chickpeas À la dregs
ingredients:
2 cups prepared chickpeas*
2 big handfuls chunky bacon lardons
couple cloves of garlic, smashed n chopped
fresh thyme. sea salt. fresh cracked pepper.
one farm fresh egg per bowl of this gorgeous stuff
splash of white vinegar
*a note on chickpeas before we start. in the past we here at the dregs have derided any notion of canned, processed foods. however, there are just some things better left to the professionals. puff pastry for example, don’t even bother trying to make your own. you might as well make your own water. chickpeas are kind of like this. making them is just no fun. if you can do it, great. wanna make em yourself? google it. we prefer to recommend a nice imported jar of chickpeas by radici of tuscany, or really any can from your local importer. cheers.
get this party started:
dump your bacon lardons into a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat, let them start to render. get another pot simmering with water and that mysterious splash of white vinegar.
now:
drain your chickpeas and pat em dry. no need to kill yourself over this task, just dry em as best you can. when the bacon is getting really fragrant and you see the pork fat rendering, toss in your garlic. when that starts to brown and smell heavenly, toss in your chickpeas. pinch of salt. pinch of pepper. toss like a boss, use a wooden spoon if you need. just try not smash the chickpeas up. toss in your fresh thyme and let this all sit on medium heat and crisp up in the glorious rendered bacon fat.
time to poach your eggs:
crack each egg into a small ramekin. lower the ramekin into the water and tip the egg out. boom. easy. now just keep an eye on it and do not overcook it. no more than 2 minutes.
serve:
do i even need to say this? put the chickpeas n bacon in a bowl. put the glorious poached egg on top. garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme, a piece of crusty bread, and maybe a grate or two of parmesan. serve it up like a boss.
this meal pairs great with either an earthy old world red or white. even off-dry. you literally cannot mess this up. now go do the dishes, and we’ll see you next month!
