Bacon, Poached Egg, Asparagus and Brie Toast

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This recipe was created for the Mill City Farmers Market as a part of their Farmer’s Stories. It follows my previous post A Visit to the Shepherd’s Way Farm where I visited the Read’s family and their Shepherd’s Way Farm. I was beyond excited and honored to be able create something for my most beloved Minneapolis Farmers Market as the Mill City Farmers Market has been my place of joy, my community, and my source of amazing local foods and goods. It was a true pleasure for me to work with the Read’s family and their Shepherd’s Way Farm, and I hope you enjoy my story about them and this recipe.

The ingredients of this recipe celebrate both the abundance of the Shepard’s Way Farms and the Mill City Farmers market. Bread from Baker’s Field. Cheese, bacon and eggs from Shepard’s Way Farms – alternatively, eggs and bacon from Sunshine Harvest Farm. Asparagus from Bean Market, Prairie Hollow Farm or many of the other farmer’s stands at the market.

This recipe is so easy to make and it feels luxurious at the same time. The melted morel mushrooms brie over the crunchy toast compliments the lemony-roasted asparagus so well. And the smoky bacon and soft poach egg on top make the whole experience so decadent and worth savoring every bite.

Bacon, Poached Egg, Asparagus and Brie Toast

Makes 4 large toasts

Ingredients:

• 4-6 bacon slices
• 1 bunch of asparagus, ends trimmed
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
• Juice of 1 lemon, divided
• 4 sourdough slices (such as Baker’s Field Table Bread)
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled and sliced in half
• 1 chunk of Shepherd's Way Farms Morcella cheese (or another brie-style cheese), sliced in 4 slices
• 4 eggs
• Fresh thyme leaves for topping

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. Place bacon on a foil-lined baking tray and bake for 9-10 minutes. Flip bacon slices over and bake for additional 2 minutes, or until lightly golden and crispy. Place cooked bacon on a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

3. Increase oven temperature to 450F

4. On a baking sheet, toss the asparagus with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and
   pepper. Transfer to the oven and roast for 15 minutes, or until asparagus edges are slightly browned. When done, pull the tray out the oven, pour half of the lemon juice over the asparagus and toss to evenly coat. Set the asparagus tray aside.

5. On a separate baking sheet, place the bread slices and lightly brush them with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Transfer to the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Flip the bread slices over, with your fingers, rub the top of each toast with the garlic clove. You will see the cloves get smaller as the garlic is dispersed, pushed into the bread. Add a slice of brie to each toast, return to the oven and cook 5 more minutes or until the brie is melted. 

6. While the bread and asparagus are cooking, make the poached eggs. Heat a medium saucepan of water over low heat until just simmering. Add the remaining lemon juice, a couple of pinches of salt and use a wooden spoon to create a gentle whirlpool. Crack 1 egg into a small bowl and gently add to the water. Poach for 4-5 minutes or until the egg white is cooked and the yolk is still runny. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Repeat with the remaining eggs by heating the water up again until simmering after each egg.

7. To serve, top each toast with asparagus and bacon pieces torn in thirds. Add a poached egg, and sprinkle with fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Swiss Chard Caesar Sald

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On my latest visits to New York I have been stopping by a fabulous, small, wood burning pizza place with a cozy atmosphere, wonderful, yummy pizzas and the most delicious crab cakes and Swiss chard Caesar salad on this planet. Every time I am there I tell myself that I will try something new and every time I am faced with the impossible choice – if I order something new, then I won’t be eating my favorite crab cakes and chard salad, which I have been dream-drooling for months. But if I order my favorites, then I won’t be trying something new, which could be as equally fabulous as the crab cakes and the salad. Some could argue that I should order all; my cakes, my salad and something new. And believe me I have done that, but to be honest, a girl can’t really eat that much food at once or her tummy will be hurting. The thought of not having (but constantly thinking of) the buttery crab cake and the lemony-parmesan chard salad is killing my food loving soul so, at the end, I do order my favorites, as you might have guessed. 

Ever since the first time I had the creamy-lemony-parmesan dressing on the chard salad, I was blown away how something so simple can be so yummy and how wonderfully it complements the tender Swiss chard leaves.  After my last visit I began my usual journey of trying to recreate this yummy salad so I can enjoy it ALL the time. First, I started with the dressing and I made all bunch of different versions of a homemade Caesar dressing, but the result was either too garlicky or too fishy or mustardy – something was not quite right and not quite as I remembered it. Then I started again from scratch, ignoring the classic Caesar recipes and went by taste memory. I started with a whole egg for a whiter, thicker consistency. I added lemon rind and a generous amount of lemon juice for freshness and a handful of grated Parmesan cheese for complexity. The final result was a creamy, lemony aioli which married so well with the delicate young spring chard leaves. I also added snap peas and asparagus to the salad since they are abundant at the farmers market at this time of the year. I finished the salad with warm sourdough croutons, tossed in the lemony dressing for yumminess. I was so happy with my recreation that I ate the salad for lunch and dinner every day for a whole week. And the dressing is just so delicious – I have been making a jar every week and spreading it on sandwiches or dipping chunks of bread while enjoying a class of wine when standing at the kitchen counter and watching reruns of Frasier.

