12. Bacon, Brie & Egg Pocket

 

 

I had this leftover canister of crescent roll dough which needed to be used soon, so I came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea for an egg recipe - crescent roll "tarts" filled with bacon, brie and an egg.  I mean, c'mon... BACON?  Yesssss.  BRIE?  Fatty, creamy deliciousness!  CRESCENT ROLL DOUGH?  Buttery, flaky and irresistible.  Plus, it was pretty darn easy.

 

I made two HUGE tart pockets and really only needed three pieces of bacon.  I almost exclusively use bacon from Salume Beddu - this amazing porkery here in St. Louis.  I get their bacon, salami, sausage... pretty much any pork that needs to be cured or specially prepared.  All my other pork (chops, ground pork, steaks, etc.) comes straight from the family farm, but they don't do the "fancy" stuff.  ;)  If you happen to live in St. Louis, you should check them out. 

 

Mmm... Crispy bacon waiting to
be crumbled into salty nuggets of
epic tastiness. Perfect to pair with
creamy, double cream brie cheese!

Slice some brie into smaller squares or rectangles.  I bought a
standard wedge and didn't quite use the whole thing for both tarts.

Once you have the bacon and brie ready and waiting, grab a small cookie sheet and grease that baby up!  I am a die-hard "butter" person when it comes to greasing a dish, with some exceptions for olive oil if I'm roasting fish or veggies.  Butter is natural and delicious and it's pretty dang easy to grab a hunk by the wrapper and paint it onto a flat surface.  Next, bust open a canister of crescent roll dough.  Specifically, you'll want to get the kind that comes in a sheet, rather than the kind that is perforated to tear into triangles.

 

Lay the dough down and cut straight down the middle.
Then, add brie to half of each half of dough.

Add crumbled bacon on top of the brie.

Next, you'll want to whisk up an egg and coat the edges of the dough with the egg wash.
Don't throw away the extra - you'll use it on the top of the tart to help make it golden & shiny.

Ok, so here's "part 1" of Laura gets real all over this blog post... I did not photograph the next step of the process.  GASP!  WHAT?  Sorry.  The thing of it is, the next step is where I cracked a fresh egg over the bacon and brie.  I was super pumped to get a fancy shot of that glorious yolk perched on top of this thing, but... Well, as soon as I cracked that egg, the white started going all over the place and I was forced to hurry my self up and seal the pockets.  One of these days I might start getting my husband to play photographer so we get get better procedural pictures (ever noticed that my hands are always out of the way?) but I often do these things when he is still asleep or otherwise occupied.  Also, I have to come clean and tell you I'm not 100% confident in his artistic vision.

 

Anyway... Sorry again, but you're just going to have to trust me when I say that the next thing you do is crack fresh eggs on top and gently set the yolk on the bacon (so it doesn't break) and then hurry up to fold the pockets and pinch all the edges closed.  I pinched the edges together, then folded them on top of themselves, and then used a fork to press them down.

 

Brush the tops of the tart-pockets with egg wash.

Put them in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes
or until the crescent roll dough is golden brown.

 



BOOM!  Look at that perfectly golden pocket filled with salty, creamy goodness!  I had this with a small side salad of mixed greens with balsamic vinegar.  I almost wish I would have just drizzled balsamic vinegar over the tart...  I love me some balsamic vinegar.  Like, all the time.  On everything.

And now it's time for "part 2" of Laura gets real... Honestly?  This thing was just ok.  I know!  Crazy, right?  I mean, bacon + brie + egg + carby goodness, should totally equal ambrosia.  I didn't want to clue you guys in at the beginning, but here's my two cents:  The brie was definitely creamy and the texture was great, but the flavor was a little bland.  I think I'll be trying a different flavor of this technique using some stronger flavored ingredients.  Maybe sharp cheddar?  Pepperjack?  Feta?  Stay tuned, because I'm not giving up on this concept.  And the bright side, is I can absolutely milk this whole tart pocket (tarcket?) concept for at least half a dozen "egg a days."  Something heavenly will result.  I'm sure of it.

Love & Eggs,

Laura

This egg brought to you by Sophie, my silver cuckoo marans. She's really on my good side right now because she has been reliably laying several eggs a week since the beginning of January. 





 

 



 

 

 



11. Eggs In Pepper Rings With Spicy Potatoes

Are you on Pinterest?  If you aren't then you have a choice to make - check it out and become addicted, or avoid it at all costs and enjoy more productive free time.  For those of you who don't know, Pinterest is a social media site where you create "boards" and "pin" interesting or useful links for safe-keeping.  It's especially great for organizing online recipes, craft ideas, travel tips, etc.  Well, being an egg-fanatic, I have an entire board dedicated to various egg recipes or ideas and this idea was a simple and easy one that I have been wanting to try.  It just so happened that I had an extra bell pepper and potato laying around and my husband LOVES peppers, so I thought today was the day!

