Breakfast Revisited: Bell Pepper Toad In The Holes And McGriddles

Hearty, diner style breakfasts are a perfect way to start up a cold Montana day (or any morning after a night of heavy drinking, weather irrelevant). Six-Seven-Eight has already covered several different delicious breakfast options, like breakfast burritos, breakfast sandwiches, and the fun restaurant-themed breakfast skillet.

While these traditional early morning meals are always a fun time, there are plenty of different twists to make breakfast more exciting, like the avocado eggs benedict. We've been making a point of revisiting our standard breakfast fare lately, and now we'll explore two of our recent creations: a bell pepper version of the toad-in-a-hole, and our own homemade McGriddles.

Toads-in-a-hole are staples in some areas and completely unknown in others. If you haven't had these before, they are incredibly easy, as it just consists of pieces of toast with a hole cut in the middle. Butter the toast and throw it on a hot pan, and then put an egg in each hole.

Flip 'em over a few minutes later like you would cooking normal fried eggs on the stove.

We like to serve ours with grits covered with fried vegetables and a little sausage.  Of course, don't forget about the bread holes you cut out!  They fry up on the pan just as well to make mini-toast slices.

While that's the standard way to put together this egg-based dish, you don't have to stick with bread. One morning we decided to ditch the toast and instead use rings of red bell pepper.

Megan sliced up a bell pepper into large rings big enough to hold an egg, then put down a slice of tomato in the bottom. The egg then goes on top and cooks until the yolk starts to get firm.

Near the end of the cooking process, she also threw on some cheese to melt on top, creating a great combination of flavors and textures. We served this new version with cottage cheese and some wheat toast.

For another fun breakfast outside our normal rotation, we decided to put together our own version of the McGriddle from McDonalds.  For a slightly sweet addition to the savory breakfast sandwich, we started with French toast made with cinnamon bread.

After the French toast was cooked through, next we put on a pork sausage patty.

Of course a breakfast sandwich also needs some cheese, so some colby jack gets placed on top to melt slightly.

Finishing off the McGriddle is a fried egg, and the sandwich was served with steaming hot coffee and some strawberry strudel. If you like the sweet flavors, dip the sandwich in some flavored pancake syrup.

What's your favorite breakfast meal, and what twists on old favorites do you like to make at home?  Stay tuned for more awesome breakfast fare from Six-Seven-Eight, as well as more grilling adventures and many upcoming new homemade barbecue sauces.