Sunny Side Up on Potatoes

I was home alone because the other half was in San Francisco conferencing. I woke up very late and wanted to treat myself to a wonderful breakfast or brunch. Nothing better than eggs, potatoes and bacon. As much as I like fried potatoes but hash brown is my favorite.

So, while my bacon was getting perfectly crispy in the oven, I grated some potatoes. Chopped some onion and tomatoes. Made a bed of hash brown, placed a perfect sunny side up egg on it, add the tomato and crispy bacon pieces, sprinkle chopped cilantro, season with salt and pepper and you have your breakfast ready in 30min. Oh, what a treat!

Oh, that perfect morsel- bacon, tomato, hash brown with little bit of the runny yolk.

Warning- I don't use oil in making any of it. Oops! I use bacon fat :)

To make this wonderful breakfast/brunch, you need (for 1 serving, can easily be scaled up):

1 medium size Russet potato, grated using a box grater
1 small yellow onion or half a medium onion, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
1 egg
2-3 strips of thick cut bacon or as many as you like
salt and pepper for seasoning
Chopped cilantro or parsley

How:

Line a baking tray with foil and place the baking strips an inch apart from each other. Place it in a cold oven and turn it on to 400°F. Putting the  bacon in a cold oven and then turning it on is the key to perfectly crispy bacon. The bacon should be perfect in about 17-20 min. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn. The time depends on how long your oven takes to reach the temperature. Take the bacon strips out of the baking tray and drain on paper towels. Let it cool.

While the bacon is getting perfectly crisped in the oven, grate the potato, chop the onion, tomato and some cilantro. Put the grated potato in cold water to prevent them from turning brown. When ready to cook, put the shredded potato in a cheesecloth and wring out all excess water. The more its dry the more it will be crispy. Although here, I didn't make them crispy (enough crispiness from bacon). But you can.

Put about a tablespoon of bacon fat from the baking tray on to a small pan on medium heat. Add the onion. Fry for a min and then add the shredded potatoes. If you want them crispy, then lay them in a single layer and don't disturb. Let it crisp up on one side for 2 min and then turn over like a pancake.  If you want mushy, like I have here, fry the shredded potato with onion stirring them until they are brown. Season with salt and pepper. Place the potato on a plate.

Add a teaspoon of bacon fat to the same pan on medium heat. Crack a fresh egg on to the pan. Be careful not to get any shells in there (I need not say that!). Cook till the white part is no longer slimy. Place the egg on top of the potato you plated earlier.

Add the crispy bacon (I just break it into small pieces), chopped fresh tomato, cilantro. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Bacon wrapped Brussels sprouts

I love my veggies but I love meat too and the combination of two is great, for instance, bacon wrapped Brussels sprouts. Roasted Brussels sprouts are delicious, but wrap them in bacon and they become heavenly good as the fat from the bacon seeps into the layers of the sprouts. Pop one of these into your mouth and the sprouts melt away perfectly complemented with the crispy bacon.

This is a no-fail, simplest recipe ever. You need Brussel sprouts, of course! Remove the outer leaves and halve them.

Next is bacon. I used thick cut. Cut each slice of bacon into two.

Now start wrapping one half of Brussels sprout in one half slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick.

Arrange them nicely on a foil wrapped baking tray and sprinkle ground black pepper on them. Put them in a preheated oven at 375° for 30 min.

And Voila!! You have no idea how difficult it was for me to wait to take these pics before I could start devouring them.

This can be made so easily and so quickly for guests at home or bring them to a potluck.

Ingredients:

1 lb pack of thick cut bacon

1 lb Brussels sprouts. [I had lined the extra sprouts with a little salt and pepper along with the wrapped ones on my tray and they got soaked in bacon fat too and turned out yummy!]

1 tb ground black pepper.

Method:

Preheat oven to 375°.

Cut each Brussels sprouts in halves.

Cut each slice of bacon in half.

Wrap each piece of sprout with bacon and secure ends of bacon with toothpick.

Sprinkle the black pepper on the wrapped sprouts.

Arrange them nicely (without crowding) on a foil wrapped tray.

Put them in the oven for 30 min.

Drain excess fat by lining them on paper towel.

Enjoy hot but be careful!!