HOW TO: Bring a pot of water to boil. Remove from heat and using a slotted spoon gently drop eggs into water. Runny eggs: 4-5 minutes, jammy eggs: 6 minutes, soft boiled egg: 8 minutes, hard boiled eggs: 10 minutes. Remove from heat at desired time, run eggs under cold water to stop from cooking and peel.

You must have a good egg cup for this one. With your 5-6 minute boiled egg, pull it from the pot and instead of peeling it, just pop the top off with a spoon. Toast some bread, lather with butter, and rip and dip to your hearts content.

HOW TO: Whisk together 3 eggs with a dash of milk or cream, salt and pepper and chopped chives and dill. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add egg mixture to skillet and gently stir and fold the eggs over each other until cooked, soft and fluffy.

HOW TO: This is not the traditional French way. I didn’t learn to make my omelettes like that. This is country omelette chic. With 2 eggs whisked together with a dash of water or milk. Salt and pepper to season and 1 tablespoon of butter melted in the pan over medium high heat. Pour in the eggs. With a spatula draw the outsides into the middle gently while letting the uncooked egg mixture spill over and fill in the empty space. When the top of the egg looks cooked but moist add your fillings and cheese to one side of the cooked egg. Fold the other side over the filling and cook until cheese is melted. Plate and garnish with dill or chives.

HOW TO: In a skillet, saute mix ins such as onions, peppers, cherry tomatoes, and herbs in 2-3 tablespoons butter. In a bowl whisk together 8 eggs and 1/2 cup of whole milk. Add cheese of your choosing, salt and pepper. Add egg mixture to skillet and cook until edges start to separate from the sides of the pan. Transfer skillet to an oven at 375 degrees F. Bake until just set, and browning on the top.

HOW TO: Make this on English Muffin toasted. (I was lucky enough to pick up some English muffins from my good friend and talented baker, Crystal White. She owns and operates Wayfarer Bread in San Diego and you can read more about her here.) But back to that fried egg and bacon breakfast sandwich. Yes, toast the English muffin and butter generously. Fry your egg. For a messy sandwich go for that runny yolk. For a more practical situation you might want your egg over hard. In the pan, lay a couple slices of that sharp white cheddar over top your egg and some dill sprigs, salt and pepper of course. Turn the burner on low and cover the pan to melt the cheese. Meanwhile, you’re making bacon, right? Of course. We want a couple slices on our sandwich. Crispy not burnt. Gives texture and crunch. Lay the bacon on the toasted English muffin, lay the cheesy fried egg on the bacon, and top the sandwich with the muffin lid. No frills, just thrills! Easy to grab and go!

HOW TO BENEDICT, EGGS BENEDICT: The Classic: The classic version of this brunch staple is once again on the popular English muffin toast. This calls for only one half as this is an open faced sandwich of sorts, sort of dish. We will be going for the black forest ham version, fried in butter and honey in a skillet on the stove. You can also make this with Canadian bacon or a crispy bacon if you prefer, but I will wager a guess, that you will prefer this honeyed ham method as it is quite superior. The egg for this will be poached. I do not often poach eggs so I am not shocked when it all goes bust and I accept defeat gracefully and just simply try again. We are aiming for a runny egg to mingle with the hollendaise. Oh, yes, we will make hollandaise too.

PROCESS

First honey you ham. Butter in a skillet, melted. Place the ham in the pan. Fry for a bit, then add the honey drizzle over the pieces of ham. Fry until browned and flip. Fry some more until the edges have caramelized. Be careful not to burn. Set aside in pan but keep warm.

In a sauce pan whisk together 2 egg yolk and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Set aside.

Fill pot with four inches of water and bring to a low boil. Once the pot is boiling drop to a strong simmer. And get your English muffin in the toaster.

To poach the egg. Crack your egg into a small ramekin dish. Once the water is at a good simmer take a metal spoon and stir the water into a spiral, a little whirl pool. Gently pour the egg from the ramekin into the center of the spiral. Poach egg for 3-4 minutes.

