The Morning after the Night Before

This is a sure-fire hangover helper when combined with a tall glass of fresh OJ and a mug of strong coffee, best eaten in a sunny window while discussing last night’s adventures.

The trick is to let the shallots get nice and caramelized. You want them sweet and chewy on the outside and soft in the middle. For two people you need: 5-7 shallots, a few cups of frozen hash browns or leftover cooked little potatoes, 4 rashers of bacon, a dozen mini tomatoes (or one to two small regular sized ones) and 3 or 4 eggs, preferably organic and free range.

Skin the shallots and slice the larger ones in half lengthwise. Get your griddle or frying pan medium hot and add olive oil and the shallots. I tend to not move them around too much in the first 5 to 10 minutes, you want them to cook long and slow and get a nice browning going. Meanwhile cut the potatoes if necessary as well as the tomatoes if they aren’t minis.

When the shallots have been going for a good 10 to 15 minutes and you have turned them over and pushed them around a few times, add the bacon and cook for five minutes or so on each side. This may take longer, depending on the size and quality of your pan. When the bacon looks almost done, throw in the potatoes and mingle with the bacon and now gorgeous browned shallots. Basically treat the potatoes the same way, leaving for several minutes and flipping or stirring only when necessary. A nice browning is ideal here too. If the bacon starts too look to crisp for your liking remove them from direct heat and place on top of the potatoes.

When the potatoes are looking nice and brown and crisp, season with salt and pepper and push them aside a little to place the tomatoes onto direct heat. Give these a stir a few times, and cook until they are nice and hot and the skin is a little wrinkly. Mix the whole mess together one more time and push aside to make a few holes for the eggs to drop into. Crack the eggs and nestle into the pan. Again with the salt and pepper and put a lid on the whole thing. You might be worried about burning the hash browns or shallots at this time, but a little crispiness never hurt anyone (with the exception of those pesky carcinogens). If you are really stressing about it remove the pan from heat but leave the lid on.

In a few minutes time your egg should be nice and set. Leave it longer if you don’t like it runny, though I think runny egg is ideal for this recipe and gives you a little sauce of sorts. Think of it as the simplest form of Hollandaise. And I know you like your Hollandaise.

Best served with a few dashes of hot sauce and maybe some ketchup or HP if that’s your bag.