My saturday/sunday breakfast, with pics!!

[kidcolin]

I thought'd I share with you all a saturday/sunday morning ritual of mine. I make what is quite possibly the best bacon, egg and cheese croissant sandwich in the world. My morning starts with a 5 block walk to my local coffee shop, where I pick up an excellent cup of coffee and a croissant. The croissants here are nice and sweet, and a bit heavier than most others I've had.




The other ingredients are:
4 strips of apple smoked bacon. I pick this up from the butcher at my local specialty grocer. Really good stuff.
1 egg. Just from the supermarket. I haven't found (or looked for, really) any good markets for farm fresh eggs.
1 slice of extra sharp cheddar. Also from the grocer.

I start by cooking the bacon. I think I've mastered the pan frying technique. It takes me about 25-30 minutes. I do my morning reading while periodically checking and flipping the bacon.



In that pic I had just moved the second slice to the middle, as it was cooking too slowly. I ended up cooking that one piece a couple minutes longer than the rest. They came out perfect. Make sure you take the bacon off the pan a little before it looks exactly like you want it to, as they'll cook a bit on the paper towel.



Then I use some of the bacon fat to grease the second pan I cook my egg in. I use the bigger pan to toast my croissant. I turn the gas up pretty high for the toasting.




Shortly before the croissant is done toasting, I begin to fry my egg. I don't break the yolk. For the sandwich I like my egg over medium. Now, one problem I do have in this whole ordeal is the cheese. I just started using this good cheese, not the packaged slices. Well, I suck at cutting the cheese (*snicker*). I don't have a proper cheese knife, and my technique is probably shaky. So I end up with a bunch of small slivers of cheese, varying in width. Still, it ends up working out in the end.

A trick I learned from the grill guys at work is using a lid and some water on the pan to melt the cheese faster. This is crucial if you're like me and enjoy the yolk a little runny. Just sprinkle a few drops of water on the pan and then cover the egg. Take the lid off in 30 seconds or so, and the cheese should be good.



Another tip: just before the egg is done, I throw the bacon back on the pan for just a half minute or so. It heats it up some and brings out the flavor a little more.

Then just stack, and enjoy! In the pic I put all the slices of bacon on the sandwich, but I usually eat half or a whole slice on the side. Some may also disagree with my egg:croissant ratio. I've considered going with two eggs, but I think I'll stick with one. The little arms of the croissant will end up just having bacon between them, nothing else, and it ends up being really tasty just like that. And if the yolk is a little runnier than normal, I'll break off one of them and use it to sop up the yolk.