Bacon Egg and Cheese Sandwich

A great breakfast sandwich on Potato Garlic Bread with bacon, egg, and creamy Boursin cheese.

I love bacon.  Growing up I rarely got to eat much bacon.  I grew up in a family of 6.  My mom would only occasionally cook bacon (only on rare weekends), and when it came to eating the bacon, being the youngest, I only got a few strips and always wanted more.  Now that I'm older, I cook the bacon and it's only me and my husband so there is plenty of bacon to go around.  Unfortunately, I care more about healthy eating now so I try not to make and eat bacon all the time but I still like to make it for breakfast on some weekends.  One sure way to get my husband out of bed on a Saturday or Sunday is to wake him with the smell of cooking bacon.

This is my most recent breakfast creation.  It isn't anything fancy, just a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with my own twist.  Along with bacon (we usually buy a 5 pound pack, of individually packaged 1 pound packs from Costco) we usually have some Boursin cheese in our freezer.  Boursin cheese is creamy and crumbly and very tasty on breads or crackers.  I had Potato Garlic Bread to use as the base of the sandwich and garlic and herb Boursin.  I blended the Boursin with a little mayonnaise in order to make it more easily spreadable.  Here is my basic recipe.

Ingredients:

4 slices of bread, toasted
1/2 lb bacon
1 package Boursin cheese, any flavor
1-2 Tbsp mayonnaise
fried egg(s)

First cook the bacon.  I like to fry it in a cast iron  pan (over low temperature to keep the pieces flat).  I have noticed when they cook too high and fast they get all curled and are more difficult to put on a sandwich.  I usually fry them at a higher temperature when I don't care if they stay flat or not.  I also like to pour the grease out of the pan between each batch, I think that this helps keep the pieces from curling and it prevents splashes of hot grease. Lay cooked bacon on a napkin to absorb some of the grease.

Meanwhile, prepare the cheese.  Drop an, unwrapped, pack of Boursin into a food processor with the metal chopping blade.  Add the mayonnaise a little at a time while pulsing until cheese becomes smooth and easily spreadable.

Next, toast the bread and smear each piece with the cheese spread.  Layer on the bacon (the cheese helps the bacon adhere to the bread so that it doesn't fall off while eating), top with a fried egg, and finish with the final piece of bread.  This is enough for 2 sandwiches but you will have left over cheese spread to enjoy with more bread or crackers.  I do not like eggs so I just had a bacon and cheese sandwich and it was great.  Pair with fruit and milk or coffee for a complete meal.

Enjoy.

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Potato Garlic Bread (Sour Dough)

A tender and chewy loaf made with leftover mashed potatoes and roasted garlic.

*submitted to YeastSpotting
now on YeastSpotting 

Christmas dinner was great.  We had Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and maple glazed carrots.  While the potatoes were great, they just weren't as good once the meatballs were gone.  So my goal was to use the left over mashed potatoes and that's where this recipe comes in.

The basic recipe comes from Peter Reinhart's:  The Bread Baker's Apprentice, Rosemary Potato Bread.  I have made it a few times and it's delicious so I was excited to try it again with my own twist.  This time I added a bunch of roasted garlic and used sourdough instead of commercial yeast.  I think it turned out fabulous.  The bread is tender with a chewiness that I love and a wonderful garlic flavor that is, surprisingly, mild.  This bread is great on its own, spread with butter or cheese, and makes great sandwiches.  Here is my recipe.

Ingredients:
* as with most of my breads I use weight measurements for most of my ingredients

14 oz barm (50%flour 50%water)
14 oz bread flour
.38 oz (1.5 tsp) salt
1/4 tsp coarse cracked black pepper
6 oz (1 cup) left over mashed potatoes
.5 oz (1 Tbsp) olive oil
1/4 tsp crushed dried rosemary
1 oz water
20-30 cloves roasted garlic (about 2 bulbs)

*if you do not want to spend the time on sourdough, omit the barm but add an extra 7 oz flour and 7 oz water as well as about 1-2 tsp instant yeast.  Then the first rise will only be 2 hours and the final only 90 minutes..

The night before feed the sourdough starter (that is kept in the refrigerator).  Take out 4 oz and add 5 oz water and 5 oz flour to make 14 oz barm.  Stir these together until all of the flour is hydrated and then cover and let sit overnight (about 10 hrs).  It should be very bubbly.

In the morning  mix the barm with the flour, salt, pepper, mashed potatoes, oil, rosemary, and water.  Stir (in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment) until all of the flour is hydrated and the ingredients come together in a ball (about 1 minute).  Then knead the dough for about 6 minutes (10 if by hand) until it is smooth, elastic, and tacky but not sticky.  Add the garlic during the final 2 minutes of kneading.  Finally, place the dough into an oiled bowl, roll to coat it with oil and cover with plastic wrap.  Let the dough sit at room temperature for 4 hours (while I went to the gym and had lunch).

After 4 hours the dough should be doubled in size, cresting above the bowl (if not, your room maybe too cool so let it sit longer or put it in a warmer place).

Separate the dough in half and shape each half into rounds.  Let these sit on parchment paper covered with plastic wrap for about 2 hours until the are almost doubled in size.  Then gently slide the dough (parchment and all) onto a baking sheet (score if you want to but it is optional) and bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for 20 minutes longer until browned all over.  I baked my loaves separately because I didn't have enough room to put both on my baking sheet, if your pan is bigger you can bake them together.  I also had to cover the dough with aluminum foil after the first 20 minutes to keep the top from getting too dark (this depends on each individual oven).

Let cool for at least 1 hour before cutting and serving.  This bread will make your whole house smell so good (like fresh bread and roasted garlic).  Enjoy.

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