Christie's Brussel Sprouts, Bacon and Poached Eggs
COOL CHANGE WEEKEND LUNCH
This bowl of goodness came about when I was harvesting lots of kale and brussel sprouts from her garden and had a glut of eggs from her chickens. It’s a great weekend or working from home lunch, when you can eat it warm straight out of the frying pan. With ingredients like butter, bacon, walnuts and eggs, the good fats and protein help you to stay full for longer and keep your mind focused in the afternoon – no 3pm cravings with this under your belt! It’s great in all seasons but particularly nourishing in winter when brussels sprouts and kale are at their best. You can change up the ingredients too to suit what you have in the fridge or garden – cabbage would work if you don’t have brussels sprouts on hand. Using Dirty Clean Food's pasture raised eggs means you know you’re getting that eggstra omega 3, vitamin B12 and vitamin D. You can choose your favourite bacon, such as streaky, rib or diced, or even try something different with our lamb or beefbacon. The fat content of the bacon, along with a generous dollop of butter, helps create the silky texture of the sauce that coats the brussels sprouts. Make sure to include the verjuice - this unfermented grape juice has the perfect balance of sweetness and tang to cut through the fattier ingredients, don't leave it out!
Our eggs are from chickens locally grown and foraging on pasture near Boyanup, WA. and our pork is from Yanmah, near Manjumup.
Eat your greens... Just add bacon!
Brussels sprouts have always been a bit controversial in our family – my Grandma tended to boil the life out of them, so my Mum never served them to us, her memory being that they were squishy, bitter and lifeless. My Dad ate them when he had to, and referred to them as martian’s brains! It was when I decided to grow them that this all changed – after trying a few different cooking methods, I found that fried up with bacon and walnuts, crispy on the underside with still a good crunch in the middle, these are so more-ish. The trick is not to over cook them – if you leave them in the pan for too long, or add too much verjuice, they can end up going mushy.
The hero DCF ingredients here are the diced bacon and pasture raised eggs. The butter People salted butter is my favourite for adding that silky saucy texture, and the Omega walnuts are so creamy and crunchy at the same time. As this is a simple dish, good quality seasonal ingredients make it sing.
Made fresh using WA produce and regenerative pasture raised eggs and bacon at dirtycleanfood.com.au
Ingredients
Serves 2
4 pasture raised eggs
200g bacon
1 cup walnuts
50g / generous knob butter
12 brussels sprouts
6 stems kale
1/3 cup verjuice
salt
Pepper
White vinegar for poaching eggs
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Essentials
Method
Fry the bacon. Preheat a heavy based large frying pan until hot, melt the butter and add the bacon, Fry until browned and beginning to go crispy.
Poach the eggs. While the bacon is frying, bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add a dash of white vinegar. Once simmering crack your eggs into the water one at a time. Keep an eye on them – you want runny yolks and just set whites. Remove from the water once done and set aside.
Brown the walnuts. In a small heavy based frying pan, or in the same pan as your bacon, fry the walnuts until lightly toasted and aromatic.
Add the brussels sprouts. Push the bacon around to the edge of the frying pan, ensuring there is plenty of butter in the center for cooking the brussels sprouts. Cut the brussels sprouts in half and place the cut side down in the center of the frying pan.
Add the kale, verjuice, salt and pepper. Once the brussels sprouts have browned on the cut side, add the kale on top of them, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and add the verjuice. The pan needs to be hot enough that the verjuice hits the surface and vaporizes – the steam then steams or cooks the kale. Stir the contents of the frying pan, ensuring it is all cooking evenly, for 1 minute or until the verjuice has evaporated. If using a separate frying pan, return the walnuts to the large frying pan.
Serve up. Divide the bacon, brussels sprouts and kale between 2 bowls, and top with 2 poached eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Use a knife to pierce the yolk and watch it turn into an oozy golden sauce!
This recipe is best made and eaten straight away before the brussels sprouts become soft.
