Fried Garlic and Sage Baconnaise

A few weeks ago, I tried going on this diet called, The Paleo Diet or The Caveman's Diet. I very quickly realized that there was no way that I could keep it up. It was just way, way too much meat for me, and I already had a bit of green guilt over the meat that I currently include in my diet. I did have an awesome take-away though. Baconnaise! I have been wanting to try my hand at homemade mayonnaise and adding bacon to the mix sounded even more delicious. This recipe is fantastic on sandwiches, or another idea and my husband's favorite, sweet potatoes.

Fried Garlic and Sage Baconnaise


Ingredients:

2 Egg Yolks
1/2 Cup of Bacon Grease
1/2 Cup of Olive Oil
3 Sage Leaves
1 Clove of Garlic, Peeled
1 Teaspoon of Whole Grain Mustard
Juice of 1 Lemon
Pinch of Salt, to Taste

Preparation:

Heat the bacon oil in a sauce pan on medium heat. Place the garlic cloves and sage leaves into the oil. Fry the garlic and sage until the sage leaves are crispy and the garlic is just turning light golden brown. Chop the sage and garlic, then set aside. Let the grease come back to room temperature, then add in the olive oil. In an electric blender, whisk the egg yolks, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and the mustard on low speed. Once the mixture is smooth and incorporated, slowly, slowly start adding the oil mixture. Add something like a teaspoon at a time, wait until it is completely incorporated, then repeat until the oil is completely incorporated. As the baconnaise starts to thicken, you can add the oil a little bit faster. Once the oil is mixed in, add the remaining lemon juice and the chopped garlic and sage. Add salt to taste. It will be thinner than regular mayonnaise at first, but refrigerate and it will thicken to normal consistency.

(Really Important) Note - Don't cheap out on the bacon. The oil, therefore the baconnaise, will be fairly flavorless if you use cheap bacon for the grease. I recommend using Applegate Farms Smoked Organic Bacon. It's pretty delicious on its own and the grease is very flavorful.

One-Eared Stag for Brunch

Last weekend, my husband and I felt we needed to venture out for a proper Sunday brunch. Looking for something a little more interesting than the usual french toast institutions and we were super excited to see that One-Eared Stag, one of my favorite dinner spots, serves a delicious brunch. One-Eared Stag opened last year in Inman Park, John Kessler gave it a great review here. I really like the innate "southernness" of the place; maybe "new southern" would classify it correctly. 

We started brunch with a kimchi bloody mary. At first, I wasn't sure if the bitterness of the cabbage worked in the sweetly, salty, tang of a bloody mary, but one more sip and I was sold. I like the new layer of flavor, combined with the spiciness that defines kimchi.



 As a sort of appetizer, we ordered the black pepper biscuits with peach marmalade. I've never had a black pepper biscuit before, but I am going to make them this way every time from now on! They were so good, especially with the sweet tart flavor of the peaches on top.



For our main courses, we shared the hanger steak with chimichurri over potato hash with fried eggs, and fried chicken and waffles with sorghum syrup and marrow butter. It was honestly hard to choose which was the favorite. The fried chicken and waffle were cooked to perfection. The chicken's golden crust was crunchy and salty, the meat was almost buttery, which was a gorgeous compliment to the sweet sorghum syrup and bready waffle. The steak was equally delicious, set off by the parsley and garlic in the chimichurri, and the creaminess of the runny egg yolks.

The best thing about One-Eared Stag, aside from the great food, is that the menu changes on a regular basis, dependent upon local, seasonal produce. (You can expect to see that amazing fried chicken on the menu on Sundays and Mondays, regularly.) Nothing excites me more than a Georgia restaurant using food grown in Georgia!

Fried Egg and Mushroom Toasts

I think I may have said before, but Brunch is my most favorite meal! I just cannot think of a single thing wrong with a leisurely weekend morning that ends in a meal half-breakfast, half-lunch, especially when combined with a spicy Bloody Mary. Occasionally, I will make a tartine for a quick brunch. Tartines are open faced sandwiches, meaning they can be extra messy (in the best way) because you're not eating them with your hands. This is a recipe that I have basically adapted from Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home Series (my favorite cooking show.) You can watch their great mushroom hunt here. I love the idea of foraging in the woods for a good breakfast!

Fried Egg and Mushroom Tartine

Ingredients:

2 Pints of Cremini Mushrooms, Sliced

6 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

6 Stems of Fresh Thyme

2 Tablespoons of Butter

2 Tablespoons of Half and Half

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup of Greek Yogurt

1 Tablespoon of Hot Mustard

1 Teaspoon of White Wine Vinegar (or a Citrus Vinegar)

2 Slices of Buttered Toast 

Salt and Pepper

Cooking:

Grab a frying pan, pour in your oil, and turn the stove heat to medium-high. You want to wait until the pan is nice and hot. Once hot, toss in your creminis, thyme and garlic. Stirring often, wait until the mushrooms have cooked down until nice and brown. They will be about half their original size. Add in your half and half and 1 tablespoon of butter. Add a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Stir until the butter is melted, then pour into a bowl and set aside. Place your remaining butter in the mushroom pan and fry your eggs. Meanwhile, mix your yogurt, mustard, vinegar and a salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. To assemble, take your toasts and spread your yogurt sauce on, then top with your mushrooms, and finally your fried egg!

Brunch is My Favorite Meal

A few weekends back, when Georgia experienced a very rare ice storm, my husband and I decided to venture out to The Flying Biscuit in Candler Park. This is one of my favorite brunch places, and what's even better, they serve it all the time!
The Flying Biscuit has light and fluffy biscuits, with an amazing fruit butter, a scrumptious fried egg sandwich (the best I've had so far,) Sake Bloody Mary's, a surprisingly great combination, and one of my favorite dishes, Egg-Ceptional Eggs. This is a dish of black bean cakes, topped with a fried egg, and salsa and sour cream.
I was so inspired by the delicious dish, that I decided to make my own version, substituting black beans with chickpeas, and sour cream with greek yogurt. The results were great, and I hope you give it a shot!

Fried Chickpea Cakes

Ingredients:
1 Small Onion, Chopped
3 Cloves of Garlic, Chopped
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 Can of Chickpeas
1/4 Cup of Flour
1/4 Cup of Bread Crumbs
1 Teaspoon of Cumin
1 Teaspoon of Paprika
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
1/2 Teaspoon of Black Pepper
2 Eggs
Hot Sauce to Taste
Frying Oil (Canola, Olive Oil, etc... Your Choice)
Greek Yogurt and Salsa for Topping

Cooking:
In a skillet, saute your onion, garlic, cumin and paprika in the olive oil until the onions are translucent. Pour the onion/garlic mix into a blender with 1/2 can of the chickpeas, 1 egg, as much hot sauce as you'd like to add, the salt and pepper and pulse blend until the chickpeas are creamy, but not liquified.
Pour the blended mix into a bowl and add the flour and bread crumbs and the other half of the chickpeas. Mix together into a consistency to make patties, if it's still too messy, add some more bread crumbs; basically it needs to look like sticky cookie dough.
Warm your favorite frying oil in a skillet, and fry the chickpea cakes until golden brown. Set to the side, while you fry your egg to your favorite hardness. To serve, place a chickpea cake on the plate, top with the fried egg, and a good dollop of greek yogurt and salsa on the side. Enjoy!