April 21, 2005
Hole-y Toast
No, this isn't a post about Pope Benedict XVI, though we should probably do an Eggs Beendict or Benedictine post soon. This is the recreation of a very simple breakfast I enjoyed at Chicago's Kitsch'n in Roscoe Village this last Sunday.
Kitsch'n bathes in the glory of 1970's junk. You can't swing a Brady (not even Cindy) without hitting some Day-Glo plastic tchochkie. The food, however was decidedly not kitschy, though I can imagine this being some white polyester-clad John-Travolta-wannabe's ace-in-the-hole morning-after meal.
I recreated this simple egg and bread recipe the day after our meal. Both my wife and I have enjoyed it and you will too. It may even make you feel like dancing (gonna dance the night away).
The original was probably baked, but I never miss a chance to add a little butter to breakfast. If you prefer, use a little oil or nothing at all and a nonstick pan.
Hole-y Toast
Thick slice of good bread (about 3/4" to 1") per person
One egg per person.
One teaspoon of butter per person
salt and pepper
Take an egg-yolk sized hole out of the middle of each slice of bread by pinching, cutting or stamping it out.
Melt the butter in the pan over high heat. When it's hot and sizzling add the bread. Move the bread around so it absorbs a bit of butter then flip the slice so the other side can pick up some of the butter.
Let the bread toast on the first side for about two-three minutes until it seems to be getting golden brown. Flip the bread over. After about 30 seconds, reduce the heat to medium and crack the egg directly into the hole in the bread.
Do not move the bread for at least 30 seconds so the egg that makes it to the bottom will set and plug the hole. Quickly flip the toast over and wait for at least 30 seconds again so a seal is formed.
If you prefer your egg yolk extremely runny, cook for about 30 seconds more. If you like them firmer you can go a few minutes. I got the best results after about 90-120 seconds. Check the color of the toast underneath to make sure you aren't burning it if you go long. Flip to toast the other side again to prevent burning if necessary.
Salt and pepper the toast lightly and serve with a fruit salad side or some breakfast potatoes.
The egg seeps into the bread just a little, but without creating that french toast texture that would be wrong for this dish.
Word to the wise - be very careful when you bite into the middle of the egg area. Sometimes its hard to tell if the yolk has set until you pierce it and it runs out all over your chin and shirt.
Posted by Barrett in Maryland at April 21, 2005 7:30 AM
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HAHAHAHH, YEAH !!! Egg-in-a-hole! Butter, egg, bread? Nothing finer. Hot cast iron skillet and some sizzle. Hot sauce with a bit of ketchup and I'm ready for the day.
After the egg is nearly done, throw down a slice of ham, turn over and sizzle some more. Serve.
Biggles
Posted by Dr. Biggles on April 21, 2005 at 12:29 PM
Ooh, I like the ham idea! And lots of pepper and a fresh tomato slice on the side. It's making me HUNGRY...
Posted by Meg in Paris on April 21, 2005 at 12:36 PM
According to a half-remembered cookbook I had as a girl, if you fry up the extra bit of bread (i.e., the hole) and serve it perched atop your egg-in-toast, you have Eggs with a Hat. They had the nerve to include this as a separate recipe from Eggs in a Hole. The audacity...
This dish was one of my earliest culinary skills, and it still makes a cheery breakfast, or a comforting dinner after a hard day.
Posted by Elsa on April 21, 2005 at 5:13 PM
Elsa, I had never seen this done before and it amazed me with its simplicity. Maybe it was once popular and just fell out of style. Until a few years ago I ate but didn't cook so it could have eluded me easily.
Eggs with a hat is very Seussian. Half Green Eggs and Ham and half Cat in the Hat.
Posted by barrett on April 21, 2005 at 5:33 PM
I don't want to think about what the recipe is for Cat in the Ham.
Posted by Sweth on April 21, 2005 at 8:08 PM
I like to use a heart shaped cookie cutter to make the hole when making this for our anniversary or valentines day breakfast.
