"Bae" Toast with Crispy Bacon Lardons, Marinated Avocado, + Luscious Cheesy Scrambled Eggs on Garlic-Rubbed, Bacon Fat Fried Multigrain Sourdough Toast

If you could do one thing for me when it comes to cooking, it would be to make this avocado toast... before anything else. Have you ever wondered what "bae" stood for? Some people believe it to be what I already previously stated. But in my crazy foodie world, it obviously stands for bacon, avocado, + egg. Yep, the craze of 2016 had to be avocado toast. I wasn't really on board with it in the beginning because I'm not much of an avid avocado person. Don't get me wrong though, I love me some guacamole. But just toast and avocado? I wasn't quite buying it just yet. However, I started seeing recipes pop over all over the blog-o-sphere and pinterest and they included much more than just a piece of bread + avocado. That inspired to make one of our favorite dishes yet, Smoked Avocado Toast with Herbed Crab Salad, Bacon Fat Fried Sourdough, + Citrus Caviar. It's so good that we make it a few times a month. So, I knew I would've eventually come up with another twist on this new-found classic. What I absolutely love about this recipe is that you can literally eat it for breakfast, brunch, lunch, a snack, or dinner-- it is so versatile! Now, let's break down each component. First let's talk about the "toast"... if you could even call sliced thick cut, multigrain sourdough pan fried in smokey bacon fat toast. It's crunchy on the exterior, but perfectly melts into your mouth like a perfectly cooked piece of bacon. That golden brown piece of bread is then rubbed with garlic, which gives the toast a little bit of bite, especially in such a rich dish. Speaking of rich, let's get to the marinated avocado. I personally think avocado is a little too bland to me. So any time I use it, I like to "marinate" it. I do this by buying an almost ripe avocado, cutting it into slices, and then smashing it ever-so-slightly with some salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, and lime zest. This adds just a wee bit of flavor and intensifies it just enough to bring everything together. Now far and away, the best component of this toast are the luscious cheesy scrambled eggs. A chef can make or break a recipe by the way they cook their eggs. And this is the only way I will scramble an egg. Eggs are beaten together with heavy cream (YES), kosher salt, and fresh cracked pepper. They are then slow-slow-slow-and-low-low-low cooked in a skillet with butter and oil. This is very, very important. The key to getting fluffy, luscious, and creamy eggs is to continuously stir and fold the egg mixture with a rubber spatula. If I could describe it best, I would say to graze the pan, gently moving the cooked eggs from the outside of the pan towards the center. I will say that this method will take some time, anywhere from 15-30 minutes, but it is so unbelievably worth it. At the very end of cooking, I like to grate some parmesan on top of the curds and gently fold it in. I also love to garnish with fresh chives, but that's completely optional! Really, all that is left are topping the toasts with crispy bacon bits and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes... and that is it! It is such a simple dish, but oh-so-amazing! I mean, anyone can make this. I hope y'all love it as much as we did. Enjoy :)

For the Marinated Avocado:

2-3 Ripe Avocados, Sliced

1 Lime, Zested + Juiced

1T EVOO

Kosher Salt + Fresh Cracked Black Pepper, To Taste

For the Luscious Cheesy Scrambled Eggs:

2T Unsalted Butter + 1T EVOO

6 Extra Large Eggs

¼C Heavy Cream

Pinch of Kosher Salt + Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

½C Freshly Grated Parmesan

1-2T Fresh Snipped Chives

For the "Bae" Toast:

Prepared Marinated Avocado

Prepared Luscious Cheesy Scrambled Eggs

6 Slices of Thick Cut Applewood Smoked Bacon, Cut into Lardons + Cooked until Crispy

Reserved Bacon Fat, For Frying

4-6 Slices of Multigrain Sourdough Toast, Fried in Bacon Fat

1 Large Clove of Garlic

Dried Red Pepper Flakes, For Sprinkling

Directions:

1. Fry the bacon lardons in a large skillet over medium heat until they are perfectly crispy (but not burnt). Remove the bacon lardons from the hot pan and place them on a paper towel to drain and cool them. Reserve the rendered bacon fat for frying the toast.

2. For the Bacon Fat Dried Multigrain Sourdough Toast: In the same large skillet, over medium heat, add in about 1-2 inches of the rendered bacon fat. Fry the toast for a couple minutes on each side until they are golden brown and slightly crunchy. Repeat this process until all of the bread has been fried/toasted. Set them aside and let the toast cool for a few minutes, and then rub the clove of garlic all over the warm surface of the bread. Set them aside before assembling.

