Colm O'Gorman's simple and delicious Egg and Bacon O’Farls

As is often the case, simple food can be the most delicious — as is the case with these delightful Egg and Bacon O'Farls 

We had a dear friend come to stay for the weekend recently. Esmat is from
Afghanistan and lived with us for several months after he arrived in Ireland. He moved out some weeks ago to start a job in Dublin, and this was his first weekend coming down to see us since he left. Food was a big part of this time with us. 

You will likely not be surprised to learn that food has always been important in our home. Making school lunches for the kids as they ate breakfast in the morning, batch cooking at the weekend for the week ahead, Sunday brunch all together… chopping, cooking, eating together, even cleaning up afterwards; these were the things that brought a rhythm to our lives, that connected us in ordinary but lovely ways. Now that the kids are grown, the rhythm has changed, but it is still there. The kitchen is still the pace where we connect most often. The room to which everyone emerges in the morning to start their day, and where we will more often than not reconnect at the end of the day as we prepare an evening meal.

Esmat settled into that rhythm with wonderful ease. The first night he came to stay I made Banjan Borani, a beautiful Afghan dish of spiced aubergine and tomato on a bed of whipped yoghurt. It felt important to serve him something from his own home as we welcomed him to ours. Over the months that followed, I was inspired to try other Afghan dishes and shared several of them here in this column. It was a lovely way to get to know Esmat better and to make a connection with his own family back in Afghanistan. We ate more than
Afghan food of course. Esmat loves his food, and I love feeding people who love food, so it was a good fit all around. I had a blast introducing him to new dishes and teaching him how to cook some of them. He loves bread, so I made sourdough, brown soda bread, flatbreads, scones and more. When he messaged me to say he was coming down to see us for the weekend, I immediately thought about what to cook for dinner on the Saturday. I got that sorted, but as it was a particularly hectic week at work, I was quite unprepared beyond that.

When I got up to make breakfast on Sunday, I found the bread bin empty. So, I made soda farls. I had not made them for him before, and they are quick and easy to make and always delicious. I knew he would love them. Then I looked in the fridge and realised there was not much there to go with them. There was some cheese though, and I had eggs. I took a little inspiration from the golden arches and swapped the breakfast muffin for a soda farl. It has some nice streaky bacon, so I made Egg and Bacon O’Farls. Esmat had his without the bacon, so if you want a vegetarian version that works nicely, maybe add a few grilled mushrooms as well. Some thick slices of portobello mushroom cooked in a little butter with salt and pepper would be amazing. This was one of those spontaneous meals that was a delight. As is often the case, simple food can be the most delicious. I have made these again a few times since, and they have become a real family favourite.

Egg and Bacon O’Farls

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

A simple and delicious breakfast or brunch

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour

• 1 level tsp baking soda

• ½ tsp salt

• 300ml buttermilk

• 4 eggs

• 8 slices streaky bacon

• 8 long slices of Emmental cheese

•  

Method

1. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk and mix that in to form a sticky dough. Heat a heavy-based non-stick frying pan or griddle over a high heat. Take one quarter of the dough and place in a heavily floured worktop. Sprinkle more flour over the top of the dough and shape it into a round about 2.5cm thick. Repeat with the rest of the dough to form four farls. Reduce the heat to medium and add the farls to the dry pan. Cook for six minutes and then turn them over and cook them for another six minutes.

2. While the farls are cooking, grill the bacon and set it to one side. After the soda farls have had their final six minutes in the pan, pop them onto a wire rack. Wipe the pan out carefully and return it to the heat. Add just a little rapeseed or olive oil and then crack an egg open into the pan. Use a spatula to shape the egg white into a rough circle about the same diameter as the soda farls. Repeat with the other eggs. Let them fry for a few minutes until the white is almost cooked through.

3. Cut the slices of cheese in half and lay two over each egg. Now place a lid over the pan and let the eggs cook for another few minutes until the cheese has melted. Your eggs will still have lovely runny yolks, so if you want a hard yolk, just cook them for a little longer before adding the cheese.

4. Slice open the soda farls and butter each half generously. Cut the slices of bacon in half and share them across the farls. Place a fried egg on top of the bacon, and the other half of the farl over the egg. Serve with a big mug of tea.