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After a few stuffy-headed days off, I’m back at the keyboard and ready to update you on Day Three of “Portland Revisited.” If you’ve been following along, it’s been an exciting ride. So far, we’ve learned that Artigiano, recently featured on Food Network’s Eat St. moved to a new location, and has received nothing but rave reviews since their debut.

It’s even rumored that Natalie Forté, co-host of America’s Best Bites has taken up camp under the Artigiano dining canopy, waiting for another taste of Chef Rachel’s gnocchi. And, let’s not forget the major turn of events that left Portland praising the lard when Lardo emerged in a bricks and mortar location, just across the street from Cartopia, and a very popular food cart closed.

On Day Three, we found ourselves craving breakfast. We had already attempted visiting the Big Egg both previous days, and time was running out. I knew this could very well be our last chance for an authentic Big Egg sandwich, as I fully intended to visit Cartlandia once more before leaving town the next day. Luckily, we made it to Mississippi Marketplace before everything sold out on the Big Egg food cart – not an uncommon occurrence, as their general policy is, “open until 1:00, or when we sell out.”

Joan Marie makes The Big Egg Monte Cristo Sandwich over-easy for Chris Ford at the Stitches ‘n Dishes test kitchen.

If Big Egg sounds familiar to you, it should. Our resident Food Truck Kitchen Queen, JoanMarie featured Big Egg’s Monte Cristo sandwich last April. Even though they don’t offer it on their menu any longer, I had to try a real Big Egg sandwich. Watch JoanMarie try her had at this masterpiece. I can only imagine what it must have tasted like, when served from the Egg itself.

Mississippi Marketplace is still home to Big Egg, though they’ve moved to the opposite side of the food pod – just about on the sidewalk in this incredible, historic part of Portland. Since their filming on Food Network’s Eat St, Big Egg’s received a heaping helping of media attention and has amassed quite the following.

Portland Monthly, Food Carts Portland, Sunset Magazine and Saveur Magazine have all featured Big Egg, and the popular breakfast cart is currently undergoing a transformation. Soon, it’ll have a new look, but will keep serving the same fantastic food that locals have come to love – and demand. One visit to Big Egg, and you’ll quickly understand why Sunset Magazine calls it, “one reason to wake up early.”

The PDX Sandwich is a staple on the Big Egg menu, made with a medium farm egg, Tillamook vintage white cheddar cheese, stone ground mustard, fresh chives, and thick-cut smoked bacon from local Hill Meat Co on brioche Pullman bread.

This hearty sandwich just takes me back. I grew up eating egg sandwiches for breakfast, and Big Egg just reminds me of mom’s kitchen.

Big Egg serves local, certified humane, cage-free, vegetarian-fed Stiebrs Farm eggs, and they make a point to buy local produce. Even their meat and dairy products are local, and hormone and antibiotic-free. How could you not like that?

As if I hadn’t had enough already, I couldn’t resist visiting Miss Kate’s Southern Kitchen when I caught a whiff of freshly baked muffins, as I meandered by. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a sucker for biscuits and gravy, and when I read, ”Mamaw Kate’s family recipes from Vicksburg, Mississippi” on the side of that cart, my mind was made up.

I’ll take an order of Messy Biscuits and Gravy, please. The Messy Biscuit Sandwich is made with three thick-cut slices of bacon, and an egg over easy on a large biscuit, all smothered in the most delightful bacon gravy I’ve ever tasted.

This truly stick-to-your-ribs meal was even almost too much for me to handle. The biscuits are made fresh daily, and they’re absolutely… in a word, mouthgasmic. But wait, there’s more… Special on the menu was the Peach Cobbler Muffin – peach cobbler inside a muffin? Sign me up! Fresh and delicious.

As the story goes, Miss Kate – a true Southern Belle – was Chef / Owner Charles Hude’s grandmother (Ma maw) from Vicksburg, Mississippi. Many of her recipes came from her Bridge and Garden Clubs where all the ladies exchanged family recipe secrets. Lucky for me, she passed those secrets (at least the kitchen secrets) down, and Chef Charles brings them to life daily at his Miss Kate’s Southern Kitchen, and pays homage to his Ma maw. It’s only fitting that this Mississippi boy would be cookin’ up his Ma maw’s Mississippi recipes, on Mississippi Avenue at none other than Mississippi Marketplace!

Note to the ravenous Eat St. research team: what are you waiting for? Miss Kate’s Southern Kitchen is already “one of the top ten new food carts in Portland” this year.