3. For the Marinated Avocado: In a mixing bowl, add in the sliced avocado, followed by the lime zest, lime juice, EVOO, kosher salt, and fresh cracker pepper. Toss all of the ingredients together, so that the avocados are covered in the lime. Right before assembling, mash the sliced avocado slightly, so that there are still some large chunks amongst the smoother smashed avocado. Set the marinated avocado aside until you are ready to assemble the toast.

4. For the Luscious Cheesy Scrambled Eggs: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, kosher salt, and fresh cracked pepper. Heat a large nonstick sauté pan over low heat. Add the butter and EVOO and allow it to melt and start to froth a bit. Pour the egg mixture into the warm pan. Using a heat-resistant rubber spatula, continually stir and fold the eggs until super soft curds form. It is important that you neatly and gently scrape (or graze) the sides of the pan, making sure to never stopping the motion. Push the eggs from the outside of the pan towards the center and repeat it until they are creamy, but cooked through. This process should take 15-30 minutes depending on your stovetop. Once the curds form and the eggs are cooked, sprinkle the top with the freshly grated parmesan and snipped chives. Stir to combine and be prepared to serve them while they are still warm.

5. Assembling the "Bae" Toast: Grab your perfectly browned bacon fat fried toast and rub the surface with the clove of garlic. Top each of the slices with some of your marinated mashed avocado and season with a pinch of salt. Spoon a mound of the luscious cheesy scrambled eggs on top of the creamy avocado. Scatter the crumbled, crispy bacon lardons evenly over the avocado. Garnish with some red pepper flakes for some spice and enjoy!

Smoked Avocado Toast with Herbed Crab Salad, Bacon Fat Fried Sourdough, + Citrus Caviar

Okay, I've finally jumped on the avocado toast bandwagon (#avotoast). I will be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of avocado to begin with. I always found their mushy texture and lack of flavor to be less than appealing... even though I do love me some guacamole. So, when I saw recipe after recipe of pieces of bread topped with nothing besides avocado, I normally just skipped over them and didn't think anything else about it. But my Mountain Man is a lover of avocado and begged me to make them for him. As with most of my recipes that involve bread, I always have to fry them in some kind of fat or oil, this time I chose bacon fat... because we all know I keep a jar handy in the fridge. I love the smokey flavor and the richness that the bacon fat lends. But, if you aren't a crazy person like me (who keeps bacon fat in a jar), then any oil will be fine here. The toast should be beautifully golden brown, saturated in yummy fat, and perfectly crisp. After you have fried the slices of bread, make sure to give them a rub-a-dub-dub with a big ole' clove of garlic while they are still warm. Now here is the fun part... the smoking of the avocado (and y'all it's so damn easy)! Essentially, all you have to do is get a large dutch oven and place a small bowl upside down in the center. Scatter your choice of flavored wood chips around the bowl, no need for soaking them in water, and turn up the heat to high. While you wait for the chips to start smoking, scoop out your avocado into another small bowl and dress them with fresh lime juice and zest, as well as some fleur de sel. If you want more smokiness to your avocado, then I suggest you slightly smash them, if you want a tame smoke flavor, just leave them in halves. Next, all you have to do is put the bowl of avocado on top of the overturned bowl in the dutch oven (with the chips smoking away), and cover the pot. Smoke the avocado for 5 minutes... any more and it might be overkill. While the avocado is smoking, it's time to quickly whip up your herbed crab salad. This is easy-peasy. In a medium mixing bowl, add the in the jumbo lump crab meat, homemade aioli, dijon mustard, fish sauce caramel, lemon juice + zest, red pepper flakes, minced garlic + shallots, and fresh herbs. If you can't find/make fish sauce caramel, a white balsamic reduction or honey would be a good substitute. As gently as possible, fold together the lump crab meat with the herbed aioli until the crab is completely coated, but still has a few big pieces of meat. Now your bacon fat fried toast, herbed crab salad, + smoked avocado are all ready to be assembled into amazing avotoast. I'm a little coo-coo, in that I had Finger Limes shipped to me from California... specifically for this recipe. Finger limes are so interesting because we you slice them open, a citrus caviar comes out, as opposed to pulp and seeds. If you can, order some, they are so fun, and can be used in a million different ways. But, the toast is just as good with some lime zest + freshly squeezed lime juice on top, so don't worry about it if you can't wait to make this. This smoked avocado toast is so good that we've made it for the past three weeks. I believe I'm now an avocado toast lover... who would've ever thought? Enjoy :)

smoking the avocado

bacon fat fried toast

bacon fat fried toast + smoked avocado slices

all of the components for the herbed crab salad

it's hard to resist it, but save it for the toast

see the citrus caviar from the finger limes on top?

citrus. caviar.

