Jacob and Ari’s First BEC – Breakfast Burritos

My children Jacob and Ari must have been about 5 and 7 when they came with me to work. I don’t recall why they came to school with me. Perhaps it was Bring Your Child to Work Day or maybe their school was closed for some reason, but we left early in the morning, probably before the sun came up.

We stopped at one of the local delis on my route and I picked them up breakfast sandwiches to eat while they sat in the back of my classroom. It was Jacob’s first bacon, egg, and cheese, while Ari opted for bacon on a roll. They loved the portable meal inside its soft, pillowy roll. Like true Long Islanders, they were hooked.

A few months later, we were traveling somewhere and told our kids we would pick up breakfast on the way. They pleaded to stop at that exact same deli, thinking it was the only restaurant in the world to get a bacon, egg, and cheese.

It was adorable and humorous, because any Long Islander knows this is ridiculous. On Long Island, a BEC – as the sandwich is often known – is practically required eating for breakfast, more popular even than bagels. You can pick one up at any deli, and there’s a deli in virtually every strip mall in every town. I can count at least six or seven within a few miles of my home. I have no idea what percentage of deli sales BECs account for, but I’d be shocked if they could stay in business without the morning rush of BECs. The bacon, egg, and cheese would compete with pizza for the national dish of Long Island, if there was such a thing.

While they’re called BECs, you can order them any way you want. One or two eggs, fried or scrambled, bacon, sausage, or ham, any type of cheese or none if you wish, although orange American is classic. All on a soft Kaiser roll. Jacob now gets his with a hash brown for extra crunch and Ariana, who doesn’t like eggs, is still always happy with a simple roll stuffed with bacon.

Outside of Long Island and the New York City region you can order breakfast sandwiches, but they scarcely compare. In fact, they’re often mediocre. We’ve frequently wondered why they can’t get such a simple sandwich right. My wife Marci was in upstate New York this past week and ordered a breakfast sandwich for her morning meal. Unprompted, she described her disappointment. In some places, they try to make breakfast sandwiches fancy, maybe put them on a biscuit or English muffin, even a brioche roll that’s too bulky or some other kind of bun that falls apart. In this case, simple is better. A roll with the right structure to hold the sandwich together so you can eat while commuting to work, in true Long Island fashion.

While I have friends that eat them most days of the week, I haven’t ordered bacon, egg, and cheeses too frequently over the years. They’re not exactly heart healthy. I get them even less now, the only time being when I travel. It has become tradition to pick one up at the local deli as I get on the road on my way out of town. And even when I order one today, I chuckle and think of little Jacob and Ari and how this simple sandwich made such an impression on them. How it was so important to go back to that one deli so they could get their BECs.

Breakfast Burritos

A breakfast burrito is not a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, but if the proper roll is not available, it is the next best thing. And unlike a BEC, a breakfast burrito is the right place to improvise: its structure allows the addition of ingredients that are never appropriate in the classic Long Island sandwich. Of course, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and cheese all belong, but cubed potatoes, sauteed peppers, onions, mushrooms, even avocado are all optional but great additions to a breakfast burrito. The only problem is keeping the filling to an appropriately low quantity so as not to overstuff the burrito wrap, keeping it possible to close and seal.

makes 2 burritos, a half hour

2 Tbsp. vegetable, avocado, or olive oil, more if needed

1 small potato cut in ½-inch cubes

½ red bell pepper cut in 1-inch strips

½ medium onion cut in 1-inch strips

3 to 4 mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

4 eggs

2 tablespoons milk or half and half

1 tablespoon butter

2 10-inch burrito wraps

4 slices cooked bacon or ½ lb. cooked sausage

4 oz. shredded Monterrey jack or cheddar cheese

½ an avocado, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 350 ^oF.
2. Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and turning occasionally, sauté until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes, lowering heat if starting to scorch. Remove from the skillet and reserve in a bowl.
3. Without cleaning, add more oil to the skillet if needed and sauté the peppers, onions, and mushrooms over a medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Adding a few tablespoons of water and covering will help cook the vegetables more quickly. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
4. Using a fork or a whisk, beat the eggs and milk in a bowl. Melt the butter in the skillet over a medium heat and add the eggs. Stir constantly with a spatula until the eggs are done.
5. Place the burrito wraps in the preheated oven for a minute or two until warm and pliable but not at all crispy. Do not skip this step as it makes the burrito much easier to wrap and less likely to tear.
6. Place the warm tortilla on a counter and spread a few tablespoons of cheese on the lower third of the wrap. Place a scant tablespoon of cheese at the very top of the wrap. This will melt and help seal the burrito when heated.
7. Place all remaining ingredients in a pile on the lower third of the tortilla, making sure that there isn’t too much to close and wrap it.
8. Fold the bottom of the burrito wraps up and just over the pile, then fold in the sides of the tortilla. Using both hands, firmly but gently roll the burrito closed from the bottom.
9. Place seam side down in a nonstick skillet. Heat over medium until golden. Flip and warm the other side until golden and slightly crisp.

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