The last time I saw Jamie Kennedy, he was carting two heavy baskets of field tomatoes away from Toronto's Riverdale organic farmers' market. "You must really like tomatoes," joked a passerby, unaware he was addressing a chef who happened to have another acre of tomatoes ripening at his farm in Prince Edward County, two hours east of the city. Kennedy didn't laugh-instead, he launched into an earnest lecture on the virtues of eating in season.
Fall is Kennedy's busiest period, both on the farm (where he cans the trademark fruit and vegetables that decorate his restaurants) and in the city, where catering operations ramp up to supply the charity dinner circuit. Last month, Kennedy hosted a fundraiser for the Slow Food Toronto delegation, an effort to help fund its participation at Terra Madre (Turin's biennial food workshop). Slow food is traditional, local, artisanal and seasonal, everything fast food is not. If ever there were a poster boy for the movement, he would be Kennedy: Even his movements are leisurely and graceful.
These days, when he's not flying to Italy to meet with Afghani yak herdsmen and Icelandic cheesemakers, Kennedy is managing 80 employees. His latest restaurant, JK at the Gardiner, is fast becoming the lunch spot for Toronto's culturati (the 6-foot-2 chef recently ambled out of the kitchen to advise John Ralston Saul and his companions on the menu).
When he does manage to escape to his farm, he takes it slow, poaching fresh eggs obtained from his neighbour down the lane. He layers the tomatoes from his garden under the eggs, adding only a little salt and pepper, and sits them atop a bed of rösti infused with the flavour of the hot-smoked Berkshire bacon he serves at his restaurants. "Spiritually, my farm is where I want to be," says the chef. With food like that, it's where we'd like to be, too.
Poached Eggs with Bacon Rösti and Tomatoes Adapted from Jamie Kennedy's Seasons
The rösti 75 grams smoked side bacon, cut into small pieces 1 small shallot, diced 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes 2 tablespoons unsalted butter Salt to taste
The tomatoes 2 ripe organic tomatoes Salt and pepper to taste
The eggs 2 litres water 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 4 eggs (the fresher the better) 1 tablespoon butter
1 Over medium-low heat, fry bacon until fat is rendered and bacon is almost crisp. Add shallots and sauté two minutes. Drain fat and reserve. 2 Peel potatoes. Heat an eight-inch, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of unsalted butter. Grate potatoes, squeeze out excess water and distribute potato evenly over pan. Sprinkle half the bacon/shallot mixture over top. Fry five minutes, or until crisp and golden. Turn over and fry five minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with remaining mixture. 3 Slice tomatoes thickly and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 4 Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add vinegar and reduce to a simmer. Gently break eggs into water. Let simmer four minutes. 5 Place rösti on warmed plates and arrange tomatoes on top. Remove eggs from liquid with a slotted spoon and place on top. Serve immediately.
How to properly poach an egg › Add a glug of white wine vinegar to the water-it will help keep the eggs shapely while they're poaching › Use fresh eggs-stale whites may trail off in wisps. (You can cheat by simmering a supermarket egg in the shell for 10 seconds.) › Avoid soggy side dishes by transferring finished eggs onto a dish towel