For the Herbed Crab Salad:
8oz Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
3-4T Homemade Aioli
1t Dijon Mustard
1T Fish Sauce Caramel
1 Lemon, Zested (plus the juice from half of that lemon)
1-2t Red Pepper Flakes (or depending on how spicy you want it)
1 Small Shallot, Finely Minced
1 Clove of Garlic, Finely Minced (into a paste)
½t Fresh Cracked Pepper + ¼t Kosher Salt
1T Fresh Snipped Chives (plus a little extra for garnishing)
1t Fresh Tarragon, Basil, + Parsley, Finely Minced (plus a little extra for garnishing)

For the Smoked Avocado: 
2-3 Avocados
1 Lime, Zested + Juiced
Pinch of Kosher Salt


For the Smoked Avocado-Crab Toast:
Prepared Herbed Crab Salad, Chilled
Smoked Avocado, Lightly Mashed or Gently Sliced
4 Slices of Sourdough, Fried in Bacon Fat (or any other oil can be substituted)
1 Large Clove of Garlic
Citrus Caviar (finger limes) or Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
Mixed Herbs, For Garnishing


Directions:
1. For the Herbed Crab Salad: In a mixing bowl, put in all of the ingredients of the herbed crab salad. Gently fold these together until the crab is coated in the herb-aioli mixture. Do not mix too hard because you want to maintain as much of the “lump crab” pieces as possible. Now, taste and season with salt and pepper, if it is needed. Refrigerate this crab salad until you are ready to assemble the toasts.
2. For the Smoked Avocado: Line a Dutch oven (or any heavy bottomed pot with a lid) with foil to keep your pot from burning. Place a small metal bowl upside down in the middle of the Dutch oven. This will help prop everything up. Then, scatter about 2C of wood chips around the small metal bowl. We used mesquite wood chips, but any kind will work (hickory, apple, etc.), and there’s no need to soak these either! Turn up the heat to medium-high and wait for the chips to start smoking, it can take anywhere from 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile, while you’re waiting for the wood chips to smoke, it’s time to get to avocados ready to be smoked by halving, pitting, and peeling them. Put the avocado halves into another small bowl and zest + juice a lime over the top. If you want sliced avocado for your toast, leave the halves untouched. These will be slightly less smoky. If you love a smoky flavor, lightly smash the avocado, which gives more surface area for the smoke to infuse into. Once the chips are smoking, place the bowl of avocados on top of the upside down bowl in the pot. Top the Dutch oven with a lid and set your timer for 5 minutes (any more time than that, it’ll be way too smoky). After the time is up, remove the smoked avocado, season with some fleur de sel, and place in the fridge to chill.
3. Assembling the Toast: Grab your perfectly browned bacon fat fried toasts and rub the surface with the clove of garlic. Top each of the slices with some of your chilled smoked avocado and season with a pinch of salt. Spoon a mound of the herbed crab salad on top of the creamy avocado. Scatter the citrus caviar evenly over the crab mixture. If you can’t find finger limes, some lime zest and lime juice will do just fine! Garnish with the leftover mixed herbs for presentation.

Bacon Infused + Slowly Caramelized French Onion Soup with Bacon Fat Sourdough Toast, Gruyere Cheese, Aged Cheddar Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, & Bacon Lardons

It's funny how something as simple as soup, can be exactly what you need on a crummy day. We usually make a pot every Sunday because it seems to have a calming effect on all of us. It's so comforting, simple yet complex, and it's something that the longer it cooks, the better it tastes. That is certainly the case when it comes to this recipe, my Bacon Infused + Slowly Caramelized French Onion Soup with Bacon Fat Sourdough Toast, Gruyere Cheese, Aged Cheddar Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, & Bacon Lardons. Who doesn't love caramelized onions? Everyone has to. The process of caramelizing the onions takes a loooooong time... like 3-4 hours long. But that's okay, it's not super high maintenance besides occasionally stirring it, so that the onions caramelize evenly. And like any good Southerner would do... I added a shit ton of bacon essence to it. Yep, I started by crisping up some bacon lardons, and then removing them to a separate bowl before I caramelized the onions in the rendered bacon fat. After the hours + hours of cooking the onions low + slow, you will find a pot of a gold. The pure gold is certainly something that has been handed down to us by the gods.