While egg is poaching, make the hollandaise. Put your saucepan, with egg yolk and lemon juice, over very low heat. Slowly swirl one stick of cold butter around in the pan, slowly melting and mixing the egg and the butter together. Keep this slow, gentle and on low heat as to not curdle the sauce. Once all the butter has melted keep stirring until sauce is the thickness you want.

Remove egg from water with a slotted spoon and let strain.

Butter your English muffin, place a few slices of ham on the muffin, then your poached egg, topped with hollandaise, salt and pepper and garnished with dill, chives or parsley.

THE VEGGIE BENEDICT: FROM A SUMMER GARDEN: HOW TO:

This is on sourdough toast, to change things up a bit. A base layer slather of fresh sweet basil pesto, a couple slices of garden tomato, that same old poached egg from above, and the hollandaise the same too. Salt, pepper, basil or dill on top. It’s so simple. It’s so delicious. This could be a lunch dish just as easy as breakfast.

Make the pesto first: It a food processor mix: A couple handfuls of fresh basil, a clove of garlic, 1/4 cup toasted pepita seeds, 1/4 grated parmesan, salt, pepper and enough olive oil to pulse up into a perfect pesto. I like my pesto a bit chunky and not so pureed. It helps me remember that it was a beautiful leafy plant once.

Toast the bread, spread the pesto, slice the tomato on top of the pesto, poached egg and a hollandaise drizzle, garnish with herbs and you are done and done.

BAKED EGGS: IN CAST IRON: IN A SLURRY OF GARDEN GOODS: WITH YOGURT SAUCE TOO

This is a great meal for a group. A dish of these baked eggs in veggies with toast for scooping and dipping. This is just a simple act of veggies in a skillet. In this case, tomatoes and peppers primarily, onions too, basil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Sauté in olive oil until the soft and saucy then transfer to an oven at 375 degrees F. Cook down until veggies are thick and roasted. Remove from oven, make holes in the veggies and crack a few eggs gently into the holes. Add sourdough breadcrumbs to the top, (breadcrumb how to below in the onion tart section). Return to oven for another 8-10 minutes. Checking regularly as to not over cook the eggs. We are looking for that soft or runny egg again. Something to aid in the saucy consistency and the ultimate ideal scooping egg to load onto toast. Remove from the oven when done and place the whole pan on the table with a plate of buttered sourdough toast. Everyone can go to town.

In addition, I like to include a fresh yogurt sauce with cold cucumbers. This adds a cooling fresh element to an otherwise heavy dish.

FOR THE YOGURT SAUCE:

2 cups of greek yogurt, 4 garlic cloves, a couple of cucumbers diced, 1 large handful of dill chopped, salt and pepper and lemon juice from 1 lemon. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

HOW TO: SCRAMBLED EGG IN CHAPATI : A BREAKFAST ROLL UP

The egg is basic, so let’s not get too caught up in that. I would say it is like the open faced omelet with veggies and meats to please. Cheese of course if you would like. This idea is to make the egg like a round pancake that can be place on the round chapati flat bread and rolled up. If you get the concept, the cooking is easy.

NOW LET’S MAKE THE CHAPATI:

This is the easiest of breads. It is not a leavened bread so the time from mix to skillet cook is fast. I would say perhaps 30 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, pinch of salt, 3/4 cup water

Place flour and salt in a bowl and make a hole to pour in the olive oil and water. Mix until ball forms and transfer to floured surface to knead. Knead until supple and not sticky. Place in a bowl covered and let rest for 20 minutes.

After the rest period, divide the dough into 4-6 equal pieces depending on the size flatbread you want. Roll thin with a pin and transfer rolled piece to a skillet over medium high heat. Cook on both sides until browned. Remove and brush both sides with olive oil. Done

Make your egg, roll it in the hot chipati and enjoy.

