Breakfast Inspiration

By Caroline Clough in Food on Oct 16, 2006 3:23PM

This past Saturday Chicagoist and a few friends had a late breakfast at Ravenswood Restaurant. This was our first visit, and we were definitely overwhelmed by the breakfast options that ranged from huevos rancheros to blintzes. In the end we were drawn to Alejandra's eggs. Alejandra's eggs included two poached eggs, fried tomatoes, bacon and Hollandaise sauce. It's hard for us to say no to Hollandaise sauce, especially when paired with tomatoes and bacon ... so we said yes (it was so much easier). Of course, our imaginations got a little ahead of us, and when our meal finally came, we were a little let down. Everyone has, at one time or another, had the experience of ordering and expecting one kind of meal and having the reality of it be very different. Our experience with Alejandra's eggs was definitely one of those times. The meal was still good (our friends seemed very satisfied with their breakfasts), but it just didn't live up to what we had anticipated. This unfulfilled meal led us to play around with the basic ingredients of Alejandra's eggs and ended with a very satisfying alternative that we would now like to share with you.

What You Need
6-10 green and red cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 medium-sized red potato, chopped
4 pearl onions, chopped
2 strips thick-cut bacon, cut into one-inch pieces
1 stick butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 egg yolks
4 eggs
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder (or 1 large clove garlic, minced)
salt and pepper to taste

What You Do For The Vegetable/Potato Portion
1. Chop the potatoes, and boil them for about ten minutes.
2. Drain the potatoes, then put them into a skillet greased with a little butter.
3. Add the garlic.
4. Add the bacon.
5. Add the onions.
5. Cook over low heat until the bacon is cooked and the onions and potatoes are browned.
6. Once the other elements of the meal are ready, turn up the heat, add the tomatoes, and cook until they're tender but haven't turned to mush.

What You Do For The Hollandaise Sauce
1. In a small sauce pan, start heating the butter over low heat.
2. Whisk the three egg yolks, lemon juice and cayenne pepper.
3. When the butter is melted, but not browned, add it to the yolks. Add two tablespoons of hot water, and stir.
4. Return the entire mixture to the sauce pan over extremely low heat.

What You Do For The Eggs
We are still experimenting with the best way to poach eggs. We've tried two different kitchen tool doo-hickeys, vinegar and shallow water, and microwaving (to name a few); this time around we used the last method this guy suggested. The eggs turned out pretty well, but the use of plastic made us a wee bit uncomfortable.

When we made this, we started our Hollandaise sauce too soon, and it got too thick too fast ... we remedied this by mixing in an additional tablespoon of hot water to the sauce right before serving. We suggest you start your Hollandaise sauce after the potatoes, onions and bacon are cooked but before you add the tomatoes. Once the potato/tomato mixture is ready, spoon it out onto plates or into shallow bowls and start cooking the eggs. When the eggs are cooked, gently place them on top of the potato/tomato mixture; then drizzle as little or as much Hollandaise sauce as your heart can handle, and serve.

This recipe should yield about two servings of the vegetable medley and many servings of the Hollandaise sauce. If there are more than two of you, simply adjust the number of eggs and vegetables used. Thanks to Ravenswood Restaurant for the inspiration.