A Celebration of Smoked Pork: Open-faced Barbecue Sandwich with Fried Egg

Keeping in theme with the short articles and quick and tasty recipes of ‘smoked pork week’, today I bring you the ultimate leftover barbecue pork breakfast– an open-faced barbecue sandwich with a sunny-side up fried egg.

This is probably my favorite dish that we made this week using the leftover pork from the smoked Boston butt last  weekend. The contrast of texture is excellent. The creaminess of the cayenne-sprinkled egg yolk blends perfectly into the sweet-heat of the sauce drenched pork laying a top the hickory-smoke infused and super crunchy hamburger bun. The entire thing is an all-around home run. I just wish I had enough leftover pork to make it again.

Open-Faced Barbecue Sandwich with Fried Egg (feeds two)

• 1 large farm egg
• 1 hamburger bun, split
• 2 cups pork
• 1/4 cup favorite barbecue sauce
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, finely chopped
• handful arugula or favorite relish/chow chow
• 3 teaspoons hickory-smoked pork fat reserved from smoking Boston butt
• Kosher salt, to taste

In a cast iron pan, heat 1 teaspoon pork fat over medium-heat. Fry only the inner-side of each hamburger bun until golden brown. Remove to a plate.

In the same pan, heat 1 teaspoon pork fat and fry the egg over medium-ish high heat until crispy and the egg white is no longer runny (you’re going for a crispy fried egg and runny yolk– none of that slow-cooked egg stuff here). Season with salt and cayenne pepper. Remove to a plate.

In the same pan, heat the remaining teaspoon pork fat and fry the pork over medium-ish high heat until warmed thoroughly. Add in the cider vinegar, rosemary, and barbecue sauce and continue to cook until the sauce is slightly caramelized, but not burnt. Remove to a plate and sprinkle with fresh thyme.

Plate and serve hot.

Music to eat a great breakfast to: Brett Dennen – “Brett Dennen” Click to listen for free at Grooveshark!

“This is that rare and wonderful thing – a brilliant debut album from a mature young artist with a sound like nothing you have ever heard. Dennen’s voice sounds like it’s caught somewhere between adolescence and adulthood, but he sings with the idiosyncratic confidence of Van Morrison. His guitar playing crackles with jazzy melody and he has already learned that less means more. Dennen’s unique phrasing syncopates with the playing to make you tap your toes as you absorb his superbly crafted songs. The material is often unabashedly spiritual, invested with down-to-earth intensity and sincerity. Brett Dennen has it all together and the production lets it shine. It’s all that good-essential!” – Review by Michael Devlin for Music Matters

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