ozarque (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ozarque) wrote,@ 2008-04-24 07:48:00 |
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Learning to cook...
The very first thing I ever learned to cook was something called Egg In A Frame, and the person who taught me how to cook it was my then boyfriend, a youngster I had been going steady with for several years at the time. [Same person who taught me how to shoot, clean, and cook squirrel; I don't plan to inflict any of that on you.] I assume that everybody over the age of ten or so already knows how to make Egg In A Frame, but I've been wrong about a lot of my assumptions in this journal, and maybe I'm wrong about this one too. So here's how it's done...
Ingredients and Equipment
You need a skillet [nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron are best, but any skillet will do], a spatula, a couple of tablespoons of butter, a slice of bread, and an egg.
Instructions
1. Melt the butter in your skillet over low heat.
2. Make a circular hole in the slice of bread by tearing out a small round piece of it.
3. Put the bread in the butter in your skillet and turn it over once with your spatula, so both sides are coated with the butter.
4. By now your butter should have tiny bubbles showing in it; if it doesn't, wait until it does. Then break your egg directly onto the slice of bread.
5. At this point, you have a choice:
a. If you're someone who likes your fried eggs unbroken, you leave the egg yolk alone and let the egg cook, picking up the bread-and-egg with your spatula every ten seconds or so to see whether the bottom of the bread is nicely browned, until the egg is as done as you want it to be.
b. If you're someone who (like me) prefers your fried eggs broken, you break the egg yolk with the edge of your spatula and spread the egg around on the slice of bread, you let it cook for about thirty seconds, you turn the bread-and-egg over with your spatula and cook it for the same amount of time on the other side, and then you turn it over one more time.
Either way, you want to be careful not to overcook this item, and careful to keep your heat low. Cooked too long, it will be tough and rubbery. Cooked just long enough, it will be tender and delicious. Trying it a time or two will show you how long "just long enough" is using your skillet and your stove.
6. Serve. If you have some fresh fruit to go with it, that's a nice touch.
The very first thing I ever learned to cook was something called Egg In A Frame, and the person who taught me how to cook it was my then boyfriend, a youngster I had been going steady with for several years at the time. [Same person who taught me how to shoot, clean, and cook squirrel; I don't plan to inflict any of that on you.] I assume that everybody over the age of ten or so already knows how to make Egg In A Frame, but I've been wrong about a lot of my assumptions in this journal, and maybe I'm wrong about this one too. So here's how it's done...
Ingredients and Equipment
You need a skillet [nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron are best, but any skillet will do], a spatula, a couple of tablespoons of butter, a slice of bread, and an egg.
Instructions
1. Melt the butter in your skillet over low heat.
2. Make a circular hole in the slice of bread by tearing out a small round piece of it.
3. Put the bread in the butter in your skillet and turn it over once with your spatula, so both sides are coated with the butter.
4. By now your butter should have tiny bubbles showing in it; if it doesn't, wait until it does. Then break your egg directly onto the slice of bread.
5. At this point, you have a choice:
a. If you're someone who likes your fried eggs unbroken, you leave the egg yolk alone and let the egg cook, picking up the bread-and-egg with your spatula every ten seconds or so to see whether the bottom of the bread is nicely browned, until the egg is as done as you want it to be.
b. If you're someone who (like me) prefers your fried eggs broken, you break the egg yolk with the edge of your spatula and spread the egg around on the slice of bread, you let it cook for about thirty seconds, you turn the bread-and-egg over with your spatula and cook it for the same amount of time on the other side, and then you turn it over one more time.
Either way, you want to be careful not to overcook this item, and careful to keep your heat low. Cooked too long, it will be tough and rubbery. Cooked just long enough, it will be tender and delicious. Trying it a time or two will show you how long "just long enough" is using your skillet and your stove.
6. Serve. If you have some fresh fruit to go with it, that's a nice touch.
