One of my current vices is the new bacon-cheddar ciabatta breakfast melt from WaWa. I’m not a big “breakfast out” person (no people before coffee on the weekends), so this morning I set out to create my own. Fresh eggs and bacon, with a generous helping of butter, I’ll be sticking with this from here on out.

I learned the fluffed egg technique years ago from an ex - the wooden spoon (or other wide, flat utensil) is crucial here. Using a fork for this technique will produce ribbons rather than cloudy poufs.

Brown Butter Fluffed Egg Sandwiches

Ingredients (per sandwich):

• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon half and half
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 flat, crusty roll, sliced in half lengthwise (I used a Portuguese roll from my local bakery)
• 2 slices bacon, cooked as per your preference
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons ketchup*

Combine eggs, seasonings, and half and half; whisk to combine. Set aside. Heat one tablespoon butter in a medium pan over low heat. Add half the roll, cut side down, and increase heat to medium-high. Cook until edges are golden brown. Remove bread and repeat with another tablespoon of butter and the other bread half. Set aside.

Decrease heat to medium and add final tablespoon of butter. Add eggs and immediately begin stirring with a wooden spoon, making sure to get all areas of the pan. Stir constantly until eggs have come together and are fluffy but still wet. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Transfer to roll and top with ketchup and bacon. Serve immediately.

Serves 1.

*We (well, most of us) put ketchup on our eggs in this area of Pennsylvania. It’s awesome. If this is too weird for you, feel free to substitute your condiment of choice. Meredith suggests HP Sauce.

Image by Greynine

As a humble apology for missing yesterday’s post, I present you, my dear readers, with my favorite dessert recipe ever. It’s not quite a traditional tiramisu, but in my opinions, that’s what makes it so yummy. If you can’t find Margherites, you can use the traditional ladyfingers.

Tiramisu

Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons brandy
• 24 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 2 cups brewed espresso, cooled
• 1/4 cup kahlua
• 1 package Margherites
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Whisk eggs and sugar together in bain marie for about 10 minutes, or until custard forms ribbons and probe thermometer inserted in mixture reached 160 degrees. Set custard bowl over ice water and whisk another 10 minutes, or until mixture is room-temperature.

In a separate bowl, combine cheese and brandy; fold into custard.

Combine coffee and kahlua. Line the bottom of a 13 x 9″ baking dish with cookies and brush with coffee. Top layer with 1/2 of cheese/custard mixture. Repeat.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. Garnish with a dusting of cocoa powder.

Serves 8-10.