive oil or healthy margarine for sauteeing, about 1-2 tablespoons
• 1/2 medium red bermuda onion, sliced into rings
• 3 large or extra-large eggs
• Milk, light cream, half-'n'-half or soymilk to thicken the eggs, about 1 or 2 tablespoons
• Thin-sliced smoked salmon, shredded into finger-size, about 5 pieces
• 1 medium-sized ripe Haas avocado
• 1/4 fresh lime to drizzle over the avocado
• Old-fashioned hominy grits

Serves 1 (To serve 2, double everything in the recipe

DIRECTIONS
Have all ingredients (including the cooked grits -- see sidebar "how to cook grits") prepared and ready to go before turning on the stove.

• Slice the onion into rings (or dice the onion, if you prefer)
• Peel the avocado, cut it in half, dig out the seed, and slice the avocado into wedgy crescents slices about a pinky-finger in thickness. Put on your plate, and squeeze the fresh lime, drizzling lime juice over the avocado slices
• Heat your large sautée pan over medium heat
• Crack the eggs into a bowl
• Add the milk, light cream, half 'n' half or soymilk, if you wish
• In the bowl, Wisk the ingredients to within an inch of their life, wisking high to introduce air into the mixture. No need to add a pinch of salt, as per usual: the smoked salmon is salty enough
• When the pan is hot, add the butter or margarine or canola oil, tilting to cover the bottom of the pan
• When the oil/butter/margarine is hot (look for it to become more liquid, less viscous, and just about to smoke,) turn the heat down to medium
• Pour the egg mixture into the pan. Scramble a bit with a fork.
• Lay the onion rings in the pan over the eggs (or, if you like your red onions cooked, you could sautee them in the pan until translucent, adding the eggs immediately afterwards)
• Lay the smoked salmon in the pan over the eggs and onion rings
• Scramble everything together while humming, singing or whistling "Misty," or one of your favorite songs
• Using the spatula, place the eggs, lox and onions mixture on the plate with the avocado
• Pour the cooked grits onto the plate next to the eggs and avocado

HOW to COOK GRITS
Follow the instructions on the box, LOL. I have included box instructions below for illustrative purposes only.

Grits come in a few different versions. I like "Quick" grits, that cook in about 6 minutes. Microwave instructions (on the box) call for 3-4 minutes. I like to cook them on the stove top so I can practice guitar a little while longer. I sneer at "instant grits," that take about a minute. But if you want to be a wus and use them, go right ahead. There are also grits that take 30 minutes to cook. If you're the kind of obsessive person who needs to cook grits for 30 minutes in order to feel superior, go right ahead.

Some people like grits with gravy, sugar, milk, cheese and a variety of other mix-ins. I like them plain. Experiment and find what's best for you. In any case, do check out Joe Pesci/Marisa Tomei film, "My Cousin Vinny," which has a hilarious scene involving grits in a southern diner.

STOVE TOP - 1 serving
1 cup water
3 tbsp grits
pinch of kosher salt

1. Slowly stir grits and salt into briskly boiling water
2. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover. Cook 5-7 minutes
or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat
3. Tip: for thicker grits decrease water; for thinner grits increase water
4. Add a pat of butter or healthy margarine immediately and more salt to taste. Serve right away. Pour a little water in the grits pot in order to forestall having to use a blowtorch to clean that pot later on...

ENJOY! - Roberto
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