After the onions were done, I added all the yummy liquids... cognac, balsamic vinegar, red wine, beef stock, and water. Once they've gone through a good simmer and the flavors have begun to meld, make sure to season to taste with some salt, pepper, sugar, and even some more wine if you like. The part of French Onion Soup that everyone loves is the bread + the melty cheese. I took this component over the top by frying some slices of sourdough bread in bacon fat until they got golden brown + toasty. This bacon-fat-infused bread is plopped on the surface of the soup before a mixture of gruyere, aged cheddar, and parmesan is piled on top. Just pop the bowls into the oven and broil the heck out of it until the cheese is melted and nicely browned. All you have left to do is garnish with some crispy bacon lardons and fresh herbs, and you will be one happy girl/boy!! Enjoy :)

For the French Onion Soup:

1T Unsalted Butter

½lb Thick Cut Applewood Smoked Bacon, Cut into Lardons (reserve the rendered fat)

6-8lbs Yellow Onions, Thinly Sliced

¼C Sugar (plus a little extra to sweeten the soup if needed)

Smoked Fleur de Sel + Fresh Cracked Pepper

2 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme

1/3C Cognac (sherry may be substituted)

1-2T Aged Balsamic Vinegar (optional)

1C Red Wine

4C Unsalted Beef Stock (preferably homemade, but store-bought is fine)

1C Water

Slices of Sourdough Bread (make sure it is able to fit inside the bowl)

Rendered Bacon Fat, For Frying the Bread

½lb Gruyere Cheese, Grated

½lb Aged Cheddar Cheese, Grated

Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese (to top the other cheeses)

Crispy Bacon Lardons, For Garnishing (made crispy in the first step)

Fresh Parsley or Chives, Minced (for garnishing)

Directions:

1. Beginning the Soup: Use a large soup pot that will hold all of the onions and liquid. Place the pot over medium heat and melt the 1T of butter. Add the bacon lardons and cook until the bacon has rendered all of its fat and it is crispy. Strain the bacon from the pot into a small bowl and set it aside until the soup is finished. Add all of the thinly sliced onions; sprinkle them with 2t smoked fleur de sel, some fresh cracked pepper, and the sugar. Stir to combine. Cover and cook until the onions have heated through and started to steam, about 30-45 minutes. 

2. Caramelizing the Onions: Uncover the pot, reduce the heat to low, add in the fresh thyme, and cook, stirring continuously (you should be able to leave the onions alone for an hour once they’ve released their water). I kept cooking my onions for at least 3-4 hours, low + slow until they reach a deep, dark golden brown.

3. Making the Bacon Fat Fried Sourdough Slices: In a sauté pan, over medium heat, melt some bacon fat and fry the slices of sourdough bread until they are golden brown and toasty. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the slices of fried bread onto a baking sheet and keep them warm until you are ready to top the soup with them.

4. Finishing the Soup: When the onions have completely cooked down and all their liquid had cooked out, add in the cognac, balsamic, red wine, beef stock, and water. Raise the heat to high and bring the soup to a simmer, and then reduce the heat to low. Taste and season with smoked fleur de sel, fresh cracked pepper, and some sugar if needed. If the soup is too sweet, you can add an extra tablespoon of balsamic. If you want the soup to have more depth, add a little more red wine (shhh, no one has to know).

5. Serving the Soup: Preheat the broiler of your oven. Portion the soup into the bowls, top with a bacon fat fried slice of sourdough bread, cover with a handful of gruyere cheese and a handful of aged cheddar cheese, and finish with a mound of freshly grated parmesan. Broil until the cheese is melted and nicely browned. Garnish the top with crispy bacon lardons and minced herbs. Serve immediately.  

Caramelized Sourdough French Toast with Mixed Berry Compound Butter, Macerated Blackberries, Homemade Whipped Cream, & Buttered Maple Syrup

