EGG SANDWICH (WITH HOMEMADE CIABATTA) INSPIRED BY BIRDS OF PREY

For the Homemade Ciabatta

Start by making a pre-ferment with all-purpose flour, instant yeast and room temperature water. Mix together until it resembles a too-thick pancake batter. Wrap tight in plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 hours, then refrigerate overnight.

For the main dough

Add the following to the bowl of your stand mixer: all-purpose flour, instant yeast, kosher salt, instant non-fat milk, the entirety of the pre-ferment, lukewarm water, and olive oil.

Mix together using the paddle attachment. Once it all comes together, remove the paddle and replace with a dough hook and knead on medium-low speed for 7-8 minutes until smooth, shiny, and sticky.

Use the dough stickiness to roll into a taught ball. Place it into a well-oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rest at room temperature for 2-3 hours, or more than doubled in size.

Using an oiled rubber spatula, fold the dough in and on itself, turning the bowl as you go, 8 times. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes and then repeat the process one time.

After another 30 minutes, spread the dough into a large rectangle on a well-floured work surface. Pop any huge bubbles that appear, and then trim the dough into your desired size ciabatta pieces - I recommend 4x6 inches or 4x8 inches.

Set the pieces of dough on a heavily floured piece of parchment paper set in a rimmed baking sheet. Cover with an inverted rimmed baking sheet. Let proof and rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Cut the parchment in half (so you have half the dough on one side), spritz dough pieces generously with water, and sprinkle with a little more flour. Use a pizza peel to place the dough on a preheated pizza stone in a 450°F oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until browned and puffed.

Brush off the excess flour and let cool for at least one hour.

Use a shallow rimmed baking sheet as a cutting template to cut the bread in half with a bread knife. Proceed to sandwich assembly!

For the Sandwich Assembly

On the stove top, place bacon in a heavy cast iron pan topping with water and over medium heat. Once the water has evaporated and the bacon starts to brown, give it a flip and cook to your desired crispiness.

Toast the ciabatta buns in the cast iron pan using the leftover bacon grease. Remove buns from pan and top with bacon.

To cook the eggs, pour a little extra bacon grease into a cast iron skillet, then crack duck (or chicken) eggs into the pan. Fry sunny side up until the sides are brown and toasty. Add American cheese to the top. Cover the pan with a lid until the cheese melts, the whites set, and the yolk is still runny.

Hit the cheese with a few glugs of hot sauce and the place the egg-cheese-hot sauce combo on the ciabatta bread on top of the bacon.