From the pantry:Eggs that make the chef puff up with pride

If you see a puffed up blowfish, you know danger has been spotted. If a cobra puffs up, an attack is imminent. A puffy cat denotes a feather duster or a stray cat is in its sights.

Puffing signifies peril in the animal world, but in the world of food it has quite the opposite meaning. It's a delight.

What would puff pastry be without the puff? Certainly not as light and airy. Popovers wouldn't live up to their name if they didn't blow up like a hot-air balloon.

What about the souffle? Well, without that airy lift, it would be a 'sou-flop.”

This brings me to the puffed egg - a newfound form of one of my favorite proteins. Puffed eggs are basted in hot liquid in a frying pan, causing the eggs to rise and fluff from the heat. This puff is very slight and resembles a poached egg. This method require some time at the stove, especially, if you decide to fry half a pound of bacon before cooking eggs so that you can baste your eggs in the bacon fat.

Don't worry, you will counteract all that grease with a pile of sauteed kale.

All combine for a positive puff on your breakfast plate.

Bacon-Puffed Eggs with Lemony Garlic Greens

Serves 2

'1/2 pound kale

'1/2 pound thick-cut bacon

'1 tablespoon butter

'2 cloves garlic, minced

'2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

'Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

'4 large eggs

First, preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Strip the kale leaves from the center stems and chop into bite-size pieces. Set aside.

In a large heavy (preferably cast-iron) skillet, fry bacon over medium heat until crisp around the edges or to your liking.

Place cooked bacon on an ovenproof pan and place in the oven to keep warm.

Remove about a tablespoon of fat and place in another large skillet along with the butter.

Melt the butter with the grease over medium heat and then add in the garlic to fry for one minute. Add the kale and stir occasionally until it wilts. Season with the salt, pepper and lemon juice and continue to cook until the greens are tender.

Heat the remaining bacon fat over medium-high heat and crack the eggs into the skillet.

Gently shake the skillet back and forth sending the fat in waves over the eggs. As the eggs puff and brown around the edges, continue to shake the skillet to dislodge the eggs from the bottom of the pan (you can use a serving spoon to aid if necessary).

Tilt the skillet away from you and spoon bacon fat over the tops of the eggs to cook the yolks. Continue this process until the eggs inflate but the yolks are still soft.

Remove from the skillet and place on top of the garlic greens and serve with the reserved bacon.

Source: Adapted from 'The New Midwestern Table”