Haute Cuisine: Breakfast Struddle

The Dish: Breakfast Struddle Gourmet Airfare in Detroit has reinvented the venerable apple struddle. The caterer's signature "breakfast struddle" features beaten eggs with cheese and cream and a touch of orange juice for color. To that the chef adds spicy sausage or bacon, or mixed vegetables for non-carnivores. He then cooks the mixture only enough for the eggs to set and quick-chills it to keep it moist. Later, he wraps the ingredients in braided puff pastry dough, brushes the creation with butter and sprinkles it with Parmesan cheese before baking. Oh, yes: There is a diet version. It consists of egg and vegetables-wrapped in air.

The Caterer: Gourmet Airfare, Belleville, MI, (866) 538-3663
Gourmet Airfare, which has been in business for 15 years, serves 12 major airports in southeast Michigan and Ohio and more than a dozen smaller airfields. "It's always a challenge," said owner, executive chef and president Eric Carlson, who recalled that his single toughest assignment probably came last May, when Grand Rapids, Mich.-based marketing giant Amway celebrated its 50th anniversary by flying in its top sales performers from all over the world. "We had to research the favorite dishes of a dozen countries, find the proper ingredients and learn how to prepare them," Carlson said. "We did 16 charter aircraft all on the same day-eight morning departures and eight evening departures." As if that weren't enough to deal with, that one day just happened to be Memorial Day.