Weekend » The Saucy Coq

WEEKENDER BRUNCH: PORTOBELLO EGGS w PANCETTA

Leaving for the holidays tomorrow for a week means we’ve been spending the last couple of days trying to piece together meals and snacks from the food on hand in our kitchen, rather than buying food that will go bad. Knowing I wasn’t going to want to wake up this morning and head out in the snow for food, I needed a plan last night. We had a few eggs, a bit of the homemade Basil Pecan Pesto and some parsley on hand…just needed a medium to serve the eggs on. Typically, I’d pick up a nice fresh baguette from the store, but we weren’t about to eat a loaf of bread in one sitting. So, I headed to the store and bought two huge portobello mushrooms and a few slabs of 1/4 inch thick pancetta.

We have a little indoor grill that I used to cook both the mushrooms and the pancetta, but if you don’t have one, you can use a grill pan or even the oven.

Portobello Eggs

Vegetable Oil
2 large portobello mushroom caps
Glug of olive oil
Pinch of salt
2 slices pancetta, 1/4 inch thick
3 large eggs
2 additional egg whites
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Hot sauce
Fresh cracked pepper
2 tbsp basil pecan pesto
2 tbsp fresh parsley or basil, chopped fine
2 tsp freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

Coat a grill or grill pan with a bit of oil. Remove the stem of the portobellos and with a spoon, gently scrape out the gills (dark inside) of each mushroom cap. Brush both sides of caps with oil and sprinkle with salt. Grill mushrooms over medium-high heat until juices begin to release, about 7 minutes per side. Transfer each mushroom to a plate, top side down.

On the same grill or grill pan, cook pancetta over medium-high heat until it begins to get crispy and you get some nice grill marks, about 5-6 minutes per side. I actually placed a big heavy cast iron pan on top of the pancetta for two reasons: it helps the fat render from the meat and it will help to keep the pancetta slices flat, rather than curling up. Place 1 slice bacon onto each mushroom cap (and the other on the plate if you like).

Whisk eggs, egg whites, dijon, hot sauce, a splash of milk and a pinch of pepper until well combined in a bowl. Melt a bit of butter in a medium nonstick skillet and heat over medium-low heat. Add eggs and scramble until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Season with S&P.

Divide eggs among mushroom caps. Drizzle 1 tbsp pesto over each; top with parsley and 1 tsp Pecorino.

Good brunching!

EGG IN THE HOLE: HANGOVER EDITION

Round three of The Saucy Coq’s Weekender Brunch, and for this one I’m going with a good ol’ hangover breakfast. For some reason, which was probably no reason at all, I was extremely hung a couple Saturdays ago. Advil wasn’t working. Water wasn’t working. Another drink didn’t work. All I needed was a good, heavy, buttery, greasy breakfast to do the trick.

I went with a spin on the classic Egg-in-a-hole breakfast. I hadn’t actually had this for years until I made it two weeks ago so it was hard to tell whether it was the actual food or the nostalgia that cured my hangover. I used brioche bread for a nice buttery, fluffy texture and covered it with a grated sharp cheddar and chopped chives for a kick.

To finish the breakfast off with a little dessert and knock the hangover out early in the 3rd round, I whipped some strawberry jam together with some fresh ricotta cheese and topped the brioche round that was cut from the bread. That was a little slice of Narnia right there.

Also, not pictured above: 3 awesome slabs of thick-cut maplewood smoked bacon, potato rosti and a tall latte.

Egg-in-a-hole: Hangover Edition:

2 slices brioche bread, 1.5 inches thick
unsalted butter
2 large eggs
Handful of Swiss cheese, grated
fresh chives, finely chopped

2 heaping tbsp fresh ricotta cheese
1 tbsp jam of your choice

Butter the slices of bread on both sides. Using a ring mold (or just a knife if you don’t have one) cut a hole out of the center of the bread. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and melt a little knob of butter until foamy.

Place the slices of buttered brioche in the pan, along with the center circles you’ve cut out, and gently crack one egg in to each hole in the slices. Allow the egg and bread to cook until golden brown on the bottom; probably about 3-4 minutes, but have a peek at the bottom after a few minutes to be sure you’re not blowing it. Once it’s nicely browned, flip the slices over. As soon as you flip it, drop some shredded Swiss cheese on the egg to melt. Now, if you want the egg medium, which I do, you’ll only want to leave it for for another 30 seconds or so. Just long enough to cook the white and brown the bread. Again, these are just guidelines since every stove and pan is different. Best to just poke the egg with your finger and see what you think.

Take the slice out and plate it. Top with chopped chives.

ANYDAY POACHED EGGS ON TOAST AND VEG (CHEDDAR DOESN’T HURT)

When I was the much younger, much pickier kid I’ve already told you about, one thing I did happen to like was eggs. I loved when I’d get ‘treated’ to poached eggs. For some reason, I remember having them only for special occasions, but it was most likely just a weekend. Special enough of an occasion. It’s probably because, even now, I think of poached eggs as a rather ‘decadent’ way of eating eggs.

We used to have one of those egg poaching pans. This shallow, light-weight aluminum pan with three round plastic eggs cups inside. Boil an inch of water, drop the eggs in, put the lid on, and wait five minutes. The lid would come off the pan and undoubtedly burn me.

Now, I don’t have one of those crafty pans. And, I don’t want one. The eggs come out resembling something like an Egg McMuffin. More importantly, there’s no room in the kitchen for another piece of niche cookware.

Poaching eggs is very easy and you can have them for breakfast, brunch, lunch, high tea, supper, dinner and midnight snack. So, learn to make them properly.

Poached Eggs on French Bread and Sauteed Veg

Serves One

2 large eggs
3 cups water
1 tbsp white vinegar
Pinch of salt
Ice
French Baguette

Add a couple inches of water, enough to cover the eggs, and a pinch of salt to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. While the water heats up, crack your eggs in to separate, small bowls to avoid breaking the yolks when you add the eggs to the water.

Once the water is boiling, add the vinegar and turn the element down until you have a slow simmer going in the water. If the water is too hot and boiling too fast, your eggs will break. Next, add the vinegar to the water. Vinegar helps the egg to hold its shape by causing the outer layer of the egg white to congeal faster. Otherwise you’ll get a web of white egg in your water. Personally, I actually like the taste of a bit of vinegar on my poached eggs, and have even added tarragon vinegar before for a bit of a twist. Recommended.

I like to give the water a spin with a spoon before I drop the eggs in. Literally. Just start moving the water around in a circle until there’s a little eddy in the middle. Then, drop your eggs in one at a time. The spinning water helps to further bring the egg whites together giving you nice, firm balls (ahem).

Most people like hard egg whites and a soft yolk, which takes about 6 minutes with this method. But, I generally just judge by feeling the egg. Lift one out with a slotted spoon at about 5 minutes and give it a little squeeze. It’ll be easy to tell how cooked the egg is. BUT, the most important part of this process to remember is that the eggs will continue to cook once you take them out. So, remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and place in to an ice bath when they’re to your liking to stop the cooking.

I happened to have some veggies (zucchini, asparagus, onion) that I BBQ’d with herb oil left over from the night before. I brushed some baguette slices with a bit of olive oil, toasted them in the oven, and topped the toast with the veggies and put the eggs on top. A few shavings of sharp cheddar, some cracked black pepper and some Hawaiian black salt, and, goodnight sweetheart.