Eggie in a Basket

Yesterday (Saturday), I asked Papa Satyr if he would like breakfast, which he usually only eats on Sundays, but due to my bread post the other day, he said, “Yes, if you're making eggies in a basket’.”  As a matter of fact, I was also inspired by my bread post.  Homemade bread is perfect because you can fit more in the hole and better withstand movement.  For those unfamiliar with these culinary gems, it is a fried egg served in a hole cut in a slice of toast.  Sheer genius.

There are many alternatives: egg in a waffle or a bagel, with cheese, veggies, poached, scrambled, etc.… I make mine with garlic, onions, cheese, salsa, spinach, or tomatoes.  It may also be called things like “toad in the hole,” “hole in one,” or the ever-mysterious “wagon wheel.”  Mysterious because I have no idea why it is called that or where I first heard it, but whoever taught me to make this dish called it a wagon wheel.  I prefer “eggie in a basket.”  You may know it from V for Vendetta as “eggy in the basket.”  While both -y and -i.e., serve as suffixes denoting familiarity or informality, I choose eggie, as to me instead, eggy is a real word serving as the adjectival form of the noun egg, and eggie is, therefore, free to serve as the diminutive.   Though, on reflection, I guess Stephen Fry’s character could have implied a certain eggy-ness to the bread, which he called a basket.

When I use store-bought sliced bread, the egg overflows the hole (one of the greatest things since Betty White). With my homemade bread, I have the luxury of slicing thicker and using a larger biscuit cutter, thus giving me the aforementioned flexibility in egg volume. I gave myself one perfectly contained egg for this meal and Satyr two.

Eggie in a Basket (Breakfast)

• butter or other chosen fat
• eggs
• sliced bread
• onions or vegetables of choice, diced
• cheese of choice

1. Cut holes in bread. If you do not have a biscuit cutter, you can use a glass or cookie cutter or even poke out the hole.
2. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat.  Separately, place bread and holes in the pan.  Place onions in the hole and lightly toast.  Flip the bread around the veggies and the holes.  Rotate first if needed for proper browning.  If making spinach, I wilt it at the end.
3. Break eggs into holes.  If you intend to eat on the go, break the yolks and cook to “over hard’ for eating convenience.
4. When egg whites are solid and starting to puff on the bottom, flip each unit.  They should be golden brown.  Turn down the heat to low and top with the desired cheese.
5. Serve with sliced fruit, juice, bacon, salsa, beans, etc…

Because I am a busy, multitasking woman, I have stopped pan-frying bacon and now opt to bake it, as my friend Geoff taught me. I do this unless I need a couple of quick pieces in a recipe or to provide fat for a dish. However, we all know I have a mason jar of bacon fat in my fridge for such a need.

Baked Bacon (Breakfast, Basics)

• bacon, thick sliced (I do not use thin because of its papery consistency upon baking)

1. Place bacon in a single layer on a jelly roll pan (which you call a rimmed baking sheet). To decrease the fat ingested, use a wire rack to lift the bacon out of the fat. This negates some of the oven-frying properties, but to each her own. I do not do it.
2. Place the pan in a cold oven.  Set oven to 400*F.
3. Bake for 15 minutes.  Rotate.  Bake 5-7 minutes longer.
4. Remove to paper towels.
5. If your timing on dishes is off, the bacon may be reheated in the microwave (aka butter warmer), but do so wrapped in paper towels and for no longer than a minute or two, doing thirty seconds at a time.

Go the Extra Mile: Pour bacon fat through a mesh strainer and save it in the refrigerator for later use.