"...techniques are all we cooks have for transforming beautiful ingredients into seductive, thrilling, memorable flavors and textures. If recipes are the sheet music of our kitchens, then mastered techniques are our way of making them sing." -Rick Bayless

Is there truly anything better than having a meal that absolutely makes you want to die and go to heaven? I have memories of each of those meals that truly touched my life, my taste buds and were not only about nourishing my body but were an experience in and of itself. Most of the time this was due to the ingredients and the preparation however there have also been meals that were experiences due to location or company or just general sensory adventures. I thank my family for teaching me at a young age how to enjoy and experience these types of meals.

Today I am melancholy as I know my family got together for an Italian meal last night and I know it was a meal such as I described above. I tried to find a way to be there because I not only wanted to experience the food I also wanted the love and support that comes from sharing a meal with them. I love the way they pass food, wine and laughter from person to person. I love the way they talk about everything they put in their mouths and break it down trying to share and describe their appreciation of each of the ingredients, flavors and textures. I love the stories they tell about the recipe, where they got the ingredients or the inspiration for the dish. I love the way they share their own history over a glass of wine and include everyone in the room whether its an old friend, new friend, family or someone they never met before. I love the joy they all get from bringing food, eating food and preparing the food. It is truly a spiritual experience that warms your heart to eat with them. You all were in my thoughts last night and I hope you had a meal filled with miracles!!!

So tonight I decided to conquer Bacon and Egg Soup. I know it sounds strange but I figure I love the components-bacon, eggs, Parmesan cheese. And I love soup! So put it all together and what do you get? Bacon and Egg Soup! When I initially read the description I thought it might be a kind of play on Chinese Egg Drop Soup but it is not. The eggs are poached in the chicken broth base and the Parmesan and bacon add the contrasting flavors and textures. It is truly a comfort food and an easy way to make breakfast work for dinner.



The recipe is extremely easy as the hardest part was trying to poach the egg in the broth. However, that wasn't even so challenging that it was unattainable. I do have to say I love salt and I truly think that is one of the reasons I enjoyed this soup because between the chicken broth and the bacon this recipe is not for the sodium faint of heart. It has a great flavor with the sauteed garlic and Parmesan as well and with the homemade bread croutons it truly was heaven in a bowl.

So you start by cooking the bacon in a pan...the recipe says 7 minutes but they wanted the bacon crispy so it took me closer to 10-12 minutes. Then you take the bacon out and get rid of all of the bacon fat with the exception of 2 tablespoons. Cook the 2 garlic cloves in the bacon fat. The recipe says 1-2 minutes but I found the bacon fat to be so hot that the garlic cook almost instantly. Meanwhile you cut the 4 pieces of bread into cubes and toss it with olive oil, salt and pepper and cook on a baking sheet in the oven for approximately 8 minutes. To the garlic you then add chicken broth, water, parsley and the rind of Parmesan cheese....ahhh yes another reason why you should stay away from the green Kraft can...no rind for your soup. Boil the broth and then let it simmer for 10 minutes. Then you break the eggs into a small bowl and lightly put them in the broth while its simmering. The recipe says you should cook the eggs for 2 minutes but I like my poached eggs a little more well done so I cooked them for a little longer. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon to your serving bowls then pour the broth over the eggs. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and parsley into the broth and combine. Then pour on top of the egg and sprinkle the bread cubes and bacon on top. Holy heck!

This soup truly knocked the melancholy right out of me...sure I would have loved to have someone to share this soup with but it truly was perfect for a cooler night when you just needed to be nourished.  I know it sounds weird but seriously give it a try. Cheers!