TOAD IN A HOLE: EGG IN THE BASKET: EGG IN THE HAT:

Whatever you want to call it! One Eyed Jack, Gashouse Eggs, Popeye, Bird’s Nest. Make your own version up if you want. Toad in a Hole can be rather confusing. A Toad in a Hole in England is sausage in Yorkshire pudding. Don’t let your British friends get into a tizzy when making them your breakfast country version of fried egg in toast. Just call it “Uova fritte net pane”!

I’m not going to long on this one. Grab a slice of bread. Cut a hole in the center. In a skillet with butter, toast your bread on one side, drop an egg in the center, season it and fry it, flip the toast and brown on the other side. It’s done. Serve on a plate. Put something on the side it you want, or don’t.

SAVORY ONION EGGY TART: HOW TO:

This one is decadent. It’s a straight up meal served with spicy arugula greens and sprouts in vinaigrette. I make it with shallots caramelized in a pan with balsamic and thyme. But you can put anything in the mix that you would like. It’s like a quiche but a bit more. You can make it is a pie pan but it’s prettier as a tart.

INGREDIENTS:

Flaky pie dough (recipe to follow), pile of shallots, sprigs of thyme, maybe a handful, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 4 egg yolks, 1 1/3 cup of heavy cream, 1/4 cup grated gruyere, 1/4 cup grated white cheddar, 1/4 cup grated parmesan, handful of sourdough breadcrumbs (preferably homemade), salt and pepper

PROCESS:

1. Make the tart dough and let chill for a few hours or overnight. Follow directions and video tutorial for tart dough, tart shaping, and blind baking.

2. make some breadcrumbs with a few pieces of days old bread, salt and pepper, thyme and olive oil. Bake at 400 degree F until crisp and browned. Remove from oven, cool and finally pulse in a food processor into crumbs. Alternatively, you can put the croutons in a bag and hit it with a rolling pin.

3. When your tart shell is prepared, preheat oven to 375 degree F

4. prep shallots and sauté in pan with thyme, salt and pepper, until seared and translucent. Add sugar and stir for a few minutes. Add balsamic vinegar and stir to caramelize.

5. In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks and heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper. Add cheeses to egg mixture

6. In another bowl whisk together 1 egg yolk and 2 tablespoons heavy cream to egg wash the crust before assembling. You can do this with a pastry brush across the inside of the shell.

7. line the bottom of the tart shell with cooked shallots, pour in egg mixture. Scatter a small amount of cheese over the top and top it with bread crumbs and thyme.

8. Bake until the center is set and the top is browned. If it is taking longer to set and the crust is browning too much, cover the tart with tin foil and finish baking.

9. Remove from oven, cool and set and serve with a mix of greens and vinaigrette.

FLAKY TART SHELL: HOW TO:

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups all purpose artisan flour, 3/4 cup cold butter in pieces, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup water

PROCESS:

1. mix salt into 3/4 cup water and disolve

2. pour flour onto table surface, lay butter pieces on top

3. roll butter into flour with rolling pin. Making shards of the butter and scraping back into a pile.

4. repeat this 3 times

5. make a hole in the flour and add water and salt

6. chop water into flour and butter

7. collect dough into a ball. Be quick and gentle and make sure not to over work the dough.

8. wrap in parchment paper and chill for a few hours of evernight

9. remove dough and roll out into a circle big roughly 2 inches bigger that tart pan or pie tin.

10. with a tart pan, grease the pan with a spray oil

11. line the pan with the rolled out tart dough

12. chill in the fridge for 20 minutes

13. remove from fridge, fork the bottom. Line the tart shell with parchment and fill with dry beans for blind baking.

14. place tart shell in the oven at 375 degrees F and partially bake the shell

15. remove and let cool

16. when ready, you can fill your tart shell and bake.

SOURDOUGH BREADCRUMBS