Sweet Potato, Bacon and Poached Egg Sandwich
At the moment I'm living, literally, next to a tree - our absolutely beautiful Christmas tree. It's perfect this year. Lush and green, the branches thick and densely packed with needles, the straight tip rising close to the high ceiling of our living room. I'm in love with this tree. I decorated it straight after it entered our flat Saturday evening and we clinked mugs full of hot mulled wine to celebrate its arrival immediately. I moved my working space to the dining table, which is right opposite this beauty, and I have problems keeping my eyes on the screen of my laptop. In December, I feel like a distracted little child, all this glitter and sparkling, Christmas ornaments and cookie boxes - how are you supposed to keep your mind focused on anything else?
However, there was something that caught my attention: a wintery sandwich lusciously stuffed with fried sweet potatoes - not as crisp as normal potatoes but they make up for it with sweetness and flavour - salty bacon, poached egg and a little chopped rosemary made it complete. The composition is so hearty that I went for a dark bun sprinkled with linseed, sunflower and sesame seeds. It's a keeper.
Sweet Potato, Bacon and Poached Egg Sandwich
Makes 2 sandwiches
olive oil
sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced (less than 1/2cm / 1/4"-thick), about 200g / 7 ounces
fine sea salt
pepper, crushed in a mortar
bacon 3 slices
organic eggs 2
whole wheat buns, cut in half, 2
fresh rosemary needles, chopped, a small handful
In a large, heavy pan, heat a splash of olive oil and fry the raw sweet potato slices on medium-high heat for a few minutes on both sides until golden brown and soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Heat a little olive oil in a heavy pan and cook the bacon on medium-high heat for a few minutes until golden brown and crisp, set the pan with the bacon aside.
For the poached eggs, bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Crack 1 egg into a small bowl. Hold a large spoon just over the surface of the simmering water and gently pour the egg onto the spoon. Lower the spoon into the water and hold for 3 minutes—use a second spoon to put the egg back into place if it slips. Lift up the spoon, let the excess water drip off, and carefully place the egg on a plate—you may have to gently scoop it off the spoon. Poach the remaining egg the same way, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a low simmer. It’s best to poach 1 egg at a time, but you can cook 2 at once. Once the first egg cooks on the spoon for 1 1/2 minutes, let it float in the water— mind that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan—and poach the second egg on a spoon. Take both eggs out once they’ve cooked for 3 minutes each.
Brush the bottom bun with the frying juices from the bacon, spread a few sweet potato slices on it and lay half the bacon on top. Finish it off with a poached egg, chopped rosemary and crushed pepper. Season with salt to taste (if necessary) and enjoy.
Pea Pesto and Caramelized Honey Bacon Sandwich with fresh Marjoram
My first green pesto in 2015! It's made with peas from my freezer as nature isn't exactly ready for my summery cravings yet, I'll have to wait a couple more months. This is the only frozen vegetable you'll find in my kitchen, throughout the whole year. I like to add them to easy pasta dishes, especially with asparagus, mustard and leak, and salads (like my potato salad with rucola pesto and peas). The legume's vitamins - and its taste - are well preserved in these little green balls of summery freshness when they are frozen and they often taste much better than the fresh ones from the greenhouse.
Frozen peas have another lazy advantage, they save me from peeling them which I can enjoy at times but today I wasn't too unhappy about this circumstance. It made the preparation for this sandwich very simple. I blanched the tiny legumes for just a minute to keep them crisp and then mixed them in the blender with fresh marjoram, a little garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. I ended up with the prettiest bright green pesto; the colour was mesmerizing, thick and lush, fresh flavours merged with the marjoram's flowery aroma. I paired it with crunchy bacon, caramelized with a spoonful of honey. Its savoury saltiness was a perfect addition to the sweet and smooth pesto.
When a sandwich is made with such tasty ingredients it can easily deal with strong, dark bread. I went for a nutty whole wheat bun, topped with linseeds, sunflower and sesame seeds. The whole composition was hearty yet fresh and light at the same time.
So, I’m ready, may spring come soon to pursue all my culinary cravings that have been waiting for months!
Here's the recipe for another one of my legume pestos: Fava Bean Pesto with Mint!
Pea Pesto and Caramelized Honey Bacon Sandwich with fresh Marjoram
For 3 sandwiches you need
fresh whole wheat buns, cut in half, 3
breakfast bacon 6 slices
honey 1/2 teaspoon
olive oil
For the pesto
peas (fresh or frozen) 200g / 7 ounces
garlic, quartered, 1 clove
fresh, young marjoram leaves, chopped, 3/4-1 teaspoon, to taste (mind that it's very aromatic), plus a few leaves for the topping
water used to cook the peas 1-3 tablespoons
freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 teaspoon
olive oil 2 tablespoons
salt and pepper
Blanch the peas and the garlic in boiling salted water for 1 minute, reserve 3 tablespoons of the water, drain and quickly rinse them with cold water. Purée the peas, garlic, chopped marjoram, water used to cook the peas, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a food processor until smooth, season to taste.
Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy pan and fry the bacon on medium-high for a few minutes on each side until golden brown and crisp. Add the honey and caramelize for 1 minute.
Spread the pea pesto on the bottom side of the buns, lay the bacon on top and sprinkle with a few marjoram leaves. Enjoy!
A grilled Beetroot, Bacon and Blue Cheese Sandwich
These three B's lead to an amazingly luscious sandwich: beetroot, bacon and blue cheese! The earthy-sweet, salty and smoked flavours are anything but silent, however surprisingly harmonic in this combination. They merge naturally with the sharpness of the melted Fourme d'Ambert cheese and the crunchy rucola (arugula) which I added for some colour and green freshness.
It started off with one of my weekly kitchen tradition, I always cook a big pot of the purple roots to have them at hand for our salads or as a little snack cut into small cubes and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. As I saw the rustic vegetable dancing up and down in the deep red water I got mesmerized, dreaming of all the delicious recipes I would use them for. The three B's where one of them!
When I put the sandwich under the grill, the seductive aroma of grilled cheese spread in the air. Attracted by the smell, two hungry people found their way in front of the oven. My partner and his mother Jenny who isn't usually too fond of strong cheeses, blue ones in particular, looked at me with impatience and hunger. They both love my Sandwich Wednesdays but the fact that I have to take pictures first can be quite a mean teaser. Grilled sandwiches especially are a feast for the eyes but even more for the nose. It can be so cruel to sit in front of this beautiful creation in all its juiciness when all you want is to take a big bite but you can't. You have to wait until the last photo is taken. That makes me appreciate it even more!
A grilled Beetroot, Bacon and Blue Cheese Sandwich
For 3 sandwiches you need
long rustic buns, cut in half, 3
large beetroots, scrubbed and rinsed, 2
bay leaf 1
bacon 3-6 slices
aromatic blue cheese, like Fourme d'Ambert or Stilton, cut into slices, 100g / 3.5 ounces
rucola (arugula), a small handful
olive oil
sat and pepper
Cook the beetroot in lots of salted water with the bay leaf for about 50 minutes or until the roots are soft. Rinse them under cold water and let them cool for a few minutes. Peel and cut them into thick slices and brush them with olive oil.
Fry the bacon in a little olive oil until golden brown and very crisp and brake it into large pieces.
Spread 3-4 beetroot slices on the bottom side of each bun and put a few bacon pieces on top. Finish it off with the blue cheese and put it under the grill for 1-2 minutes until it starts to melt. Sprinkle with pepper and rucola, close the bun and enjoy!
