Can’t believe it is already Easter Monday of 2020. How fast has the first quarter of 2020 flown by. Not long ago I was still in San Francisco literally having the time of my life. Wish I was back there (once this Corona pandemic is over). Miss my new friends, the space and the fresh produce. Haven’t travelled since late January and honestly, it is driving me a bit mad.
I guess the only thing that keeps me sane in times like this is the process of creating; particularly when it comes to the culinary sphere. Besides hiking, learning the code, brushing up my illustrator skills and picking up French again, cooking is the only thing that is keeping me motivated. For the interest of safety, I have paused my supper club events. I guess now is the best time to focus on one’s own learning and up-skilling to prepare us better for the workforce or our own entrepreneurial projects.
So back to the topic of today’s breakfast. I made a polenta breakfast bowl seeing I had one portobello mushroom left in the fridge and some kale. You simply want to dehydrate the mushroom and kale as much as you can to achieve the ‘crispy effect’. I don’t have a dehydrator so I simply used my oven, set it at 180C and roasted it for 20 minutes or so till the mushroom dried out. Sprinkled some thyme and truffle salt onto it to enhance the flavours. 
As for poaching egg, the trick is to bring the water – once it has boiled – down to a slow simmer, add a drop of vinegar to help the egg white coagulate at a lower temperature due to the higher acidity of the water, and then slide the egg gently into the water with a ramekin. I forgot to time it so just trusted my instincts but I would say a good 4 minutes would do the trick. Remove the egg gently with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel to absorb the excess water.
Caramelising the shallots is another trick I deployed here (well, more patience than a ‘trick’ per se). But simply heat a small pan on a low-medium heat, add some oil and the thinly sliced shallots. The sugars will caramelise the shallots over time. To accelerate the process, I added a drop of balsamic vinegar. Feel free to use onions too here if you don’t have shallots; the same results will yield. 
I used instant polenta here so it was rather quick (but feel free to use the longer cooking one; they take 20 minutes or so). While I used oat milk as the liquid of choice, feel free to use vegetable stock, milk or water. For that extra indulgence I grated parmesan into the polenta. Feel free to skip if you want. 
Putting this polenta bowl altogether is the fun part. I loved layering and arranging the shallots, mushrooms and kale on top of the polenta. The last part of the job is the gently slice the poached egg on top of the bowl and let the yellow yolky goodness ooze out. Eat this breakfast bowl while it is warm and simply enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea. 
Ingredients
- egg
- 60g polenta
- 240g liquid such as water, stock or milk
- 1 large portobello mushroom
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- Small handful of kale
- 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar
- Pinch of truffle salt (or salt) and freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon of hazelnuts, roasted
- 1 tablespoon of grated parmesan
- 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 175C and line baking tray with parchment paper.
- Slice mushroom finely and rip the leaves off the kale into small bits. Layer mushroom onto parchment paper (be sure not to crowd it) along with the kale. Sprinkle with kale, light drizzle of olive oil and some truffle salt and pepper.
- Roast for 20 minutes or so until mushrooms are crispy (N.B. you may need to take out kale earlier around the 10 minute mark to prevent it from browning).
- Caramelise the shallots. In a small frying pan, add some olive oil and heat on medium-low. Add the thinly sliced shallots and let it cook for 15-20 minutes or longer till the sugars caramelise. I added a drizzle of balsamic here to help the process but this is optional.
- In the meantime, poach the egg by boiling a pot of water and lowering it to a slow simmer once you slide the egg in. Poach roughly for 4 minutes then transfer the egg with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb excess water.
- Cook the polenta. Note that I used instant polenta here so it was very fast. Basically you need to heat the liquid of choice (I used oat milk) till it is hot then add the polenta in while whisking to avoid lumping. Throw in the grated parmesan and mix till it is all combined.
- Take the mushrooms out of the oven and drizzle with some red wine vinegar. Toss to combine.
- Plating. Transfer the cooked polenta to the serving bowl and layer the caramelised shallots, mushrooms and kale on top. Place the poached egg carefully on top and gently slice it apart with a sharp knife so that the egg yolk oozes out. Top the dish with the crushed halzenuts and crack some extra black pepper and sprinkle of truffle salt before serving.