So my dear friends, I do hope with all my heart that you will gather your courage and try this salad. And even if you don’t, I do hope that you grab a canvas bag andstop by your local farmers market, find some fresh green things, get inspired – either by me or other people and make something fresh, local and yummy.

xoxo

Swiss Chard Caesar Salad

Ingredients:
Serves 4 (medium size salads)

Dressing
• 1 large lemon
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup of olive or sunflower oil
• 1 really small garlic clove, crushed
• 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper

Salad
• 1 bunch of rainbow chard (preferably, tender and young leaves)
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus (about 16 asparagus), hard bottoms trimmed
• 2 handfuls of snap peas, strings removed
• 2 thick slices of sourdough bread
• Fresh Parmesan shaves for serving

Directions:

1. Grate the rind of the lemon and set aside.

2. Break the egg in the food processor and whizz once or twice. Add the garlic. With the motor running on low start adding the oil slowly so it drips trough the top of the food processor. When all the oil is incorporated add the lemon zest, the juice of 1/2 lemon and the Parmesan cheese. Whizz until incorporated and add salt and pepper to taste. Taste again and add more lemon juice if you like it lemony (like me). If the dressing runs thin add 2-4 tablespoons of oil and whizz until it thickens. Be careful not to make it thick (like mayo) and if it gets too thick add a 1-2 tablespoons of water or lemon juice. Place the dressing in a jar and refrigerate.

3. Heat a small pan over medium-high heat. Tear the bread into uneven 1/2-inch chunks, toss liberality with olive oil and add to the pan. Turn the heat on low and toast the croutons by flipping them a few times until golden brown.

4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the asparagus. Remove the asparagus after 2-3 minutes and drop them immediately in a large bowl of ice cold water to stop the cooking process and to preserve their bright green color. Remove from the water after 2-3 minutes, pat dry, cut in half and set aside in a large bowl.

5. Clean the Swiss chard, wash and dry really well (this will ensure a nice coating of the dressing). Remove the stem and the central vein, tear the leaves into 2-inch chunks and add to the asparagus. Add the snap peas, the croutons and half of the dressing. Toss well with your hands, taste and add more dressing if desired (I like my salad smothered with dressing). Divide into 4 plates and top with the shaved Parmesan.

Enjoy!

Fresh peas salad

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Have you had fresh green peas before? I didn’t. At least not until recently. I had canned, I had frozen, dried...but fresh. No, not fresh. And I had no idea why. I have seen their brightly colored coats at the farmers market every spring and I always been intrigued by them. But maybe because of lack of a habit (or maybe because of I had a habit of eating other spring veggies) I kept ignoring my natural curiosity towards these green beauties. And this spring I decided that I will no longer just admire them, I will get them and make something...even though I had no idea what. And to be honest, I had no idea how to eat them. I was even a bit scared of messing them up. I tend to feel really bad if I kill a beautiful, fresh produce by lack of knowledge. But as people say, there always a first time for everything, and my first time eating fresh green peas was kind of disaster. I decided to blanch them whole with the pod, and make a fresh cold pea soup. Not a very good idea. I will not go in full detail describing this strange experience but if you remember how you felt when you were a kid and had to eat an odd textured soup at the kindergarten and you really didn’t feel like eating it, but you had to...Yeah, that’s it. 

Now you might be wondering why on earth I am about to share a fresh green peas recipe with you even though I just described my very first (not exactly successful) experience with them. It is because I don’t give up easily. Not without trying. I have always liked green peas, so I figured that it must be me and my method of preparing rather than the peas themselves. So I went back to the market, I got some more, I blanched them again, but this time I shelled them so the only thing left of them was their sweet little round hearts. I added some fresh asparagus form the farmers market too, some lemon juice, mint and soft goat cheese and...viola, a full of life and flavor fresh salad that I can eat over and over and over...and over again.

So grab your bags and go to the farmers market and get some fresh green peas. And if they are all gone, just grab something else that is fresh and grown with love and care and enjoy it to the fullest.

xoxo

Fresh Peas Salad
 

Serves 4 (small size salads)

Ingredients:
• 2 cups fresh peas
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus (about 16 asparagus), cut in half
• 2 lemons
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup thyme flowers (optional)
• 4 oz. fresh goat cheese
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

Directions:

1. Bring a medium pot of salted water to boil. Turn the heat off and add the fresh peas and asparagus. Blanch for 4 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, zest one of the lemons and juice both of them. Drain the peas and the asparagus and place them in ice bath to stop the cooking process and to retain their bright green color.

3. Drain the peas and asparagus really well and place them in a bowl with the lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic and the mint leaves. Add salt, pepper and olive oil to taste and toss to combine.

4. Divide the salad among 4 plates and top with chinks of goat cheese and sprinkle with thyme flowers (if using).