By The house hunt. We looked at two more houses this week and one of them was interesting enough that I went home and drew the floor plan from memory and showed it to my mother. She asked if the kitchen faces the backyard. I said no, it faces the side. She said that matters. She is right. The kitchen should face the backyard. I grew up in a kitchen that faces the backyard. You need to see the yard while you're cooking. You need to know where the children are.
The other house was wrong immediately -- I knew it walking up the front steps. There is something about a house that tells you whether it fits before you open the door. Sean says I'm being mystical. I say I'm being an Irish woman from Southie who has opinions about houses. These are not incompatible positions.
Delta wave on the floor this week requires everything we have and then some. I came home on Wednesday with the particular bone-level tiredness that is not about sleep but about sustained cognitive and emotional output in a high-stakes environment. Sean had dinner ready. He didn't ask how the shift was because he could see how the shift was. He gave me the dinner and the quiet and after the kids were in bed he asked one question: "Same or worse than last week?" I said same. He said okay. That was enough.
Corn chowder on Sunday because the corn is still good and will not be good much longer and I make the chowder every August to mark the last of the season. The kitchen smelled like late summer and I needed late summer in the kitchen.
Sunday was always going to end with something warm on the stove — that much I knew before I even started. The corn chowder claimed the afternoon, but it was the Dutch oven that carried us through the evening: cheesy, bacony, the kind of thing that asks nothing of you while it cooks and gives everything back. After the week I’d had, I needed a recipe that understood that equation. This one does.
Dutch Oven Cheesy Bacon & Eggs
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 6 strips thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 8 large eggs
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish
Instructions
- Render the bacon. Place your Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon pieces and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp, about 8–10 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of drippings.
- Whisk the eggs. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika until fully combined and slightly frothy.
- Build the base. Return the Dutch oven to medium-low heat and add the butter to the reserved drippings. Once the butter is melted and foamy, pour in the egg mixture. Let it sit undisturbed for 30 seconds until the edges just begin to set.
- Fold and cook. Using a wide silicone spatula, gently fold the eggs from the edges toward the center in slow, deliberate strokes. Continue folding every 20–30 seconds, keeping the heat low, until the eggs are just barely set but still slightly glossy, about 5–7 minutes. Do not rush this step.
- Add cheese and bacon. Scatter 3/4 of the cheddar and all of the cooked bacon over the eggs. Fold once or twice to distribute, then remove the Dutch oven from heat. The residual warmth will finish melting the cheese.
- Serve. Spoon onto plates and top with the remaining cheddar and sliced green onions. Serve immediately, straight from the pot if you’d like fewer dishes.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 420 | Protein: 26g | Fat: 33g | Carbs: 2g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 680mg