(He wins breakfast. )

In the "use of leftovers in cooking breakfast" category: egg mess.

Egg mess is always a whack of leftovers which are heated, then cooked with eggs, creating a huge, delicious mess. In this particular case, I had a handful of refried black beans (not literally; that would be squishy) and about four paprikaed oven fries, so I made my egg mess with those. Then I slapped the whole business between two pieces of wheat toast. This made the most hearty, substantial, and savory breakfast ever.

One way this was different from traditional egg mess: usually I treat egg mess like a frittata until the bottom is set, then try to turn the entire business over. At this point the egg mess breaks into pieces and becomes an actual mess of scrambly chunks. This time, though, I thought I'd try something new: steam. It was an excellent idea.

Egg mess with refried beans and oven fries.

a little olive oil or butter
leftover refrieds
leftover fries, cut into chunks
(any other things you think would be delicious)
an egg or two
salt, pepper
a little water
small frying pan with lid

Start out by heating a little oil or butter on medium in your frying pan. I think I used olive oil, but eggs love butter, so. Use what you want to use.

When the pan is hot, tip in your various leftovers, distributing them across the pan. If you have different leftovers, use them instead; egg mess works with pretty much everything, even unintuitive adds like carrots. You can also just sautée any non-leftover business you'd like in your mess. Everything is fine.

When your leftovers are warm through, turn the heat to medium-low. Beat an egg or two in a measuring cup, add some salt and pepper, and pour the egg evenly over the pan. Tilt to get egg as many places as possible. Grind some more pepper on the surface, or maybe add some paprika or parsley if you want. Pull any set edges away from the sides of the pan, letting uncooked egg run underneath. Give it maybe three or four minutes to cook.

At this point your eggs should be set on the bottom, but still unset on the top. Let's fix that.

Pour a little splash of water, maybe a teaspoon, into the pan. Immediately clap on the pan lid. The water will sizzle and evaporate, creating a steamer inside your frying pan. How awesome is that? SO AWESOME. Give it about a minute before you peek inside to see the tops of your beautifully set eggs. Mine were a surprising white on the top. It looks kind of like cheese, doesn't it? But no! It is set egg white.

This steamer plan will work for fried eggs as well. That's actually where I got the idea. Yes! Knowledge!

If you don't have a pan with a lid, you can of course turn the whole mess over and cook it that way. Or finish it under the broiler like an actual frittata.

In any case, you are done! Slap your egg mess on toast and eat it hard.

I had green tea, which loses me some breakfast points. For proper breakfast, have coffee.