I love a good savoury breakfast, you know the kind with fried eggs, good country style hashbrowns, crispy bacon and sourdough toast. What is also essential to my ideal breakfast is sliced tomatoes. So…what does this recipe have to do with this…almost everything.
I received this recipe as a part of this weeks recipe swap from the lovely A Taste of Home Cooking, which is not only a great blog, but Sarah is a great person. She is also the one who organizes all of these recipes swaps too, for which many of us food bloggers are grateful. To me, cooking is all about trying new recipes, getting inspired from others and branching out, and that is exactly what these swaps do – plus it’s fun making each other recipes.
This month’s theme was “breakfast”. I was keeping my fingers crossed for a savoury recipe and when I saw this one in my inbox, I was thrilled. It literally had my name written all over it – it had all of my favourite breakfast staples (except the potatoes, but that’s ok)!. I couldn’t wait to make it. Sunday rolled around, I declared it my lazy, trip planning day (my parents are coming to Europe to visit!) and this breakfast was the perfect way to start to the day. It was definitely a splurge breakfast in my books, but I really enjoyed it and I think it would be a great recipe to impress weekend company or the one you love (like Sarah does!).
The other little fun fact, I overcame my fear of poaching eggs. I have only previously tried once to poach eggs, and it was a disaster. This time, I went in with confidence, read and re-read Smitten Kitchen’s instructions and I came away with two, perfectly poached soft-boil eggs. I was quite impressed with myself.
Oh – and one MORE thing – Sarah said she didn’t plan for the Canadian girl to get the Canadian Benny recipe (it was originally a RR recipe based off her visit to Nova Scotia)…I call that fate and I loved the touch of home.
This dish will definitely be on our table again soon (and I promise to get a better shot of it, I was too impatient to eat it as I really didn’t want it to get cold!).
Enjoy!
Canadian Benny’s
Yield: 1 serving (see A Taste of Home for the original)
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 tsp butter
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 1/8 cup heavy cream
- 1/8 cup milk
- 2 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 English muffins, split in half and toasted
- 2 slices Canadian bacon (or substitute regular bacon if you cannot find it)
- Splash of red wine vinegar
- 2 large eggs (I used farmers fresh eggs for the first time and they were incredible, I can definitely tell the difference)
Directions:
In a small sauté pan, heat butter over medium heat. Add in the green onion and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, or until tomatoes are tender. Lower the heat and add in the cream and milk, season with S&P and allow sauce to reduce for an additional 5 – 10 minutes. (Note – my sauce looks a lot redder than the original post because I did not deseed my tomatoes – you can choose which way you prefer!)
Stir in the grated cheddar cheese and keep the sauce warm over low heat while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
While you cook the eggs below, heat another small frying pan over medium-low heat. Add in the two slices of Canadian bacon and allow to cook until slightly brown on both sides and warm throughout.
See here for a step-by-step guide for how to poach an egg.
Now, prepare your eggs. Heat a large pot of water over medium heat until it reaches a gentle simmer (very small bubbles). Add in a generous splash of vinegar (white or red) and a pinch of salt.
Crack one egg into a small bowl or ramekin. Gently lower the egg to the water and slip it in. Do not panic, it will look as though you messed it up, but you didn’t, trust me. Repeat with second egg. Cook the eggs for 3 – 5 minutes for a soft-poached egg (Smitten Kitchen states “I look for an egg that wobbles, but just a little, when nudged with the spoon, about 3 to 4 minutes of cooking time.).
Remove eggs gently from the water, place on paper towels and pat dry.
Toast your English muffin and assemble. Place the bacon first, egg second and top with a generous amount of the sauce.
Enjoy.
Recipe Adapted Slightly from A Taste of Home Cooking, Original Recipe from Rachel Ray
JBean Cuisine 