This would have been a perfect post for an Easter breakfast. That’s what I typed a couple of weeks ago, when I last intended to write this post. And it was a month before that when I ate this meal. It’s odd because half of me feels like it happened an eternity ago and the other half doesn’t know where the time went. I suppose that’s what being swamped feels like. What with school and work and finals, I rarely have a free moment. So, of course it was a good idea to accept the invitation to start blogging at EatNation, adding yet another thing on my metaphorical plate.  But also on my plate–amidst the murk of the swamp–are bright oases of goodness. This breakfast was definitely one such oasis.

The concept is simple. Crack eggs to fill a starchy bowl of your choosing and bake ‘em. I’m ashamed to say it’s been so long that I don’t even remember what temperature or for how long. A bit of research tells me that 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes won’t do you wrong. I do remember that it took a long time for the eggs to show any visible sign of cooking, but they finished fairly quickly after that. Well, “finished” depends on how soft you like your eggs.

I diverged from this basic premise in one main way. I added a little surprise of ham and cheese at the bottom of the bowl. Feel free to be creative with this… most cooked meat and cheese combinations would probably work or maybe even try roasted veggies. Surprises are [nearly] always a good thing.

Ham, cheddar cheese, and butter for the surprise at the bottom

It looks like I hollowed out the bread bowls, but they were mostly hollow already. To be perfectly honest, these were pretty sub-par bread rolls. I bought them the night before as a spur of the moment purchase and they were not exactly the most high quality, which affected the ultimate outcome. Look for a chewy bread. A sourdough bread bowl is a San Francisco classic and highly advisable.

Butter first, then ham, then cheese...

These bread bowls were also a bit bigger than I would prefer. While it was nice to have two eggs in them, they barely came up to the top. Next time I will not only purchase higher quality rolls, but smaller ones.

Ready for the oven.

This is a really simple way to elevate a basic breakfast (eggs and bread) to a fancy-shmancy level.

Eggs in a Bread Bowl

Edible containers are the best.

• Eggs - The quantity will depend on how big your bread bowls are going to be.
• Bread – Do yourself a favor and get a good quality chewy bread. Anything labeled “rustic” will work. The point is, you don’t want it to dry out in the oven.
• Butter – Everything’s better with butter.
• “Surprise” Ingredients – I used ham and cheese, but feel free to experiment.
• Herbs/Spices – This is mainly for a garnish on top, but it definitely does add flavor. I used dried parsley and oregano and salt and pepper.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Hollow out your bread to make bowls. Be careful not to cut/tear through the bottom. Add butter to the bottom, then layer your “surprise” ingredients. If you’re using cheese, I would put that closest to the top, so it melts in with the eggs.

Put these in the oven and start checking them at 20 minutes. You should be able to tell when the whites have set. They should be done sometime between 20-30 minutes. However, if you’re in a terrible hurry, you COULD throw these in the microwave, though depending on the bread, it might mess up the texture. I finished one of these in the microwave for about 30 seconds to fully set the whites.

You may have noticed that I have a salad in the above picture and I know what you’re thinking:

Salad? For breakfast?! Damn hippies.

However, experience at many brunch spots around town has led me to believe that a simple salad with a vinegar-y or citrus-y dressing is a perfect accompaniment to eggs. The acidity is a wonderful counterpoint to the creaminess of the eggs. Even better, if the yolks are runny, you can make a quasi-hollandaise on your plate with the dressing.

Breakfast Citrusette

Complement your breakfast juice with a breakfast citrusette. Note that citrusette isn’t actually a word, but since I usually use a citrus juice instead of vinegar, it’s not actually a vinaigrette.

• Citrus juice - Fresh is, of course, better, but even store bought is fine. I’ve used everything from orange juice to grapefruit juice to mango-pineapple juice. I sometimes add a bit of lemon juice and/or vinegar (usually white) to cut the sweetness a bit, but that’s just because I like tartness.
• Oil – I use the greenest, most olive-y tasting olive oil I can get. My cousin just sent me some from Iran that literally tastes like fresh squeezed olives. However,  feel free to use any oil you’d regularly eat with salad.
• Pepper – Fresh cracked black pepper adds a bit of bite to this dressing. You can omit it if you’d like, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

Use a 3:1 oil to citrus juice ratio and beat it with a fork until it has emulsified. Add a few twists of cracked black pepper then beat again. Alternately, add all your ingredients together in a tupperware container with a tight fitting top and shake to mix them.

Toss this with a green salad. You want this salad to have a bit more dressing than you typically might because it is largely a vehicle for the citrusette.

Garnish with some roasted chopped nuts. In the picture above, I used almonds.