Caramelized Sourdough French Toast with Mixed Berry Compound Butter, Macerated 

Blackberries, Homemade Whipped Cream, & Buttered Maple Syrup

So, there was a nasty cold front that moved through Atlanta this week, and it was absolutely dreadful. Pipes were bursting, roads were freezing... all chaos ensued. It's funny how Southerners act like the world is ending when it isn't even snowing. We're all a bunch of nut cases. But really, can you blame us? We live in a world where it's a hot as hell, the cold is far too frigid. Anyway, the sun finally came out today, YAY. And it started feeling like springtime again. We all know that gives me the itch to make a decadent brunch on the porch, butofcourse. I already had a gorgeous loaf of sourdough bread, so french toast was meant to be. Now, I feel really strongly about french toast. There a three keys to success when making this iconic breakfast staple... 1. Thick, THICK slices of bread 2. Perfect Batter 3. Lots & lots of gourmet toppings. First we tackle the bread. I cut my slices about two inches thick and soak them for about 15-20 minutes in the batter. Now the batter is important because that is where all the flavor is injected. So mine is flavored with heavy cream, milk, vanilla bean rum, orange zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg. When you soak the thick slices of bread in this luscious batter, the middle puffs up into this almost souffle-like center, but the crusts remain crunchy + chewy. But what really puts this recipe over the top is the dusting of powdered sugar. Some of you might be wondering how I get the french toast so perfectly caramelized-- and that's because of the confectioners' sugar! I used a fine mesh sieve to lightly dust the sugar all over both sides of the soaked bread and quickly tossed them into hot butter. Since the pieces of bread are so thick, you have to cook them a good while until everything has heated through and the outsides have evenly browned & crisped. It is also very important to bake it in the oven for about 10-20 minutes to round everything out and keep it warm for serving. Onto the gourmet topping... I made homemade mixed berry compound buttered, macerated blackberries, whipped cream, & buttered maple syrup. Mixed berries + french toast are a match made in heaven, y'all. So don't leave them out... especially the compound butter... and the whipped cream... oh shit, don't leave out anything, alright?! Finishing out the meal, I served our french toast with cheesy scrambled eggs + praline bacon. Umm yumm. Well, I hope y'all make this soon because it makes Sunday Brunch that much better!! Enjoy :)

Soaking the thick slices of french toast in batter...

Ahh the dusting of confectioners' sugar...

SEE-- the PERFECT caramelization

french toast, cheesy scrambled eggs, & praline bacon

raspberry sorbet mimosa in a mason jar

For the Mixed Berry Compound Butter:

4 Sticks of Unsalted Butter, Softened

1C Mixed Berries (I used raspberries, blackberries, & blueberries)

1t Vanilla

1T Sugar

Pinch of Salt & Cinnamon

For the Macerated Blackberries:

3C Fresh Blackberries

½C Sugar

2T Balsamic Vinegar + 1T Fresh Lemon Juice

For the Caramelized Sourdough French Toast:

1 Loaf of Crusty Sourdough Bread, Sliced Very Thick

4 Extra Large Eggs

½C Heavy Cream

¼C Milk + Vanilla Bean Infused Rum

3T Sugar

2t Vanilla Extract

1T Fresh Orange Zest

¼t Cinnamon & Freshly Grated Nutmeg

Pinch of Salt

Confectioners’ Sugar, For Dusting

Unsalted Butter, For Frying

For the Buttered Maple Syrup:

½C Maple Syrup

4T Butter 

For Serving:

Prepared Mixed Berry Compound Butter, Cut into Rounds

Prepared Macerated Blackberries

Warm French Toast Slices

Prepared Buttered Maple Syrup

Homemade Whipped Cream

Directions:

1. For the Mixed Berry Compound Butter: Beat together the softened butter, vanilla, sugar, salt, and cinnamon until combined & fluffy. Add in the mixed berries and beat until they have broken up and evenly dispersed throughout the butter. Spoon it onto a piece of plastic wrap and form it into a log and refrigerate until the butter has chilled and hardened. Cut into rounds and enjoy on your French toast.

2. For the Macerated Blackberries: Using a fork or the back of a wooden spoon, mash 1 cup berries with sugar and balsamic vinegar in a large bowl until sugar begins to dissolve. Gently stir in remaining berries; let sit at room temperature, tossing occasionally, until berries are juicy, 1-2 hours.

3. For the Caramelized Sourdough French Toast: Cut the bread into 8 large wedges. Whisk the eggs, heavy cream, milk, rum, granulated sugar, orange zest, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large baking dish. Add the bread and turn occasionally until soaked through, about 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the confectioners' sugar in a fine-mesh sieve. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add half of the bread and dust generously with the confectioners' sugar; cook, turning and dusting often with more confectioners' sugar, until golden brown and caramelized, 15 to 20 minutes (add more butter to the skillet, if needed). Transfer the French toast to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. Add more butter to the skillet and repeat with the remaining bread. Serve with maple syrup.

4. For the Buttered Maple Syrup: Heat maple syrup in a small pot and whisk in a tablespoon of butter at a time, while whisking the entire time, until the mixture is completely incorporated. Serve warm.

5. For Serving: Serve the French toast with some mixed berry compound butter, macerated blackberries, a drizzle of buttered maple syrup, and a dollop of homemade whipped cream. Enjoy!