Carolina fish muddle
Instructions:
- Cook the bacon in a Dutch oven or small soup pot over medium-high heat until it renders its fat and turns crisp, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Add the onion and celery and a pinch of salt, then stir to coat in the bacon drippings. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables soften, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and tomato sauce and cook for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the stock, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme, parsley, hot pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are tender and just starting to break apart, about 40 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and stir in the fish. The liquid should be level with or slightly above the ingredients, so add more stock if needed.
- This next step depends on how you want the eggs. If you are poaching the eggs, increase the heat so that the soup comes to a low boil, then crack the eggs onto the surface of the simmering soup, spacing them evenly. Cover the pot and cook until the fish is opaque and the egg whites are set but the yolks are still soft, 8 to 10 minutes. If the egg whites are still loose when the fish is done, baste the eggs with hot broth to set the tops. Spoon an egg into each serving bowl, ladle hot muddle over the top, sprinkle with parsley, and serve at once. If you are stirring beaten eggs into the soup, cook the fish for 5 minutes, then vigorously whisk the eggs in a bowl until the whites and eggs are blended and stir them into the hot soup. Cook the soup, stirring often, until the fish is opaque, 3 to 5 minutes more. The eggs will thicken the broth. Ladle the hot muddle into serving bowls, sprinkle with parsley, and serve hot. If you are using hard-cooked eggs, cook the fish until it is opaque, about 10 minutes. Coarsely chop or slice the eggs and sprinkle them over the top. Ladle the hot muddle into serving bowls, sprinkle with parsley, and serve hot.