Eggs in a Grilled Cheese Nest
Having just returned from 10 days at the Fairmont JPL, it’s a tough re-entry back to the world of dog hair, laundry, unironed sheets and hollandaise withdrawl.
But-good news! The sink is in, and we’re not doing dishes in the bathtub anymore. The kitchen is close to finished – it needs the backsplash and an overhead fan for the stove, and the fridge is all wonky so that needs to be dealt with, and it needs some paint in places. And everything isn’t unpacked into the drawers yet – that will be my weekend plan. But we have electricity and water and it’s looking like an actual kitchen. Still, I wasn’t quite prepared to cook last night.
I’ve been mildly obsessed with an idea I came across in the new (and hilarious) Portlandia Cookbook, in which you cook eggs not in the usual toast frame, but in a grilled cheese sandwich with a hole cut out of the middle. Brilliant, no? I wasn’t raised on these – birds in a nest, toad in the hole, whatever you grew up calling them – but poached eggs on toast and grilled cheese sandwiches have always been comfort foods, so to combine the two is the most brilliant conspiracy ever.
You make a grilled cheese – in their case, spreading the bread with mayo instead of soft butter, and sprinkling it with grated Parmesan – then grill it, cut a hole out of the middle with a cookie cutter or rim of a can, return it to the pan, add a bit of butter to the empty hole and crack an egg inside.
Because it’s thicker than toast, it’s tough to cook all the way through – once it was set on the bottom I flipped one and made it over easy, which worked well but doesn’t look as pretty; the book says to slide the pan into the oven with the broiler on to cook the top, which worked well too.
Bonus: you get this gooey round grilled cheese sandwich to nibble while you wait for your egg to cook.
You’re welcome.
I love that you have the old Calgary Tower grinder!
OMG! My Dad called this a One Eye, without the grilled cheese part. I think I need this!
Heavens.
I am so glad the kitchen is finally almost done, you must be so chuffed 😀
Aaaaand “eggy in a basket” is what I know this little number as originally, it’s so delicious! x
Genius. And I love the glimpse of your kitchen.
Welcome back to the real world! Were you really there for 10 days? Lucky duck.
Just add a nice tomato soup for a cozy late fall supper!
kitchen looks great
Julie, you’ve just supplied the most amazing solution to my current third trimester dilemma: the collision of apathy/indecision and increasing appetite. I cannot wait to try this – so many amazing possible variations! I’m already thinking something like sharp cheddar/fig jam/egg or pesto/fior/egg… so many amazing possibilities!
OMG! Tonight is a busy night and I was planning something quick & simple. Must try this! Simply Brilliant!
And if one were to add tomato soup as suggested above, that wouldn’t be complete without a sprinkle BBQ fritos. If you haven’t tried that, you really must!
These are Cyclops for the one eyed look, or eggs in a basket when they’re not made of cheese sandwiches. Toad in a hole is sausages in pastry, or dough. I’d love to see your take on toads in holes because I’m sure you’d do something wonderful with them. I used to make sausages from left over turkey, and put them in puff pastry, and serve them with peas, caramelised onions, and dark gravy. Yum yum
These Cyclops are wonderful and I’ll have one for my lunch today
Thank you, Julie
🙂
Yes Laurie – that’s what I thought, toads in the hole are sausages in Yorkshire pudding or popover dough! But at least one person I talked to said they called these toad in the hole. So there you go.
I need these in my pregnant life. Love it!!