Recipes – № 58
Broth for Breakfast
When I'm in the mood for a warm and savory breakfast, this dish is my favorite. It's very restoraritive and wholesome - the dietary equivalent of a spa day - but most importantly it's just delicious. Good broth is critical. You can get away with supermarket broth in some dishes, but not here. Make your own from scratch or buy some at the farmers market. If the farmer's broth is very plain (i.e. made of just meat, bones and water), then round out the flavors by simmering it with a bit of onion, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, thyme, bay leaf and black pepper for an hour or so and then straining it. In NYC, Brodo also sells fantastic, ready-to-use, frozen broth (their "Hearth" broth is my favorite for this dish).
As always when poaching eggs you should use the freshest eggs possible. Older egg whites turn runny, which makes poaching them in broth or water difficult.
Serves 4
1 cup rice (brown or white)
5 cups of quality meat broth (chicken, beef, or mixed)
4 very fresh eggs
1 bunch greens. Quick-cooking, green members of the cabbage family such as broccoli, broccoli rabe or bok-choi are ideal, but other greeens such as lamb's quarters or spinach work well too.
A squeeze or two of lemon juice (about 2 tsp)
Olive oil
Boil the rice as per the package instructions in a rice cooker or pot. Once the rice has cooked and is resting, boil the broccoli in florets as per my recipe or sautée any other variety of greens in olive oil, chopped only enough to make it fit your serving bowls. Avoid overcooking by tasting the greens frequently and removing them from the heat just before their stems are tender with a bite (they will continue to cook away from the heat). Dress the greens in fine sea salt, lemon juice and olive oil to taste.
Heat the broth in a large sauce pan until it begins to release steam but before it would start to boil. Turn the heat to low. Taste for salt - you want it a bit on the salty side since the eggs and rice will absorb some of the seasoning. Scoop the rice and greens into 4 serving bowls. Carefully crack one of the eggs into a small cup without puncturing the yolk and gently place it in the broth. Repeat with the other three eggs, avoiding contact between the eggs in the pan as much as possible. Use a spatula with a straight edge to scrape off any eggs stuck to the bottom of the pan, again taking care to leave the eggs intact. When the egg whites are set but the egg yolks still soft (about 3 minutes for a fridge egg though it varies with size), use the spatula to scoop the eggs into the bowls. Pour the broth and serve.
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