Good Morning Crew

Two San Diego chefs from South Jersey dish about food, family, and what makes for a good morning with your loved ones

BY RYAN RIZZUTO | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BHADRI KUBENDRAN

It turns out that chef Brad Wise and I have a lot in common. We hail from neighboring towns in South Jersey; we consider Italian food our love language; and we were both raised on pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. For those who have never had pork roll, you are in for a treat with chef Brad’s Fried Pork Roll with Roasted Potatoes, Fried Eggs, and Grilled Bread. The way the edges of the pork crackle and caramelize in the pan will have you shipping pork roll by the pound to the West Coast. Recently, Wise and I discussed our traditions of cooking breakfast for friends and family during the holiday season.

Wise starts his mornings at sunrise by pouring himself a tall, strong cup of coffee and walking the backyard with his daughter Charlie. When the neighborhood is still and the sky’s just turning an illuminating pink, they plan the day ahead, identify various bugs and animals that cross their path, and brainstorm their favorite meal: breakfast. For Charlie, waffles are preferred. For Wise, it’s usually a second cup of coffee and a light bite, if he’s lucky, before heading off to lead the various culinary concepts of Trust Restaurant Group.

In his childhood, Wise’s Cape May, New Jersey, home was the talk of the town for weekend breakfast. His mom was revered for her elaborate spread of corned beef and hash, fat piles of French toast, and, of course, pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwiches. All of Wise’s friends would fight to stay overnight on Fridays knowing that they would awake to the intoxicating smells of his mom’s famous breakfast spread.

In San Diego, Wise carries on these traditions and invents new ones with his wife and daughters. This time of year, they love to cruise around the neighborhood on their street-legal golf cart while sipping hot cocoa to view the holiday decorations and lights. On weekend mornings, Wise invites friends and family over to serve up fresh takes on his childhood favorites. His newest winter tradition incorporates grilling and roasting fruits and vegetables over charcoal, and pairing them with glazed smoked pork.

In my neck of the woods in New Jersey, I was raised on apple cider doughnuts. These puffy, warm doughnuts are rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with hot coffee or mulled cider. We would buy them by the dozen and my three siblings and I would fight over the crumbs at the bottom of the bag.

Recipe by chef Ryan Rizzuto

Yields 20–24 doughnuts 3 cups apple cider (I chose Smit Farms) ¼ cup maple syrup plus 1 tablespoon, divided 2 cinnamon sticks ⅔ cup apple butter ½ cup buttermilk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus 2 tablespoons, divided ½ teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg 6 tablespoons butter, softened ⅔ cup brown sugar ¼ cup granulated sugar, plus 2½ cups, divided 2 large eggs 1 gallon peanut oil for frying

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, boil apple cider, ¼ cup maple syrup, and cinnamon sticks until thick and syrupy, 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and whisk in apple butter, buttermilk, and vanilla until smooth; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. In an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, brown sugar, and ¼ cup of granulated sugar until smooth, about 3 minutes. With the mixer running, add the eggs one at a time, followed by 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Reduce the mixer speed to low and alternatively add half of the dry ingredients with half of the apple butter mixture until both are fully incorporated. The resulting dough will be sticky, resembling cookie dough. Transfer the dough to a rimmed sheet pan lined with parchment paper and floured generously. Flour hands to press the dough to evenly fill the sheet pan. Generously dust the top of the dough with flour and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or at most 12 hours, before shaping doughnuts. When preparing to shape doughnuts, heat peanut oil in a Dutch oven to 350°. Combine remaining granulated sugar and cinnamon in a rimmed baking dish or a takeout container. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface or wood cutting board. Fold the dough a few times, adding flour when sticky. Press or roll out dough with a baking pin to ¼-inch thickness. Using a large round biscuit cutter (3¼inch diameter), cut out as many doughnuts as possible from the dough. Using the smallest round biscuit cutter (1¼inch diameter) or a round household item of smaller diameter (I used a bottle cap), punch out the center of each round. Prepare a sheet pan fitted with a cooling rack and fry the first round of doughnuts in the heated oil. Carefully place the cut dough in the oil as it will be dangerously hot. Fry until deep golden brown on both sides, about 2½ minutes per side, flipping gently using a chopstick. Remove from oil with a pair of chopsticks or a handheld strainer and place on cooling rack. Allow to cool slightly before tossing in cinnamon sugar. Fry the dough centers as doughnut holes or combine them into the main dough. Continue until all the dough is used. Enjoy warm with hot cider or coffee, and store for up to 3 days in an airtight container or freeze for up to 1 month.

