When Thaddeus Barton moved to Serenbe to take over the kitchen at The Farmhouse, he brought his fiancé Lane Hajack with him. Lane is a very talented chef in her own right, having studied the culinary arts at the Art Institute in Chicago and worked in kitchens from Chicago and Martha’s Vineyard to Manhattan—so we snapped her up and put her in charge of the kitchen at The Blue Eyed Daisy.

What I love most about Lane is her enthusiasm. She jumped right in and figured out the flow, as well as the little details of the day. It wasn’t long before she realized that, every morning, Steve would bring a bowl of red rice into the Daisy and ask them to top it with poached eggs and jalapenos.

The red rice was suggested by Steve’s accupressurist as a natural cholesterol reducer and alternative to prescription drugs. So every morning he’d cook the rice here, take it across the street, get his eggs, eat it and inevitably leave our bowl in their stack of dirty dishes.

“Lots of people in the community would order ‘Steve’s Breakfast,’ even though it wasn’t on the menu, and didn’t realize he would add red rice and other elements to the dish,” Lane says. “So when the breakfast menu was set to change, I thought we should make a dish that was composed of all the elements of Steve’s breakfast, and eliminate his need to supplement the dish!”

Now that Lane has added “Steve’s Bowl” to the menu, Steve leaves the house each morning empty-handed, knowing a big bowl of red rice topped with two poached eggs (or egg whites), guacamole, pico de gallo and cojita cheese is just a few steps away.

It is delicious, a huge seller and the reason all my bowls are back in the cabinet where they belong.

Steve’s Bowl

• Serves 4
• Pico de Gallo:
• 3 Roma tomatoes, seeds removed & small diced
• 2 tablespoons minced onion
• 1 clove minced farlic
• ½ jalapeño, seeds removed and minced
• ½ lime, juiced
• Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients. This part is best if assembled a few hours before serving.

• Avocado Mash:
• 2 ripe avocados
• ½ lime, juiced
• Salt to taste

Mash with a fork until creamy yet still chunky.

• Other ingredients:
• 8 eggs, soft poached
• 2 cups cooked Bhutanese red rice (follow package instructions)
• 1 head romaine, chopped
• 1 bunch of cilantro, leaves picked
• 1 cup pickled jalapeños (store bought or home made)
• 1 cup crumbled cotija cheese
• Olive oil

To Assemble:  

Toss the pico de gallo with a small handful of romaine per person (this is not a salad so no need to offer a ton of lettuce).  This mixture goes on the bottom of the bowl, making sure each bowl gets enough pico de gallo.  On top of that, your warm red rice, then your perfectly poached eggs.  This is garnished with a heaping spoonful of avocado spread, a sprinkle of crumbled cotija cheese, a few pickled jalapeno and some fresh leaves of cilantro.