March 24, 2018

Pepper Bacon Poached Eggs with Tots

Name: Pepper Bacon Poached Eggs with Tots
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 4 eggs (large); 4 cups water; 1 tbsp sea salt; 2 cups tater tots; 6 rashers of bacon; 1/4 cup onion (chopped); 1/4 cup hot peppers (chopped fine); 2 tbsp cilantro (chopped)

Pepper Bacon Poached Eggs with Tots is a goofy name for a breakfast that we have been enjoying on the weekend that is tasty and filling. We usually make it with hash browns or with shredded potato or sweet potato but this morning, we were in a bit of a rush to get the day started so we just pulled out some Tater Tots from the freezer and got busy!! It turned out

Take me to the Recipe

really well and is worth doing if you don’t have potatoes or just want a bit of a change. It is a pretty easy breakfast to make for two or for a crowd. Pepper Bacon Poached Eggs with Tots can be made gluten and dairy free if that is something that is important to your health. It also goes really well with Cheesy Pepper Savory Scones.

You will need a pot to poach the eggs in and a fry pan to cook everything else in.

Poaching Eggs

I like to poach my eggs ahead of time so I am not trying to deal with that right at the end. I boil up a pot of water and add a couple of tablespoons of white vinegar. The white vinegar helps to keep the egg white from spreading out in the water.

I poach four eggs at a time as I find that more than that gets a little crowded if I am not using a big pot. Crack the eggs in to a little bowl or dish first so you avoid any egg shells getting into the boiling water. If you find an eggshell in your bowl, just use another piece of the egg shell to scoop it out. Otherwise, you could be there all day trying to chase that piece of egg shell around in circles with your finger or a spoon. Trust me, the egg shell trick to get the egg shell is a game changer.

Once your water has boiled, turn it down to a simmer and add your eggs. Try to drop them in to different sections of your pot so they don’t gloop (technical cooking term) together. Give a minute to jell up a bit and then gently take a spatula and get them unstuck from the bottom of the pot. GENTLY is the operative word here! Another tip is to keep the water at a nice simmer. You don’t want it boiling because that will be a bit rough on the egg and you will end up with less egg on your plate.

Some people religiously time their poached eggs and I must admit, I used to be one of those people. Then, I went to the Culinary Institute of America and learned not to do that. My instructor taught me that “the timer does not know what is happening in your pot, that is why you are there.” So what I do now is more of a feel thing. I cook them for a few minutes and then get a slotted spoon and pull them out and give them a gentle poke. If they super soft, back in the pot they go until I like the firmness of them.

I like to have a plate lined with paper towel beside my pot. When I remove the eggs, I put them right on to the paper towel to drain off.

You can actually do all of this poaching the day before if you are feeding a crowd. I recommend pulling the eggs out of the hot water when they are just a little less cooked than you want them. Once you pull them from the hot water, you can put them in a bowl of cold water and refrigerate them until the next morning. When you are ready for them the next morning, you just boil a pot of water and put the eggs in for a minute or two, pull them, drain them and serve them!!

This is a great strategy for making Eggs Benedict for a crowd as well. Makes the next morning waaaayyyy less stressful. If I am just cooking for the two of us, I will just put them on the paper towel until the rest is ready and then drop them back in the hot water for a minute just before I am ready to serve.

Potato/Bacon Mixture

I have a non-stick pan that I like but I know that there are different opinions out there about non-stick cookware and your health. Use whatever fry pan you like to cook the other ingredients. Get whatever potato you are using and get it on a medium heat in the fry pan. Season with salt and pepper and any other of your favourite seasonings. If you are starting with fresh grated potato, it does take longer to cook them.

In the meantime, take some bacon and dice it up. Once the bacon is just about crispy, we like to add chopped hot pepper and onion. If you are not one for spice in the morning, substitute sweet bell peppers. Cook the potatoes part way before adding the bacon in. If you are one for spice, a great, tasty substitute for the bacon is spicy genoa salami. It takes less time to crisp up too so if you are pressed for time, it is a great option.

Put It All Together!

Once your bacon mixture is cooked up nicely, reheat your poached eggs (if necessary) and then drain them. Get your plate and put your potatoes on the bottom and top with poached eggs. I add chopped cilantro over top. Sometimes, I add a bit a grated cheese as well but if you are avoiding dairy, you wouldn’t do that. Slice into that egg and let the yolk drip down into the potato bacon mixture. Pepper Bacon Poached Eggs with Tots, MMMMMMmmmmmm. Enjoy! Let me know how you liked it.

** Note, I am questioning the nutrition calculation as I don’t think it makes sense so just putting that out there…. I think it added all of the salt into the recipe whereas the salt goes into the water and isn’t ingested so it is not quite accurate.