The Fried Meat Johnny Cash Always Had With His Morning Eggs

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Johnny Cash remains one of country's most formidable figures, producing iconic songs that have had an indelible effect on music as we know it today. But even legends need to eat and Cash was no exception, especially when it came to breakfast. In fact, it turns out that one of his favorite ways to start the day was with a hearty plate of nothing more than some fried bologna, eggs, and biscuits.

According to a cookbook excerpt published by Cowboys and Indians, John Carter Cash remembers his father often enjoying fried bologna in the mornings. "I remember smelling the aroma of it frying in the farm kitchen as I walked outside on winter days [at our home] in Bon Aqua, Tennessee," he wrote in "The Cash and Carter Family Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections From Johnny and June's Table." "Dad would buy canned biscuits, eggs, and sliced bologna. He liked the bologna slices nearly crispy — some almost burned. He always loved crispy and well-done foods."

Carter Cash also went on to detail his dad's cooking process, including how he'd never beat his eggs before half-scrambling them in the skillet full of bologna drippings. And as for condiments, the musician would apparently slather "local honey and butter" on his biscuits and put ketchup on his eggs and bologna. "Simple, but very much one of his favorite foods," as Carter Cash said.

If that description of Cash's breakfast got your stomach rumbling, you're probably ready to grab that skillet and start frying up a piece of bologna for yourself. However, anyone who's tried this before knows that it'll often cook unevenly, as the edges will lift up from the pan and not cook at the same rate as the center of the bologna. However, you can prevent this by using a sharp knife to either create a cross in the middle or making four, equally spaced cuts from the edge to the center. Either way, it'll result in your breakfast bologna staying flat and cooking evenly.

For those who want to take their bologna breakfasts a step further though, there are also other ways to incorporate fried bologna into your morning meal. A thick-cut of crispy, caramelized bologna would make for a great breakfast sandwich, especially with the addition of some eggs and melted cheese. Another creative way to use bologna is in an omelet, where you can fold in some chopped-up pieces to add a salty, slightly smoky flavor. But however you choose to eat your fried bologna, we think it's safe to say that Cash would've approved.