You may have already guessed this, but I’m pretty obsessed with food. Yes, I love to eat food. But I also like to play around with it, create with it and try new recipes. There are usually 2-3 new recipes floating around in my head at any time. Eggs in a Hole is one of the recipes that had recently taken up residence in my mind so it was on my “cook soon” list.
Then last week I began taking a childhood nutrition class* online and Eggs in a Hole was one of the recipes the professor demonstrated making as a quick and nutritious meal for a child. It was like the universe saying, “Jory, make the damn dish already!”
So I did.
A few random notes about this recipe and eggs in general:
1. I call them “Eliana’s Eggs in a Hole” because it’s more fun to name them after her but I make them for her in the same way I’d make them for myself.
2. The fact that a toddler (or hey, a grown up) can choose her own cookie cutter shape to use adds an element of fun and intrigue to the dish.
3. One lesson learned regarding my teeny tiny foodie: If she chooses a large cookie cutter that removes most of the bread from the center, making the “hole” for the eggs huge, she isn’t as inclined to eat it after it is cooked. We need to strike a balance of egg to bread so there is almost equal parts of both. I usually offer her cookie cutter choices that are going to remove around half the bread so she feels like she is getting a lot of bread along with the egg.
4. Your teeny tiny sous chef can help you with this recipe by pressing the cookie cutter into the bread or even whisking the eggs with support.
5. Personally, I’ve never really liked egg yolk whether cooked sunny side up or hard-boiled. I never used to use it in my cooking since I figured the yolk was full of cholesterol anyway. But over the last few years I’ve begun to use the yolk for health reasons.
6. The yolk adds a bit of B-12 to my mostly Vegetarian diet, so now I typically use whole eggs and egg whites at a 1:1 ration in my egg dishes. For Eliana I use 1 whole egg.
*I’m taking this AMAZING class online through Stanford University that I heard about from friend and fellow food blogger, Nicole, who writes Modern Family Cooking. Thanks for the information, Nicole!!
- Eliana’s Eggs in a Hole
- Serves 1 hungry toddler
Ingredients:
- -1 piece whole wheat bread
- -1 egg
- -1 small pat of butter
- -1 generous pinch of cheese (I like to use parmesan)
- -Salt and pepper, to taste
Featured Tools:
Preparation:
Press the cookie cutter into the middle of the bread and cut out the inner piece. Remove inner piece of bread and set it aside.
Melt the butter over medium heat and swirl it around the pan.
Add both pieces of bread and toast for around 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, crack the egg into a small bowl, add the cheese and a small pinch of both salt and pepper to the bowl. Whisk and set aside.
Using the spatula, flip the bread pieces and then carefully pour the egg mixture into the “hole” in the bread. (Some might spill over.)
Cook for 2 minutes.
Slide the spatula under and flip again. The egg will likely overflow as you do so. Cook for 1 more minute. Turn off the heat and leave the egg and bread for almost another minute.
Transfer to a plate. Cut into quarters and serve.
I tend to give Eliana the egg-filled piece first because, like her Mommy, she will always go for the bread first and have less room in her belly for any other food. So, after she’s eaten around ¾ of the bread and egg combo, I’ll give her the cut out piece of bread, too.
Happy Cooking!
Tags: breakfast, eggs, Kids Cook
« Previous Cheesy Squash Bites: {Meatless} Monday Meal Lemony Kale Pizza: {Meatless} Monday Meal Next »
