Bauernfrühstück
A leftovers breakfast in which everything hangs on one decision: the potatoes must be yesterday's, boiled and cooled. Fresh warm ones break up in the pan and instead of slices with a crisp crust you get purée with bacon in it. Cooled starch is firm and dense, so the slice holds its shape and has something to brown.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Bacon and onion 13 min
- Potatoes 12 min
- Eggs 6 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneSlice the cold potatoes thickly
Peel yesterday's potatoes and cut them into slices half a centimetre thick. Thinner ones break as you turn them, while thicker ones stay cold in the middle by the time the outside has browned.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon · 1 pcs onion · 30 g butter
Render the bacon from a cold pan
Put the diced bacon in a cold pan and only then turn on the heat. The fat renders slowly and it is what the potatoes will fry in. Bacon dropped into a hot pan scorches on the outside before it gives up any fat.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon · 1 pcs onion · 30 g butter
A cold pan — the fat renders slowly.Soften the onion and lift both out
Add the onion and fry 5 minutes, until soft and golden at the edges. Lift the bacon and onion onto a plate, leaving all the fat behind. Left in the pan they would scorch during the next twelve minutes of frying potatoes.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon · 1 pcs onion · 30 g butter
Fry the potatoes in one layer, undisturbed
Add the butter and lay the potatoes in a single layer — ideally in a large pan (28–30 cm); the slices can overlap slightly, but do not pile them up. Fry 6 minutes without touching them, then turn with a spatula and fry 6 more. Constant stirring is the main mistake here: a slice needs still contact with the pan to build a crust.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon · 1 pcs onion · 30 g butter
One layer, six minutes without moving them.Return the bacon and pour egg between the slices
Tip the bacon and onion back in, beat the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper and pour them evenly across the pan. The egg should run into the gaps between slices and bind them, not cover everything in a layer of omelette.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 60 ml milk · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp pepper
Egg running into the gaps, not covering the top.Lower the heat and stop while it is still moist
Reduce the heat and cook 4–5 minutes, lifting the edges with a spatula. Take it off when the egg looks barely set and still slightly wet — it finishes in the hot pan. Scatter with chives and serve from the pan with a pickled cucumber.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 60 ml milk · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp pepper
Before you start
Without yesterday's potatoes
Boil them in the morning and spread them on a tray to cool fast — half an hour in the fridge is enough for the starch to firm up. Worse than overnight, but far better than warm straight from the pot.
With sausage instead
Sliced smoked sausage or leftover roast in place of bacon. This dish is by definition a way to empty the fridge — the only requirement is that the meat is already smoked or cooked, since raw meat will not cook through in time.
The pickle is part of the dish
Potatoes, bacon and egg are three rich, mild things at once. A pickled cucumber or a spoonful of sharp mustard cuts that richness — without something sour the whole thing turns heavy fast.