The holidays were always a big affair in my family with more aunts, uncles, and cousins than one could count, and the holiday table was as overflowing as the living room in my grandparents’ tiny cottage. Post-holiday breakfasts were sure to include raisin walnut sticky buns, crispy bacon, fried scrapple, and buttermilk pancakes.

At my new home in San Diego, I still cook the classics but add modern flairs to my favorite dishes. Inspired by Charlie’s favorite waffle breakfast, I crafted a Vegan “Chicken” ‘n’ Waffles recipe that even my carnivorous friends enjoy. Fried local golden oyster mushrooms are the perfect substitute for chicken, and nitro cold brew coffee adds a boost of flavor to my oat milk waffle recipe.

As chefs, Wise and I have gleaned some expert tactics on cooking breakfast for a crowd in commercial kitchens that also apply at home. Chef Wise suggests learning how long each recipe takes to make before heading into the kitchen so that each dish comes out in unison, hot and ready. To master this, I suggest assembling your mise en place (measure out all of your ingredients ahead of time to ensure that “everything is in its place”) before beginning to cook.

Wherever and with whomever you spend your holiday mornings with, be sure to make them delicious.

Find the recipes for Fried Pork Roll with Roasted Potatoes, Fried Eggs, and Grilled Bread from Brad Wise, and Vegan “Chicken” ‘n’ Waffles by Ryan Rizzuto only on ediblesandiego.com. To taste the work of chef Brad Wise @chefbwise, visit Trust Restaurant @trustrestaurantsd.

Ryan Rizzuto is a chef and entrepreneur in San Diego. You can taste his work at his own soul food pop-up, Southside Biscuits, or at local nonprofit Kitchens for Good. Follow him on Instagram @chefryanrizzuto and his soul food and public events @southsidebiscuits.

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Stop Pollution at the Source

Plastic is a problem before it reaches the beach. Extraction, production, consumption, and disposal all carry serious environmental and humanitarian consequences. Single-use plastic is particularly detrimental as bags, bottles, straws, expanded polystyrene foam, and food wrappers consistently top the list of items our volunteers collect at cleanups. Researchers estimate up to 11 million metric tons of plastic waste is entering the ocean every year and that by 2025, 11 billion metric tons will have accumulated in the environment. (Sources can be found on Beachapedia.) This pollution is impacting both humans and our marine ecosystems. Plastic fragments are even displacing plankton as the base of the food chain.

While the problem may be complex, the solution is simple—we need to stop plastic at the source! The Surfrider Foundation’s Ocean Friendly Restaurants program (OFR) does just that. We recognize restaurants that are committed to cutting out wasteful single-use plastic and offer a simple, straightforward framework to help them make sustainable choices for our ocean. The result is a community of like-minded restaurants we can promote, support, and lift up as examples of success to influence plastic reduction legislation. The larger we grow our network of Ocean Friendly leaders, the more mainstream the concept of plastic-free becomes.

OFR Holiday Dining Guide

To help promote our OFRs during this upcoming holiday season, we are putting together a list of current OFRs to share via @surfriderSD and under Events on ediblesandiego.com. Surfrider San Diego Chapter is grateful for Edible San Diego’s continued support. They have been a longtime promoter of the OFR program. Thank you Edible San Diego!

Introducing Ocean Friendly To-Go

A win/win/win solution for restaurants, customers, and our ocean. The concept is straightforward: Restaurants simply prepare guest orders on reusable dinnerware, and customers transfer the order themselves into their own containers at a designated area. Seriously, it’s that easy.