Hoppel Poppel

Hoppel poppel (sometimes written as hoffel poffel) is a higgledy-piggledy breakfast for which there is no set recipe. The foundation is eggs scrambled with chunks of griddle-fried potato and usually grilled onions, too. Ham, bacon, or sausage almost always is included unless the kitchen is kosher, in which case the meat will be nuggets of beef salami. Deluxe versions include peppers and mushrooms and can be draped with melted cheese. Some home cooks supplement the formula with squares of sturdy bread that toast on the griddle and contribute serious crunch to the mix. Occasionally found in restaurants in Iowa and Wisconsin, hoppel poppel is a Sunday morning tradition on farmhouse tables as well as a frequent entry in locally-published cookbooks. Its name is a nonsense phrase from an old German nursery rhyme about a nosy child who peeks into the stew pot.