Savory Dutch Baby with Bacon and Cheese and Salt and Roses

A few Sundays ago when Manservant left for Sweden, I managed to crank out a swanky breakfast. By all rights someone who is leaving me should not be subjected to something so good. But I am kindhearted, probably too kindhearted, because this was practically the last time I spoke with him for two weeks. His not so kindhearted company works him to death and this wife who is quickly becoming not kindhearted to said company, who returns her husband home sick and cranky, is becoming quite cranky herself. Not that she blames it all on said company, as we all know everyone should have thirty seconds in a day to call or text their loved ones.

Let’s just say that Valentine’s Day did not contain this breakfast. Nor did this breakfast become Valentine’s Day dinner-which it could have been. No… Valentine’s Day was kind of non-eventful, containing requisite cards and very pretty roses and some cute little salt bowls that now grace my counter. It appears I wasn’t totally forgotten by this manservant of mine; I just seemed to escape his memory for some time. After all the excuses we ended up having Vietnamese for dinner, which is totally acceptable to me. It appears that Vietnamese families dine out en masse on Valentine’s Day, judging from the very large groups of families that were surrounding us, some even bringing red rose bouquets to the table.

Well, we got our standard dishes of goi ga and shrimp in black pepper sauce and crystal rolls and egg rolls. And then we were full. We followed out the large groups of 12 and carrying our doggie bags we drove down Federal that was totally crammed with cars-and fire trucks and ambulances. No, I have no clue what was going on. We arrived back home to two wagging tails and then it was off to bed for Manservant-where I have no doubt he was dreaming of that awesome, kindhearted wife that he married so long ago. I was left awake, after all, it was only 8:30, watching Larry David portray Bernie Sanders-which was quite a hoot, and thinking of pink roses

 and brown salt bowls

 and pondering life; which can be a little salty-a little sweet-but it all seems to work out in the end.

This Dutch baby recipe does not remind me of a standard sweet Dutch baby. Yes, it gets beautifully puffy-a bit arrogant perhaps-but it reminds me more of a Yorkshire pudding in texture, than a Dutch baby. I felt it needed some doctoring up so I added some bacon bits and hot sauce to the mix. I thought it needed more, so decided to gild the lily with a fried egg. Fried eggs always seem to make everything a bit more golden-at least according to Manservant. And because I had some red and green peppers that needed a home, I sauteed those, too. The original NYT recipe served this on its own. Personally, we preferred this baby with embellishments!

Savory Dutch Baby with Bacon and Cheese
Adapted From: NYT
Time to Make: About 45 minutes from start to finish
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
4 -6 slices of thick bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
2 Peppers, sliced into strips
1 small onion
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 Fried Egg Per Person
1/2 c plus 1 T flour
1/4 t kosher salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
4 large eggs
1/4 c plus 2 T whole milk
1 t Tabasco
2 T minced chives or scallions
1 T minced cilantro or sage
3 T unsalted butter
1/4 c plus 2 T Parmigiano-Reggiano
Lemon Wedges for serving
Directions:
Cook bacon until crisp and then finely crumble. Set aside. Reserve the bacon fat. Use 2 T of bacon fat and saute your peppers and onion in that. Remove from pan and keep warm. In the same pan you can use the remaining bacon fat to fry your eggs. 
Preheat oven to 425. Melt butter in a heavy 8″ skillet over medium high heat until it sputters, turns brown and smells great. Make sure the bottom of the skillet is coated with butter. In a large bowl combine flour, salt and pepper. In a measuring cup whisk together the eggs, milk and Tabasco. Combine with dry ingredients. Stir in cilantro, chives and crumbled bacon. Pour batter into hot skillet and scatter cheese on top. Bake at 425 for about 25 minutes or until your baby is puffed and golden. When the baby is just about ready, start your eggs. 
To assemble: Cut a wedge of the baby. Top with peppers. Top peppers with a fried egg. Serve lemon wedges to squeeze on top of the baby. Bon Appetit!

More to Try:
Everything but the Bagel Scrambled Eggs
Migas Scrambled Eggs with Tortilla Chips and Chorizo
British Scones
Bacon and Egg Breakfast Salad

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