It’s Open!!

The closure of the breakfast restaurant we were headed to in a recent blog proved to be short-lived. The owners took advantage of this being mid-week in the off-season to regrade the parking lot. But by the weekend Morgan’s Country Kitchen was again up and running.

Not only were we attracted by the reviews of Morgan’s food, the owners “green” operating philosophy was equally enticing. And it is this that has won the owners, Gary and Sheila Hubbs, the Greener Florence award for the second time for its recycling efforts. But the Hubbs go far beyond just recycling.

“…With emphasis on sustainability, we Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. That means we recycle cardboard, glass, metals, plastics, place mats, and news paper instead of shipping them off to our land fill. Two years ago we began separating food preparation scraps (vegetable peels, meat trimmings etc.) and patron leftovers from our solid waste and giving it to locals to feed their chickens…. We sell our used fry oil to Rogue Bio Fuels and coffee grounds are composted.

“We have eliminated plastic and Styrofoam from our ‘to go’ products and replaced them with eco friendly items such as…containers made from 100% sugar cane fibers, cutlery made from potato starch, and bags made of corn polymer. These all compost in land fills in about 4-6 months versus 100 years for Styrofoam…. Our trash can liners are…made from corn polymer and also compost in 4-6 months. We use green cleaning products, micro fiber cloths, and recycled paper products. Our recent remodel included low VOC paints and flooring made from 67% recycled vinyl…” (morganscountrykitchen.com).

Good for you both, Gary and Sheila. But what about the food? “…’Do not come here for lunch without a sizable appetite.’ That's what the Sterns (Ed. Note: Jane and Michael Stern, authors of numerous editions of Roadfood.) said…and truer words were never spoken. Our chicken fried steak platter was enormous. We went with the breakfast version of CFS, although it was lunchtime; it's the same steak, but with morning-style sides. Our 12-ounce breaded beef was resting on a crispy pallet of hash browns, covered with creamy gravy, and sided by two fried eggs. As if that wasn't enough, along came a tall biscuit. Our waitress called to us, ‘Want gravy on that?’ ‘Absolutely!’” (Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle at roadfood.com).

The breakfast menu contained a number of interesting options. Do I order Morgan's Own California Chili Browns with hash browns and mild California whole green chilies and topped with melted cheddar and jack cheese and salsa? What about the Spinach O'Brien with potatoes sautéed with spinach and onions and topped with eggs and Hollandaise sauce? Or the corned beef hash and eggs? Or should it be the Whole Hog omelet with ham, bacon, sausage, and mushrooms? This warmed this Iowa gal’s heart. (Did you know that Iowa is the largest U.S. pork producer? Runners-up are Minnesota, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois.)

Now being in a pork frame of mind, I couldn’t resist that morning’s breakfast special of a breaded pork tenderloin with cream gravy, hash browns, two eggs,

and one biscuit with sausage gravy. (And after breakfast I’m going out to plow the back forty.)

I immediately had a decision to make. What part of this can I best take home and reheat? So I cut the tenderloin in half, and the portion I didn’t eat became a breakfast sandwich the next day.

The tenderloin was breaded and flattop grilled to crispy perfection. The biscuit was one of the best I have seen outside of the southern states—light and fluffy with no leavening taste. I would, though, have liked more sausage in the gravy. The home fries were of the same style that I so enjoyed at America’s Family Diner in Woodland, WA. The potatoes were sliced into thin strips and were not the typical rough grated. And the eggs? They were there.

Morgan’s road sign advertises their chicken fried steak, so operating on the theory that something that prominently publicized must be good, Chuck ordered the breakfast CFS with two scrambled eggs and home fries. To again quote Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle at roadfood.com: “That good steak is unique in that it is not deep-fried. The cook came out after lunch to describe how he does the CFS, and while we couldn't quite follow his multi-step process, we do remember it involves a final cooking on the flattop in butter-flavored oil.”

And our server told us that the steak is certified Angus beef and that it is run though the tenderizer six times for maximum tenderness. And tender it was. Along with being very large. So large that some of the CFS came home and two days later became another breakfast sandwich for me.

We’re glad that Morgan’s Country Kitchen reopened in time for our breakfast and confer a 4.0 Addie rating.

To review the role of Adler, Kitty Humbug, and the Addie rating system, read the November 14, 2011 blog.