Posted by Raquel on April 22, 2005 at 3:27 PM
Toad in a hole! It's clearly called toad in a hole! My mom makes it all the time. And yes, frying on a griddle is best.
Hooray for quick breakfasts - it takes barely longer than pouring cereal and milk.
Posted by Jessica on October 17, 2005 at 11:03 PM
Jessica, it's interesting that you call this Toad in a Hole. In our family, it's made with sausages and Yorkshire pudding batter:
http://www.toomanychefs.com/archives/001579.php
Posted by Meg in Paris on October 18, 2005 at 6:41 AM
In Australia you can get a Toad in the hole just about anywhere that sells fried food, Never heard of Hole-y Toast though.
Posted by Jack on November 8, 2005 at 2:42 AM
If anyone sees this post.. I am currently researching this dish.. I have so far counted several names (all informal),, But not the original dish name... I would also like to find out from where this dish came from. (time period and location). As a kid it was refered to as Huevo al Hoya.. (egg in a hole). I once heard of the original name..started with a M. but can't remember it.. If you have any info or even other name varitions.. please email me.. anyone who writes me will get an email copy of my final research when completed.. THanks! Big Jay
zozoyezozo@charter.net
Posted by BIG JAY on February 10, 2006 at 3:10 PM
My husband makes this for our 5 & 2 yrs old sons excpet instead of toast he uses a pancake...our 5 yr old has named them "pan-eggs"
Posted by Jenny on March 2, 2006 at 9:00 AM
Dude. This is a Winkie. we have been rockin this thing since 1969!
Posted by Nader on August 5, 2006 at 9:59 PM
I love this sandwich. My family calls it the Winkie!! My Father made it for us for the first time in 1969. It is awesome!!!!!
Posted by Nader on August 5, 2006 at 10:00 PM
I'm an Aussie, and we called it Frog-in-A-Log. So similar to toad in a hole, but catchier.
Posted by Hannah on October 23, 2006 at 10:17 PM
The name is whatever your father called it the first time he made it. For us, a family full of boys, it was not toad in a hole, but "turd in a hole". And yes, we also had "S--- on a shingle". For my two sons it is the less crude "toad in a hole".
Posted by Wendell on November 7, 2006 at 1:29 PM
ever seen the movie V for Vendetta they make this in the movie but I don't remember what they called it.
Posted by Rick on March 19, 2007 at 7:00 AM
In V for vendetta they call this eggy-in-a-basket. Very brittish country sound to it I think.
Posted by Katie on August 14, 2007 at 10:44 AM
My dad made this for me many years ago. I kept the tradition going. Egg in a hole !
Posted by Lois on January 15, 2008 at 11:46 AM
I make this, too.. But.. I don't flip mine. This is how I do it..
I heat a small skillet to medium high.
I cut a small hole in the center of the bread - you can use cookie cutters, for fun shapes..
I spray butter flavored cooking spray on both sides of the bread.
Add bread to skillet, let "toast" for about a minute.
Flip.. Add egg to hole.
Cover..
Within 2-3 minutes, the egg is fully cooked, and both looks and tastes great! =)
Posted by Sasha on July 26, 2008 at 12:15 PM
We Made this but one side of the family from Oklahoma and Texas called it a One-Eye'd-Jack .
However my Italian side of the family called it "Italian breakfast" and had a green chive oil or some green oil drizzled over it with crumbed prosciutto on top, but was made exactly as described on the recipe above
AND we also S.O.S which is the pleasant way of saying S*__ on a shingle.
Posted by Lenee on February 16, 2009 at 3:25 PM
No, this isn't a post about Pope Benedict XVI, though we should probably do an Eggs Beendict or Benedictine post soon. This is the recreation of a very simple breakfast I enjoyed at Chicago's Kitsch'n in Roscoe Village this last Sunday.
Kitsch'n bathes in the glory of 1970's junk. You can't swing a Brady (not even Cindy) without hitting some Day-Glo plastic tchochkie. The food, however was decidedly not kitschy, though I can imagine this being some white polyester-clad John-Travolta-wannabe's ace-in-the-hole morning-after meal.
