Eggsellent!

I’m usually a pretty energetic person but lately  I find myself pretty tired by the end of the day.  Dinner prep, which is usually a joy for me, becomes a real chore when I’m already tuckered.  Simple, easy to prepare meals have suddenly become very important to me and eggs figure large in these simpler menus.

Here are some of my favourite ways to prepare eggs.

• Soft boiled, with toast soldiers:  When I was little my Grandma used to make these for my breakfast; perfect soft boiled eggs in a heavy glass egg cup that had room in the bottom to tuck the other egg so it would keep warm.  The accompanying toast (always white) was cut into “soldiers.”  These thin strips of buttered toast were perfect for dunking in the soft egg yolks.  I’m long removed from Grandma’s kitchen but I love them still, even today.
• Cold and hard boiled:  A cold, hard boiled egg that has been chopped or cut into quarters makes a perfect topping for a green salad.  Grated hard boiled egg served over asparagus makes a pretty and elegant dish.
• Devilled:  Who doesn’t enjoy a devilled egg?  It seems that every family has its own special recipe for these treats, and they are all different, but I’ve never tasted one I didn’t like.
• Egg salad:  There are few things better than a good egg salad sandwich.  I like mine on homemade olive bread but in a pinch any good bread will do.
• French toast:  I prefer to make mine with breads other than baguette but other than that my basic method remains the same.  Great stuffed with a sweet or savoury cheese filling, or served for supper with savoury toppings, this dish becomes a whole new thing when crusted with crushed Cap’n Crunch and served for brunch.
• Omelettes and frittatas:  These are my favourite go-to main dishes on a night when I’m extra tired.  They make excellent refrigerator Velcro because so many different leftovers work well as fillings.
• Egg drop soup:  Ridiculously simple to make and sure to impress unexpected guests.  I almost always have the ingredients for this soup on hand.
• Bacon and eggs spaghetti:  I frequently have bacon on hand but rarely pancetta, so I make carbonara with smoky bacon flavour.  It can be made very quickly and, when paired with a salad, it’s a very satisfying meal. 
• Eggs Benedict:  This dish is a little more complicated to make but once you’ve mastered Hollandaise, you can whip it up in a very short time.  I like to play with ingredients while still paying homage to the original format.  Most recently, I made a benny with my cottage cheese dill bread, sliced thick and toasted, topped with arugula, lox, a poached egg, and Hollandaise sauce.  It was very rich but as a treat it was crazy good.
• Butter crumbed eggs:  Again, this is more complicated to make than your basic scramble but worth the extra effort.  To make them, soft poach some eggs and chill them in cold water.  Dry them on paper towel.  Dip them in beaten egg to coat and then roll them in seasoned fresh bread crumbs.  Gently fry them in butter.  The results will surprise you.

I know there are many, many more ways to cook eggs; probably as many or more than there are people who cook them.  These days I’m very grateful for their versatility and convenience.  I’m always happy to learn a new egg recipe.