Recipe #7: Surpresa

On my crusade to Brazil, I quickly noticed that I had to figure out good ideas for breakfast, since all Brazilians eat is bread and coffee (or if you don't drink coffee, cevada or chocolate milk), which is BORING and not filling. So I came up with this blend of hearty and delicious ingredients and called it "Surpresa" (Portuguese for "surprise"). I made it every morning during the phase when I invented it. That included dicing an entire potato before I began cooking. It was exhausting and took a while, but it was worth it. And since hash browns exist in the US, you can make it with half the effort!
Also, I remembered a few months later that my dad on his crusade to Canada had also invented a dish, called "Missionary Surprise," and it had most of the same ingredients, except ground beef was substituted for ham, his recipe used cheese on top, and he had it for dinner!

Surpresa

"Twice invented!"

 Ingredients

• 1 potato, diced, or some cubed hash browns
• Half an onion or so
• Salt, pepper, rosemary, and oh, maybe some paprika for color
• 2 eggs
• Diced ham, or crumbled bacon
• BONUS: Avocado
• Ketchup 'n' ranch dressing

Directions

1. Dice the potato if it hasn't been diced. This actually turns out way better because of the delicious skin.
2. Cook the bacon or ham. If you used bacon, leave all the grease in the pan. Three or four slices should do it.
3. Sauté the onions in the grease until lightly sauteéd, then put in the potatoes. Stir them around to coat in the grease. Cover with a lid.
4. Let it fry for about 5 minutes or so. Stir it around if you want during that time. It's not great if the onions burn too much. After 5 minutes, definitely stir it around, whether you want to or not. Let it cook for another five minutes, basically just keep doing this till they're soft.
5. Crack the eggs into the potatoes and stir them around until they're cooked.
6. Add the spices to taste. Place everything onto a plate, and add the pig meat and mix it up.
7. If you want a "Bonus Surpresa," add sliced avocado on top. I didn't do this in Brazil, but man, is it a good addition, I discovered. You can add grated cheese, too, but I don't think it needs it.
8. Top with ketchup and ranch dressing ao gosto. I mean, to taste. I end up mixing this up quite a bit anyway, so nothing too fancy like in the picture if you don't want to.
9. Enjoy! It's super filling and delicious!

YIELD: 1 plate, probably a bit too much for you to finish on your own, so leave some out for your spouse when they wake up. Surpresa!!
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Washes down well with...  Any breakfast drink, really. Milk, orange juice... I think in Brazil it was orange and pineapple Tang mixed, so Sunny D might be a good choice.