Heaven in a hero roll.Bacon, eggs, and toast were a daily breakfast staple of my life between the ages of six and eighteen, so that combo ranks very high on my short list of all-time favorite comfort meals. I recently swapped out the toast for a fresh hero roll and made what is perhaps the ultimate variant on the venerable NYC bacon, egg, and cheese on a hard roll, a deli favorite since time immemorial. Here's the formula:
6 slices thick cut bacon (I favor either 1906 Butcher Shop brand or Boar's Head)
3 jumbo eggs
3 slices Boar's Head yellow American cheese
Black pepper
1 hero roll
1 tbsp salted butter (I favor Kerrygold)
Cut hero roll open lengthwise. Set aside.
Divide each slice of cheese into two halves. Set aside.
Whip eggs and black pepper (to individual taste) in a small, deep bowl, using a three-tonged fork. Whip until you have folded in enough air to make the eggs bubbly/frothy. Set aside.
On a griddle, fry the bacon over medium heat to desired level of done-ness. Take your time with this and turn bacon periodically to allow for proper cooking without burning. (The curing medium on thick cut bacon can burn if not watched with care, and no one likes burnt bacon. Especially not if you were willing to shell out the extra scratch for quality thick cut bacon.) When bacon is done, plate onto a paper towel to drain, then arrange the still-hot strips of bacon into open hero roll. cover the bacon with the half-slices of cheese from end to end.
Heat butter in a small sauce pan, preferably non-stick, over medium-low heat. Give eggs one more good whip to fold in more air, then pour into pan. Cook slowly, turning with spatula as the eggs firm up a bit. Individual preferences vary, but I suggest cooking the eggs to a soft consistency, then drop them into the hero roll straight from the pan. The heat from the eggs, coupled with remaining heat from the bacon, will melt the cheese to a semi-solid creamy consistency, and once you have arranged the eggs from end to end atop the cheese and bacon, close the roll. Press down a bit, so that any excess of the soft eggs comes out. Any excess that comes out is to be scooped back into the roll's interior, and then the roll is pressed again, so that the contents properly fuse together. The soft eggs will partially absorb into the bread. Cut sandwich in half at the middle, then enjoy.
For accompanying beverage, I recommend pouring a can of chilled seltzer (preferably Schweppes), into a deep tumbler, topping it off with about an inch of orange-pineapple juice. The effervescence and citrus offer a delicious counterpoint to the protein and salt of the sandwich.
It's admittedly excessive, but I have found that this belly bomb not only shamelessly satisfies, it is also ideal as fuel when one will be stuck in place for 9-8 hours. I first made one of these with the intent that it keep me sated from about a half hour before I was picked up for the drive to that day's dialysis through the end of the session and the drive home, so about six hours, give or take, and it absolutely did the trick. When I eat one of these first thing in the morning, my food needs are met until the early evening, so no lunch is needed. Anyway, it's my ultimate homemade comfort breakfast sammich, and I fucking love it.
