Cover recipe from Food Network Magazine, April 2010
Nest Egg
April’s Food Network magazine features EGGS: 50 fun ideas for breakfast, lunch & dinner. In typical Food Network magazine format, there’s a little insert in the magazine that contains 50 simple ideas for serving up eggs. Included are such things as Fried Eggwich, Huevos Rancheros, Omelets, Scrambles, Pickled Eggs, Salads, and Tea Eggs. Instructions for each “recipe” are given in a handful of sentences, which makes them seem easy and approachable.
Apparently, this “Nest Egg” breakfast has been around for quite some time. I had never had one before today. My own Mother simply poached an egg and placed it on top of toasted bread. That was the closest I ever got to the “Nested Egg.” In this recipe, you cut a round patch out of the middle of the bread, then toast the bread in a hot buttered skillet before cracking the egg and placing it in the hole. Pretty simple. I find myself wondering though how this recipe ever came together. Who would ever think of cutting a hole in the bread to place an egg in there. Seems like a strange way to go about serving up eggs and toast. That being said, I really enjoyed this breakfast. It probably helped that I used real butter for toasting my bread. See my notes below for more…
Nest Egg
Source: Food Network Magazine, April 2010
ingredients:
1 slice of bread
butter
1 egg
salt and pepper
bacon, optional
instructions:
Cut a round out of a slice of bread; toast the bread in a nonstick skillet with butter. Crack an egg into the hole, add salt and pepper, cover and cook until the white sets. Serve with bacon.
Notes from Culinary Covers:
*I made this recipe twice.
*I tried out two different sizes of round biscuit cutters: 2 inches and 2 3/4 inches. When I made this recipe with the smaller cutter, the egg didn’t seem to cook very quickly, resulting in the bread being more toasted on the bottom than I liked. When I used the larger cutter, the egg was more spread out and the egg cooked more evenly- therefore my bread was toasted up just right.
*It’s important to keep the lid sealed tight to keep the heat in so the egg will cook entirely. I had a glass lid, which made spying on the egg much easier. I’m not sure what you do if you have a metal lid!
*Keep the heat fairly low so your bread doesn’t burn.
*In two tries, I couldn’t get my egg to turn out nice and sunny side up with the egg yolk showing brightly like they did in the picture. I’d love to know how they did that.
Did this recipe deserve the cover spotlight? Yes! I thought it was a fun egg recipe for Easter month, and it’s a good one to try for those of us who never have.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Mmmm I LOVE eggy in a basket! Or nest egg
I think this recipe has about a dozen different names. I’d forgotten all about it until this post- I always eat a poached egg on toast but this is equally delicious and fun! I also like to add the cut-out circle to the pan along with the other bread and have that, toasted, with a little butter. Yummy!
Hubs loves these, yes, he is a kid at heart:) Glad you gave it an A-OK:)
I’ve always called it ‘egg in a whole.’–my husband loves to make it–esp. when we have homemade bread on hand
The thick, crusty kind makes the best!
Have been eating these my whole life. We called them “egg in a nest” or a “toad in a whole” not sure where that one came from…
i love “toad-in-the-hole!” i think it came about as a way to keep the eggs from spreading too much? the bread makes a nice container, similar to the little egg rings they have nowadays.
I make these all the time and love them!
I started making these when my son was around two years old. I still do make them occasionally. I love them! But, I also LOVE just about any kind of breakfast food. When I saw the cover of Food Network, it made me want to make them again. For some reason, we always called them “toad in the hole.”
When my mother made these she also called them “toad in a hole”. I made them for my girls and they make them for their kids. Fun recipe.
I make this all the time! My mama made them and I still love them. I actually cook both sides of the bread because I can’t handle any hint of runny yolks. So good!
I love these! I never had them until I made them as an adult, but I love them. I mix it up a bit and on occasion will scramble the eggs first and add some cinnamon or vanilla to the egg mixture at times as well. This is a fun easy breakfast!
I’ve never made this either, but when my issue of FN magazine came in recently it looked so yummy! Glad you enjoyed it
My kids call these “egg-in-a-toast”, or” heart-shaped eggs”; it depends on the cookie cutter I use.
“Toad in a hole” here too although, I’m not quite sure why. I’ll have to investigate further. I’ve done this French Toast Style. It’s yummy that way too!!! Thanks for sharing, Lori…
Humpty Dumpty Eggs! When my mom made this for me as a child, we always used to recite the Humpty-Dumpty- Sat on a Wall nursery rhyme, and when Humpty fell down- I’d break the egg yolk…..
I blogged about the exact same thing the other day… it’s the only way I can make a fried egg! (Your pic turned out much better than mine… haha).
Great idea for a blog! I love it
Okay well i think to get the yolk to show you need fresher eggs!!
As for toad in the hole i can say with some authority that is a dish of pancake (yorkshire pudding) batter with sausages cooked in.
This confusion is similar but more sever than the one that says shepherds pie is made with beef!!
I tried this recipe last week – my first “nest” was a little burnt because the pan was too hot. But the ones I did after, turned out perfect. I buttered both sides of the bread before putting it in the pan. May have to try the French Toast style or scramble the egg first – great ideas! I served this with Turkey bacon on the side. Will definitely do this again with my kids. And the holes did not go to waste – I buttered both sides and toasted them for my two year old. She loved them!