Thursday, February 24, 2011

Bacon & Egg Purse Soup: Crepe-Wrapped Bacon Meatballs in a Star Anise and Ginger-Scented Broth

When the creative and talented Natasha of 5 Star Foodie Culinary Adventures invited me to join the 5 Star Makeover cooking group she and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks! were forming, I was totally on board.  I love to put my thinking cap on in the kitchen, after all, and the group's first directive - come up with a gourmet interpretation of the classic bacon and eggs combo - is both playful and challenging. Good stuff!

For my dish, I drew inspiration from one of the best meals I've ever had - the Chinese feast at Grace Garden, which I wrote about earlier this month. In particular, I wanted to pay homage to the Phoenix Purses:
Now, in this dish, the broth was the star, while the purses - egg white crepes wrapped around lightly seasoned ground meat - were the supporting players. I wanted to reverse this dynamic, so for the crepe I used both the yolk and the white to create a paper-thin wrapper that packed an egg-y punch, into which I tucked meatballs made out of a combination of bacon and ground pork:
The result? Little bites of pure bacon-and-egg-goodness ...
... which then nestle in a subtly-scented chicken broth, garnised with leek, scallion, and extra bits of the egg crepe:
For the crepes, I worked in batches, and just kept making them until I had as many as I wanted - I stopped at eight. Each egg will make about one crepe,  depending on the size of your crepe pan. Here's what you do: Whisk together 2 eggs and 1 tsp of water, and strain through a seive. Heat a crepe pan (mine was 9.5 inches) on medium heat, and then turn it down to low. Wipe a thin layer of oil over the pan and swirl 1/3 of the egg mixture over the surface. When the egg starts to dry out on the edges, carefully peel it up, using both hands,  and turn it over for just a second or two. Remove to a plate and repeat, wiping the pan between crepes. You can stack the crepes, they won't stick together.

For the meatballs, I used Michael Ruhlman's proportions from his book Ratio as a rough guide: 1 part fat to 3 parts meat, and 1.5 tsp of salt for every pound of meat.  Using my eyeballs as an unscientific fat content measuring device, this translated to roughly 1/4 pound of chopped bacon to 1 pound of ground pork, and 2 tsp salt. I also added a few grinds of black pepper,  1 small finely chopped onion, and 5 cloves of minced garlic.  I formed the mixture into 1 inch balls, and seared them in a skillet on all sides over medium high heat in 1 tbsp vegetable oil and 1 tbsp peanut oil. Once seared, I added a cup of water and covered the pan, allowing them to steam for about 10-12 minutes. (You will likely need to use two pans for this, or work in 2 batches.) I had extra meatballs which made for a very tasty sandwich the next day!

To make ties for your purses, cut very thin strips of leek (the green part) and blanch for 10 seconds, and immediately remove to an ice bath.

For the broth, for every 4 cups of chicken broth add 4 whole star anise, one leek, a large knob of peeled ginger, and a healthy pinch of white pepper. Heat on low, allowing the broth to become infused with the aromatics. When finished, strain and salt to taste. Add the purses to the soup with the broth is still piping hot, and garnish with leek, scallion, and leftover strips of egg crepe.

Natasha and Lazaro will be posting a round up of all the creative bacon and egg dishes on their blogs on Friday, February 25 - you can follow the links in the graphic below, and make sure to check them out!





42 comments:

  1. Wow, what an enticing dish. So simple and so elegant!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ....perfect..I think in this post...in this recipes..everything's perfect!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now I see!!! I think it's fab that they are so different Trix!! Mine is so thoroughly Western and yours has it's feet firmly in the East. I love the bags o' balls... the egg pancakes are genius and the broth... ooh la la. Great job with the challenge and wonderful photos... they are sexy little buggers, aren't they?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow that looks gorgeous! I'm drooling over those photos.

