Like the time of year that birthed this recipe it is a jumble of comfort, decadence, spice, resolutions, and bacon. The creamy subtly earthy soup, the crispy cheese below, the melty cheese above, a peppery bite of arugula, a sweet salty swirl of bacon jam. Hello breakfast. Hello brunch. Hell no to boring leftovers.
I’m on the fence about bacon jam; it teeters dangerously close to a forced union of maple and bacon. Maple and bacon can and should get along and do things together but some concoctions (Rouge brewery I’m looking at you) are more akin to maple and bacon being handcuffed together and forced to talk about both their feelings and baseball stats. Not right, just not right. But bacon jam? Somewhere in the middle—fun in small doses, like the feelings without the handcuffs.
I made a mini-batch and perhaps that was the problem, a lot of stirring and time for one tiny jar. One tiny jar that I neglected to properly document- there was maple bourbon and chili powder. Aww hell I’m sure they’re all great. Here are two that I based my bacon jam on.
Chef John’s Bacon Jam from Allrecipes
You can also buy it all ready to scoop:
Online from Mouth
Or, if you’re in Portland, Tabor Tavern and Swift and Union have their bacon jam available to take out (they also have a pretty good happy hour menu)
And while I’m sharing recipes here’s one I found on Leite’s Culinaria when searching baking times for eggs.
Potato Leek Soup Breakfast Bake with spicy bacon jam
This makes a single serving which I baked up in a mini 5-inch cast iron skillet so the edges got crispy. When I first tried this combination I simply heated the leftover soup in the microwave and topped it with a fried egg- that day I also used ham. That first incarnation wasn’t quite as pretty or refined but considerably faster and still very good. Alternately I imagine that this could make a fun brunch dish for a group, just multiply the recipe and use a bigger pan.
Ingredients
- 1 cup potato leek soup- you can get my recipe here or use your own favorite.
- 1 Tablespoon Heavy Cream (omit if your soup already has crème fresh in it)
- Hard cheese like Parmesan or Romano to grate in the pan and on top
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon bacon jam
- Arugula to taste
- Buttered toast fingers for dipping
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 425F
- Lightly grease the pan with bacon fat or butter and coat with grated cheese
- Add the soup, top with a bit more cheese, and bake on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and top with the egg and a healthy dollop of bacon jam.
- Reduce the heat to 350F and bake until the egg is your desired doneness- approximately 8-15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and serve with arugula and toast fingers.
Potato Leek Soup Breakfast Bake with spicy bacon jam
Ingredients
- 1 cup potato leek soup- you can get my recipe here or use your own favorite.
- 1 Tablespoon Heavy Cream omit if your soup already has crème fresh in it
- Hard cheese like Parmesan or Romano to grate in the pan and on top
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon bacon jam
- Arugula to taste
- Buttered toast fingers for dipping
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 425F
- Lightly grease the pan with bacon fat or butter and coat with grated cheese
- Add the soup, top with a bit more cheese, and bake on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and top with the egg and a healthy dollop of bacon jam.
- Reduce the heat to 350F and bake until the egg is your desired doneness- approximately 8-15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and serve with arugula and toast fingers.
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