Bobby Flay's Throwdown! (7 page)

Name: Lynn Winter
Establishment: Lynn’s Paradise Café
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Website:
www.lynnsparadisecafe.com
Phone: (502) 583-3447

It was the early birds’ fight for the worm with a battle of the breakfasts. I would have to be up at the crack of dawn in order to stand a chance against Kentucky’s morning meal master, Lynn Winter.

Lynn began her career not as a restaurateur, but as a custom woodworker plying her trade in Kentucky and northern California. In 1991, ready to leave her life of furniture-making behind, Lynn sold her woodworking tools and set up a new kind of shop—her very own restaurant, Lynn’s Paradise Café, in Louisville, Kentucky. From the ever-changing interior to the revolving displays of artwork, there is always something happening at Lynn’s. In the two decades since Lynn first opened her café’s doors, she’s managed to wrangle numerous awards and honors such as Ernst and Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year,” the “Tower Award for Women Leaders,” and the National Restaurant Association’s “Chairman’s Award for Grassroots Leadership.” Clearly, opening the café was the right move.

Lynn is a born and raised southerner complete with a sweet spot for breakfast. She may not have known it before I showed up with a Throwdown in hand, but her outrageous scrambled eggs, laden with creamy Jarlsberg cheese and country ham, were known as her signature dish—the one her customers craved, the one that made Food Network come knocking—and I just had to try my hand at outdoing this country morning dream.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: I love breakfast foods. I could eat breakfast morning, noon, and night. The one thing I like as much as eating breakfast? Well, that might just be preparing it. However, unlike Lynn, I don’t prepare 3,000 breakfasts a week, so I really had my work cut out for me with this one. Could my Mexican-inspired chilaquiles trump Lynn’s country-style Kentucky Farmhouse Scramble?

There are hundreds of ways to prepare eggs, but my recipe for chilaquiles might just be my favorite. It’s creamy scrambled eggs layered between crispy blue corn tortillas with cheddar cheese and a spicy tomatillo sauce—sort of a free-form egg lasagna, if you will. Chilaquiles has been on my brunch menu at Mesa Grill since it opened, and to this day it continues to be one of our most popular brunch dishes. Just as Lynn stayed true to the food and flavorings she knew best, so did I with this southwestern take on eggs.

The judging was close—who doesn’t love a great breakfast?—but in the end, top honors went to country ham and onion rings. Early-bird Lynn took the win, and sadly this breakfast time was over.

SERVES 4

1.
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 350°F on a deep-frying thermometer.

2.
Fry the tortillas, one at a time, in the hot oil until just crispy, 20 to 30 seconds. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and season lightly with salt.

3.
Heat the butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add the eggs, and season with salt and pepper. Cook slowly, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until soft curds form.

4.
To serve, ladle some of the tomatillo sauce into 4 shallow bowls and top each with a fried tortilla. Spread 1 tablespoon of the crema and a few tablespoons of the sauce evenly over each tortilla. Top each with some of the eggs and then 2 tablespoons of the cheddar cheese. Top with another tortilla, repeat, and then top with a final tortilla. Spoon the remaining eggs and cheese on top and garnish each serving with a tablespoon of the chopped cilantro leaves.

1.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2.
In a small roasting pan, toss the tomatillos, onion, and garlic with the 3 tablespoons olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until the vegetables are soft and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

3.
Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Set up an ice bath in a medium bowl. Blanch the spinach in the boiling water for 30 seconds, then drain and transfer to the ice water. Drain the spinach well and squeeze out the excess water between your hands.

4.
Transfer the tomatillos, onion, and garlic to a food processor, and add the chipotle, lime juice, and spinach. Process until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the ¾ cup olive oil until emulsified. Season with the honey and salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

SERVES 4

1.
Heat a 12-inch nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter and oil and swirl around the pan until the butter melts. Add the country ham and cook until it begins to brown, about 3 minutes.

2.
Turn the heat to medium-low. Stir in the roasted red bell pepper and beaten eggs. After the eggs begin to set, stir slowly from edge to edge with a heat-resistant rubber spatula until large curds form. This will take anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes. If they are setting too quickly, reduce the heat to low. While the eggs are still moist and slightly runny, fold in the grated cheese and season with pepper.