EGGS IN TOAST

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE ELEGANTLY SIMPLE BREAKFASTS that takes little in the way of preparation, but produces smiles and gratitude all around. I thought I’d invented it, until I stumbled across a recipe for “nested eggs” in a British cookbook. If it is British, it’s a high point of their cuisine.

All of my kids like this—even Kimberly with her peculiar set of food dislikes, which none of us can really understand. In addition to pancakes, she dislikes a casserole breakfast dish called Swiss cheese scramble (recipe follows) that we occasionally make when we’re having a gang for an informal brunch and my wife doesn’t want me creating a mess and great confusion in the kitchen with cheese blintzes.

Also on Kim’s list are the kidney beans in some chili recipes and the celery in potato and macaroni salads (she leaves neat little piles of these ingredients on the edges of her plate). She also has a physical aversion to cobblers of any kind—to the point where she can’t be in the same room with them—and to Mexican flan, which she impolitely refers to as “phlegm.”

Carey, the second oldest daughter, has no known food aversions other than the mother-induced ones of brussel sprouts, succotash, lima beans and beets. While Brian, the youngest, adds only mushrooms and strawberries to the obligatory vegetables.

All three dislike rutabaga, which my wife and I insist on having with pork roasts, boiled to fork tenderness then mashed with an abnormal amount of butter.

The one person who doesn’t like this dish is Father Mike, my brother-in-law. He makes the pickiest eater you could possibly know look like a trencherman. High on his list of dislikes are egg yolks.

As my wife recalls, he would eat only hot dogs, salads and chicken noodle soup without the chicken when he was younger. Nowadays, his tastes are more varied, but they don’t sway far from meat, vegetables, salads and chicken soup. He’s not big on bread either. His favorite snack is ring bologna, cut up on a plate with a quartered tomato and a peeled and sliced cucumber. And maybe a cup of chicken noodle soup, without the chicken.

But this is about eggs in toast, so let’s get on with it. Two key points to remember about this recipe: do not scrimp on the butter and be sure to make the opening in the bread large enough so that the eggs cook before the bread burns.

I’ll keep it simple. Here’s what you need for one. Multiply it by the number of people.

Eggs In Toast: The Recipe

For one

Ingredients

1 large egg, at room temperature to ensure it cooks fast

1 slice of bread. Use a medium slice of your favorite bread from the middle of the loaf.

2 tablespoons of butter, one for the bread and the other for the sautéing.

Salt and pepper to taste.

First: Melt a tablespoon of butter in the microwave.

Second: Be sure you have a slice of bread that’s about five inches on a side. Cut a hole in the center at least three inches square (or any shape you want, if you’re the artistic type). Brush or drizzle the melted butter onto both sides of the slice of bread and the cutout.

Third: Melt a half tablespoon of butter in a frying pan that has been heated to medium until the butter sizzles and subsides. Place the slice of bread with the cutout square alongside it in the pan and put the remaining butter in the center of the hole.

Fourth: Carefully break the egg into the center of the bread without breaking the yolk. Add salt and pepper. Cook for about two minutes, lifting the cutout piece of bread to ensure that it’s golden brown. If it is, flip it and the egg-in-toast carefully. Allow both to cook for about another two minutes until the egg white is set and the egg yolk is still runny. (If you’ve been spooked by the warnings about bacteria in partially cooked egg yolks, reduce the heat to medium low and allow the egg yolks to solidify. You may need to turn the bread one more time to avoid burning the toast.)

And finally: Serve, topping the egg with the toasted cutout square.