Category: Bacon

Sweet Potato, Kale and Bacon Hash topped with Poached Egg

March 11, 2015




Ive always loved Kale and its different varieties, have done for years.  Love all greens really, but with the curly Kale option, I find it is so easy to just throw into any dish to give you that extra green oomph for your vitamins in a day. I eat it that much, maybe I should think of putting it on my growing list for my Kitchen Garden this year? 

  Recently I threw together a dish of “odd’s and sod’s” that were in my fridge and made a sublime little supper for myself.   The recipe did of course, suprisingly involve Kale but in a rather different way…with Bacon and Egg. 
  I am always going to cook this recipe from now on as it is so quick, it uses things up and theres hardly any ingredients to it. You can tweak a few things but these ingredients work through being sweet, yet salty, all manners of different tastes.  
  
  If you are going to try this recipe, You must go and buy some Sriracha sauce first. I have been using it in my Asian cooking for years and it is my favourite Hot sauce.  I drizzle it on a lot of foods including Hot spicy noodle broths. It seems now a lot of major sauce brands are trying a version them selves. I’ll never change my brand though. 
So Here is my simple Supper, or maybe even a Brunch recipe? An easy dish for an occasion? With an optional Hot sauce.



Sweet Potato, Kale and Bacon Hash topped with Poached Egg:

Ingredients:
(For 1 approximately)

–  1 Tbsp of Rapeseed oil
–  1/2 Tbsp of Maple syrup
–  1 large Garlic Clove finely diced
–  1/2 Red Onion sliced finely
–  1 Sweet potato diced roughly
–  1-2 rashers of Bacon chopped
–  couple of small Handfuls of Curly Kale
–  1 egg for poaching
–  2 tbsp of White wine vinegar for the poaching
–  To finish, some Sriracha Hot Chilli sauce for on top if required. 
  (I buy mine from Wang Fung Hong in Leicester)

Method: 

*  Boil the Sweet potato until soft.

*  Take out the Sweet potato with a slotted spoon and place onto kitchen paper on a plate.Leaving the water in the saucepan for your Kale.

*  Fry off the Bacon in a frying pan, then after a minute or two add the onions.

*  Pop in the Kale to the saucepan to cook for about 2 minutes.

*  Add the drained Sweet potato to the frying pan mix and add the garlic.

* Pop in the maple syrup to make the sweet potato caramelise and the bacon taste wonderful.

*  Drain the Kale on kitchen paper. Add to the Hash mix.

*  Poach your egg.

*  And Serve… Adding the Sriracha sauce if you wish.






Saturday Night Food…Dinner Party anyone?

March 26, 2014

Following on from a great day I had with Ben Jackson for Food Friday, Saturday came and I was still so full of cooking energy and immediately wanted to come up with something new again! 
  Now, not always does this happen straight off when recipe developing and with a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc being in my system (evening by this time),  I didn’t think I was going to be as pleased as I was with this recipe.  
   This may not be everyones “Cup of tea” I realise that, but I felt it was the nicest risotto I had made in a long time. I am yet to cook this for my fiancé as he was away at the time and I am intrigued to see what he thinks also, he’s always honest! 

  So, from the recipe that I had done the day before, I had bits and bobs left over in the fridge including some of the lovely Pearl Barley I had pre cooked. There were bacon opened as I fancied a BLT for breakfast, anyway you get the gist!
   This is what I came up with in the end.  It took me a long time to figure out a title name for the recipe as theres a lot going on in it, but it came to me that the title for this is right really. Its leftover ingredients but not with Potato in this instance. Even though it doesn’t have specific Springtime ingredients in this, It did make me think of Spring when I dived into it.


My 2 Grain Bubble and Squeak Risotto with Bacon,  Poached Egg and vegetable crisps.

 Ingredients:

(Serves 2 as a large portion or may stretch to 4 for starters)

–  1 Tbsp Olive or Rapeseed oil
–  2 Knobs of Butter
–  1-2 Garlic cloves chopped
–  1 small Onion diced
–  2 rashers of Bacon
–  2-3 leaves of Savoy Cabbage sliced thinly
–  3-4 Chestnut mushrooms chopped small
–  1/4 of a leek sliced thinly
–  100g of cooked Pearl Barley
– 150g of Arborio Rice
–  175ml of Dry White Wine ( 1 Glass for yourself also! )
–  500ml of Chicken stock keeping hot.
–  Sprig of fresh Thyme
–  Eggs for Poaching
– 1 Parsnip and a small amount of Butternut Squash for the Vegetable Crisps
– Vegetable Oil for the frying of the Crisps
–  Sprinkle of caster Sugar for the Crisps
–  Salt and Cracked Black Pepper for seasoning 
–  Grated Parmesan Cheese to finish




Fry off the Onion and Leek in some olive oil, then when starting to sweat down a little, add the butter.

 Add the Bacon, Mushrooms, 1/4 of the Cabbage first, Garlic and Thyme.


 Once cooked down a bit add in the risotto rice, stir gently and add your wine. Once the wine has almost evaporated you can add your Hot Chicken Stock a bit at a time.

 Whilst the Risotto is cooking away, Peel your Parsnip and Butternut Squash very thinly like so and fry off in oil. I have used a Wok but if you have a Deep Fat Fryer, great! 

 They only take about a minute. Once starting to brown, bring them out onto Kitchen Paper. Sprinkle with a tiny amount of Caster sugar.

 Add the rest of your Cabbage and Pearl Barley to the Risotto, Poach your egg and finish with another knob of Butter, parmesan Cheese and any seasoning required.

Top with your Poached Egg and add Your Vegetable Crisps for Sweetness and Crunch.