Diner Style Breakfast Mess

Most diners have on their breakfast menu something called "The Mess." I love The Mess, if it's done right. A good Mess will have easily identifiable components like ham, potatoes, peppers, onion, etc. A bad Mess will have a blob of egg with stuff in it that looks like it lives in a large tub inside the walk-in until someone orders a Mess. That Mess is just a mess! My Diner Style Breakfast Mess is the perfect mess!"

It has cubes of ham, colorful bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, hash browns, red onion, cheese, eggs, butter (never oil), all brought together at the perfect time. Let me show you how I make my Diner Style Breakfast Mess.

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• Ingredients and Variations:
• Instructions for Diner Style Breakfast Mess:
• Instructional Video:
• Recipe

Ingredients and Variations:

• Ham 
  • You can add meat to your Diner Style Breakfast Mess or go with just vegetables and cheese. It's your mess!
  • Use bacon, sausage, ham or whatever you like. My choice is ham, but not just any ham.
  • I prefer to buy a thick slice of "Ham Off The Bone" at the service deli counter. It generally has less water, better texture and better flavor. Leftover ham from a holiday meal is perfect!
• Bell pepper, any color you have on hand.
• Jalapeño pepper
• Hash brown potatoes
  • I use packaged hash browns for my Diner Style Breakfast Mess.
  • You can thaw out frozen hash browns, home-style potatoes, or use the ones in the green bag usually found above the eggs in the grocery store.
  • I avoid fresh grated potatoes because they usually become gummy. If you have a secret to avoid that, please share!
• Red onion. White or yellow is fine, but red onion is prettier. We eat with our eyes first!
• Cheddar cheese. For best results, grate fresh cheddar cheese from a block instead of using the pre-grated stuff. It has a coating to keep it from sticking together in the package, and it does not melt as well and it can have a grainy texture. If you like pre-grated packaged cheese, by all means, use it. I do too from time to time.
• Eggs. As a former hobby farmer, I am picky about my eggs. I like fresh eggs with very dark yellow-orange yolks. I hate watery whites, which indicates the egg is on the older side. If I buy grocery store eggs, I look for organic, pasture raised chicken eggs. The farmer's market or local farm stand often have farm fresh eggs.
• Butter

Instructions for Diner Style Breakfast Mess:

• Start making the Diner Style Breakfast Mess by chopping your fresh vegetables into chunky pieces. I used red onion, orange bell pepper, green bell pepper, jalapeño pepper and a fresh Roma tomato.

• Trim the edge of the ham and chop into ½" squares. No need to use it all at once. There's always tomorrow morning!

• Add the ham cubes in a non-stick skillet. Cook just long enough to get a little color on them.
• Remove and set aside.

• After the ham, add a dab of butter to the hot skillet and cook the fresh vegetables until just tender. 
• Remove them and set aside.
• Add the ingredients to a plate as you cook them.

Add another dab of butter to the skillet and cook the hash browns until golden.  

Add them to the plate with the ham, peppers, and onions.

• While the potatoes cook, beat the eggs in a small bowl.
• You can make as many portions of this dish as you like. I used three eggs for 2 servings.

• Grate some cheddar cheese and set aside.

• Keep the cheese separate from the vegetables and ham.
• My Diner Style Breakfast Mess is like a picky kid who doesn't like his/her food touching.
• The cheese will go on last.

• Add the vegetables and ham to the skillet and heat until warmed through.
• Pour the beaten eggs over the top and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Don't start stirring immediately. Let the eggs start to cook first, but do not leave them long enough to begin browning. Browned eggs = yuck.
• Gently fold and stir until the scrambled eggs are as you like them.

• Add the cheese at the last-minute, stir, and place your Diner Style Breakfast Mess onto the serving plates.
• You can eat it as is, or drizzle on hot sauce or salsa.
• I suppose you could add ketchup if you are inclined to so do. I cannot make that seem right.
• Pour the black coffee and eat the mess while it's hot.

Instructional Video:

Recipe