Serves 2 sumptuously.
Ingredients:
4 or 5 strips of good bacon (smoked, uncured bacon from Trader Joe's is what I used)
4 good, cage-free eggs, preferably organic (especially if you like runny yolks)
4 slices of crusty bread, or perhaps crumpets or English muffins
4 slices of brie (amount depending how naughty you are)
A big handful of grape tomatoes, halved
A shot of vodka (white wine or vermouth would probably work fine)
Hardware:
A knife
Two teacups
Two plates
A big saute pan (or any wide pot/pan for poaching the eggs)
A skillet (cast iron is good)
A means of toasting bread (I did it under the broiler)
A spatula
A perforated spoon or skimmer
Cut the bacon into 1-inch pieces and put them in a pan (I used my deep cast iron skillet). Turn on the heat and cook it until it starts to get some brown color. Add the tomatoes, a generous dose of black pepper and a few shakes of salt. When they start to soften a bit, add the alcohol. Let them cook, stirring occasionally.
Fill a big saute pan most of the way with water. Bring it to a simmer. You can add a bit of vinegar, but it doesn't make a huge difference.
How are the tomatoes doing? You want to gently cook them for a while to concentrate the flavors. It's not critical how long, but the more moisture you cook off, the better the flavor.
Toast the bread with some olive oil. Arrange it on two plates, and put a slice of brie on each piece of bread.
Into each of two teacups, crack two eggs. Simultaneously and gently slip the eggs into the simmering water (each cupful on opposite sides of the pan, so you don't get one big mass of poached egg). Let them cook until the yolk is done to your liking (I am necessarily ambiguous here; it seems to go differently every time I poach eggs).
Cover the brie and toast with bacon/tomato mixture (I put the egg on first this time, but
Lindz and I agree that it would work better to put the egg on second). Top with the egg. Eat.
Although I didn't have any at the time (I made this whole breakfast up on the spot), I imagine that topping the whole thing with a confetti of basil
chiffonade would be the cat's ass.
This dish is all about the flavor of the bacon and tomato, supported by the luxurious, yielding beauty of the poached egg and the brie. Cheap bacon would have diminished it, and I'm not so sure it would be as good if I had used canned tomatoes.
I liked it. It's not exactly fat free, but I get sick of
EggBeaters and whole wheat tortillas now and then.
So was the kitchen in Menegroth enriched. The Orcs feared and cursed the Faucet, and never did they approach it. With the modifications to the P-Traps and successful reinstallation of the garbage disposal did Thingol's glory wax to the fullest, and there was gladness and wine in those times.