What I used:

• 2 eggs
• 1 potato
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 small onion
• Pepperjack cheese
• Cajun seasoning
• Salt & pepper
• Butter

 

I wanted to knock the potatoes out first since they would take a little longer.  I peeled one potato (peelings straight into the compost!) and cut it up into very small pieces to make sure it cooked more quickly.  Then, I chopped up a small onion and mixed it in.

Potatoes and onions.

One and a half tablespoons of butter.

After throwing the potatoes and onions in the pan and stirring them up with the butter, I added a very healthy dose of Cajun seasoning as well as salt & pepper.  The hubs and I like our food with a kick!  If you prefer something less spicy, you can get away with simple seasoning salt and a little black pepper.  If you want it spicier, then a few dashes of cayenne.

Seasoned potatoes on medium heat...

...end up looking delicious like this!

While the potatoes are cooking in the pan, get your bell pepper washed and cut into rings.

I had an orange pepper on-hand,
but any color would work.

Unfortunately, I had to cut out a
soft spot, so one of my rings
turned into more of a "C" shape.

I put the potatoes in the oven to keep them warm while I moved on to the fun, eggy part.

Half a tablespoon of butter, then
raise the heat and set the peppers in.

Once the peppers have started to cook,
put the heat on low to medium-low &
crack the eggs inside the pepper rings.

Cover the pan and keep checking on
the eggs until the whites are *mostly*
set - you still want them slightly snotty.

Add some slices or shreds of cheese -
I used pepperjack - and cover the eggs
back up for another 30 seconds or so.

YUMMY.  Now, I need to come a little bit clean about something... I did not personally taste this endeavor.  To be perfectly honest, I'm not so in love with the taste of bell peppers that I want a mouthful of them.  However, the "egg in a pepper ring" creates such a pretty presentation that I enjoyed making it.  Plus, the husband looooves peppers.  In fact, and I'm actually a little dismayed by this, he told me that this was his favorite way he has ever eaten eggs.  SERIOUSLY?!  After all the omelets and quiches and sandwiches and however many other egg dishes I have served him, this super simple method is what rocks his world?  Though to be fair, I think he says that every time I serve him something new.... ;)

The good news is this:  The "egg in pepper rings" is extremely simple and easy, it has a lovely presentation, and according to my husband it "tastes so #*@%ing good."

So give it a shot (if you like peppers) and impress someone with this clever idea!

Love & Eggs,

Laura

These eggs brought to you by Dory and Sophie.

 

Fall/Winter Moulting & Why Eggs Get Scarce

First of all, I totally warned you.  Right up front I said there may be weeks or months that I can't find the time to write an entertaining and witty ode to the egg.  So, I refuse to hear any complaints about the fact that it has been three and a half months since my last post.

Ok, that is my grumptastic opening to a more informative post that is less about eggs and a little more about chickens.  You see, chickens - just like all birds, really - do this thing every year where the lose all their feathers and grow in new ones.  They look positively awful when it is happening.  My hen Alabama looked so pitiful that if anyone who didn't know better had happened to see her, they might have reported me to PETA or the ASPCA or something.  Unfortunately, I kept forgetting to get a good photo of her (she would have been the best example) but I did snap this photo (above) of Mrs. Featherbottom.  Now, Mrs. Featherbottom is a Black Australorp - one of my largest and fluffiest chickens.  However, in the photo above you can see how patchy her feathers are, how very sad and scruffy her tail is...  THIS is moulting.

Here's how things go down around my little chicken zoo:

March - August:  Yay!  EGGS!  Many EGGS!
September:  Hey!  Hens!  I only got five eggs this week... What gives?
October:  No offense, ladies, but you all look like zombie chickens and I'm not getting any eggs.  You better make this up to me later.
November - December:  Hallelujah!  I got two eggs this week!  It's a miracle!
Mid-January:  FINALLY.  The chickens are slowly starting to lay again... Maybe two a week from some of the best layers... Still none from the wimpier ones.
February:  We're getting there...
March: Yay!  EGGS!  Many EGGS!

So you see, during the late fall and winter months, I'm basically eggless.  And since I shudder at the thought of paying for eggs at the store, I can't be as frivolous and awesome with my egg recipe testing.  The few eggs I get from newer/younger chickens are just enough for me to have a couple weekday breakfasts.

You probably don't care about any of this... Really, I'm just trying to give you some good news and I'm taking a very long-winded approach in delivering said news.

THE EGGS ARE RETURNING!

Yes, having put all their energy toward shedding and re-growing their feathers... and having suffered through only the shortest hours of daylight (Educational sidebar - the number of hours of light in a day is what triggers the chickens' laying... some people put artificial lights in their chicken coops during the winter to boost egg production but I don't wanna.  Running electric out there can be a fire hazard, if you lose power and the temperature in the coop plummets some of the chickens could die, AND I kind of think they deserve a break for a little bit - don't you?), THE CHICKENS ARE STARTING TO LAY AGAIN!

It helps that I added four new chickens in 2012 that only matured during the "no egg" months.  So they're downright excited to get their breakfast machines started.

Now that I have eggs again, I'm anxious to get back to my 365 egg recipe quest.  Check back soon for the first recipe of 2013!

Love & Eggs,

Laura