    ReplyDelete
  5. wow, that's fantabulous! i've been dreaming about those phoenix purses ever since you wrote about them, and this dish looks just as impressive and delicious! fantastic dish and creativity!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the shot of the purses all lined up ready for their plunge into the bowl of broth. I'd be right there ready with a spoon--looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Adorable little purses and i like the bacon & turkey meatball filling inside, great in the soup too! Thanks so much for participating!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is cute, playful and delicious as well. What a great soup!!


    Nisrine

    ReplyDelete
  9. okay, this is funny: i was in a really boring meeting this morning and for some reason i started wondering wondering what breakfast would look like if it was a soup...!
    i think you figured it out for me!

    ReplyDelete
  10. (oops, somehow i wrote "wondering" twice there and now i can't fix it!)

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is REALLY mean. These look so good, so perfect, so delicious, and I think it's exactly what I've been craving but didn't know what was missing - and you're over there and I'm over here!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is so you! Perfect little bundles here, adorable, elegant, and as usual more thank bellissimo! LOVELY, you need to take a bow for this!

    ReplyDelete
  13. A simply beautiful dish -- the house must've smelled amazing! theresa

    ReplyDelete
  14. Just adorable and I can imagine very delicious to eat. Great post for this new challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love the purses! And I really love the broth! This looks like total comfort food to me- whenever I don't feel good, I always reach for miso soup or pho- these flavors are right up my alley!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh wow...these egg purses look so pretty. Must be so fun to make and delicious to eat.

    ReplyDelete
  17. That is absolutely beautiful! you get better by the post my dear.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Just beautiful. I love the look of those purses and the overall dish is a joy to behold...

    ReplyDelete
  19. So incredibly innovative! Great job, it looks (and I'm sure tastes) beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  20. OMG. I think I'm doing ok here until I see posts like this that make me realize I'm not worthy. Beautifully made, photographed, and written about. I am now seething with jealousy.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This is definitely different and delicious I'm sure.
    I love the whimsy.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I always admire your photos! So clean, vibrant, beautiful, crisp! These little bacon bundles of joy are quite a feat. Bravo!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Just like looking at pictures out of a magazine! Good gravy these look good!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Your bacon and egg purses are lovely and the soup sounds so flavorful! This will make a great starter.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This is a fabulous and inspired idea, and I bet it tasted great to boot! Lovely pictures! I also like that you shared how to make the ties for the purses: I have tried to use leeks to tie things before but it never worked all that well, now I know the secret is blanching first. :) Congrats on Foodbuzz Top 9 today!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Such a clever creation. Sounds amazing.

    We invite you to share this post and some of your favorite food posts on Food Frenzy.
    Please check out our community at http://blogstew.net/foodfrenzy

    ReplyDelete
  27. What a great bacon and eggs dish! The crepes are beautiful and I love the bacon meatballs they're stuffed with!

    ReplyDelete
  28. wow! This is so chic and yummy. Thanks for sharing all the steps and congrats on top 9.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Simply gorgeous! Congrats on a well-deserved Top 9!

    ReplyDelete
  30. What a brilliant take on that challenge! Your photos are beautiful, too.

    ReplyDelete
  31. How cute! Those parcels look simply delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hey Trix, I just saw this over at Natasha's place-your'e a genius, Lady;) The egg purses are such a good idea. Plus, they look delicious! Yum...

    ReplyDelete
  33. A girl can never have too many purses.
    Great addition to the event!
    LL

    ReplyDelete
  34. Stunning results and so so creative. The purses look just divine.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Oooh, how incredibly beautiful. Your soup and purses are absolute perfection.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Wonderful and creative...looks fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  37. I love these purses! It's just so beautiful and elegant. I can imagine all the flavors of the broth and the purse fillings too. What a creative dish. Great job!!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Oh yes, I remember you had this with papa Trix at the restaurant. You said it was excellent and you even brought home all the leftover. haha... Gee, yours look so professional too. Neat! Bravo, Trix. You did such a wonderful job here. Hope you're having a lovely day.
    Blessings, Kristy

    ReplyDelete
  39. Wow, that looks absolutely delicious, and gorgeous! your photos are amazing!

    ReplyDelete