Egg in a Hole

I wish I could say that I had this dish growing up, but even if I had been given it, I probably wouldn't have eaten it.  Somehow, this one completely missed my radar until about two years ago.  I was at my hairdresser's shop, as I am every 6th Saturday morning, and her husband, Bob, brought her breakfast.

He had fixed her a tray of an amazing breakfast that he made from home, and this was one of the items.  I thought that was one of the nicest, most loving things I had ever witnessed.  Seriously.  It made quite an impression.

I don't remember what all was on that tray, but I do remember seeing the egg-in-a-hole, and marvelling at his ingenuity.  He is clever and considerate!  Later, I found out that all the rest of the world knew about this dish and calls it by a million different names. 

The first time I made it for the boys, it was love at first sight for them.  In fact, I'd say that this was what brought Encyclopedia into the world of eggs.  He asks for this one often.  I think it's the fried bread part that he hankers for, but the egg is also consumed.

We especially have this for breakfast on mornings that I have leftover homemade bread.  (Really, that's bread machine made, but still better than boughten.)  Our bread this morning was whole wheat sandwich-type bread that I cut fairly thick because we looooove that crispy, browned-buttery exterior and squishy interior of thick-cut fried bread.  Served with some bacon and oranges, this breakfast is just what we need on a cold, humpday morning.

Please don't think you need homemade bread to make this.  We often have it with regular boughten bread, and it's good, just not as good.  One egg-in-the-hole takes as long to make as just frying an egg.  Flipping can be tricky, but really, this is one dish that is hard to ruin.  Hope you try it!

Egg-in-a-Hole

For each serving:

• 1 slice whole grain bread
• 1 egg
• 1 or 2 Tablespoons butter

1. Use a biscuit cutter, glass, or something like that to cut a hole in the center of the bread.

2. Melt the butter in a skillet.

3. Fry one side of the bread and the hole in the skillet.

4. As the bread is frying, crack the egg into the hole.  Cook it some, as you would any fried egg.

5. Flip it all over carefully.

6. Cook to how you like it.  Over easy takes advantage of the yolk/bread thing, but some kids (Encyclopedia) will only eat eggs hard.