The tease.
You know when you buy a new book or puzzle or video game on a Thursday and can’t play with it until the weekend? How about opening a birthday present as a kid and your parents tell you that you have to leave it in the box until the party is over and cleaned up?
That’s how I feel every Sunday arriving home from the farmers market. I am laden with food that I bought by inspiration and impulse not from checking off a list. I want to enjoy it now — cooking, eating. So, although I know when I get home I need to put everything away which usually involves lots of reorganization in the refrigerator, I always treat myself to a first slice of the bread I just bought, a few slices of bacon, some cheese and couple of eggs, with crisp salad greens on the side. Because nobody wants to wait and, on Sunday, I don’t have to.
Farmer’s market brunch
Serves 4
The crunch of toasted, warm, freshly-baked bread, with melted sharp, nutty cheese, olive oil-fried, fresh, richly-flavored eggs, with bright orange yolks, browned on the edges, and crisp greens dressed in a sharp Champagne vinaigrette made with sweet summer shallots. This is how you celebrate the weekend’s treasures from the farmer’s market. Slowly, indulgently, and with great joy.
Ingredients:
4 slices thick cut bacon
1 loaf fresh bread - I like sourdough or a richer, seeded, multigrain
1/2 lb melty cheese like Gruyere or a Tomme, sliced or grated
4 tbs olive oil
4 eggs
1/4 lb fresh greens like arugula or mesclun
For vinaigrette:
1 shallot, finely minced
1/3 cup Champagne or other white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2/3 cup olive oil - the good stuff!
Directions:
Preheat your broiler and set a rack 8” from the heating element.
Cook bacon: Warm a 12” skillet over medium heat. Add bacon and cook turning a couple of times, until crisp. Reserve on paper towels.
Start vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together shallot, vinegar and mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Let rest while preparing the rest of the dish, allowing flavors to blend.
Toast bread: Cut four 1” thick slices bread. Brush with the rendered fat from the bacon, place on a sheet pan and toast. I like to lightly char the edges.
Start eggs: Warm the oil in a 12” skillet set over medium heat. Crack in eggs and season with salt and a few cracks of pepper.
Melt cheese: Top bread with cheese and return to the broiler to melt.
Finish vinaigrette: While whisking, drizzle oil into vinegar in a thin stream, to form a creamy emulsion.
Finish eggs: tip the pan toward you and spoon the hot oil over the uncooked white surrounding the yolk. This will finish cooking the white while leaving the yolk runny.
Serve your cheese-topped toast topped with a slice of bacon and a fried egg. Lightly dress your salad and enjoy breakfast.
TIP: Admittedly this is more of a formula than a recipe. Toss halved, fresh, cherry tomatoes or thinly shaved asparagus over your greens. Poach or scramble your eggs. This is a celebration of whatever inspired you while shopping this morning.