I recreated this simple egg and bread recipe the day after our meal. Both my wife and I have enjoyed it and you will too. It may even make you feel like dancing (gonna dance the night away).
The original was probably baked, but I never miss a chance to add a little butter to breakfast. If you prefer, use a little oil or nothing at all and a nonstick pan.
Hole-y Toast
Thick slice of good bread (about 3/4" to 1") per person
One egg per person.
One teaspoon of butter per person
salt and pepper
Take an egg-yolk sized hole out of the middle of each slice of bread by pinching, cutting or stamping it out.
Melt the butter in the pan over high heat. When it's hot and sizzling add the bread. Move the bread around so it absorbs a bit of butter then flip the slice so the other side can pick up some of the butter.
Let the bread toast on the first side for about two-three minutes until it seems to be getting golden brown. Flip the bread over. After about 30 seconds, reduce the heat to medium and crack the egg directly into the hole in the bread.
Do not move the bread for at least 30 seconds so the egg that makes it to the bottom will set and plug the hole. Quickly flip the toast over and wait for at least 30 seconds again so a seal is formed.
If you prefer your egg yolk extremely runny, cook for about 30 seconds more. If you like them firmer you can go a few minutes. I got the best results after about 90-120 seconds. Check the color of the toast underneath to make sure you aren't burning it if you go long. Flip to toast the other side again to prevent burning if necessary.
Salt and pepper the toast lightly and serve with a fruit salad side or some breakfast potatoes.
The egg seeps into the bread just a little, but without creating that french toast texture that would be wrong for this dish.
Word to the wise - be very careful when you bite into the middle of the egg area. Sometimes its hard to tell if the yolk has set until you pierce it and it runs out all over your chin and shirt.
HAHAHAHH, YEAH !!! Egg-in-a-hole! Butter, egg, bread? Nothing finer. Hot cast iron skillet and some sizzle. Hot sauce with a bit of ketchup and I'm ready for the day.
After the egg is nearly done, throw down a slice of ham, turn over and sizzle some more. Serve.
Biggles
Ooh, I like the ham idea! And lots of pepper and a fresh tomato slice on the side. It's making me HUNGRY...
According to a half-remembered cookbook I had as a girl, if you fry up the extra bit of bread (i.e., the hole) and serve it perched atop your egg-in-toast, you have Eggs with a Hat. They had the nerve to include this as a separate recipe from Eggs in a Hole. The audacity...
This dish was one of my earliest culinary skills, and it still makes a cheery breakfast, or a comforting dinner after a hard day.
Elsa, I had never seen this done before and it amazed me with its simplicity. Maybe it was once popular and just fell out of style. Until a few years ago I ate but didn't cook so it could have eluded me easily.
Eggs with a hat is very Seussian. Half Green Eggs and Ham and half Cat in the Hat.
I don't want to think about what the recipe is for Cat in the Ham.
I like to use a heart shaped cookie cutter to make the hole when making this for our anniversary or valentines day breakfast.
Toad in a hole! It's clearly called toad in a hole! My mom makes it all the time. And yes, frying on a griddle is best.
Hooray for quick breakfasts - it takes barely longer than pouring cereal and milk.
Jessica, it's interesting that you call this Toad in a Hole. In our family, it's made with sausages and Yorkshire pudding batter:
http://www.toomanychefs.com/archives/001579.php
In Australia you can get a Toad in the hole just about anywhere that sells fried food, Never heard of Hole-y Toast though.
If anyone sees this post.. I am currently researching this dish.. I have so far counted several names (all informal),, But not the original dish name... I would also like to find out from where this dish came from. (time period and location). As a kid it was refered to as Huevo al Hoya.. (egg in a hole). I once heard of the original name..started with a M. but can't remember it.. If you have any info or even other name varitions.. please email me.. anyone who writes me will get an email copy of my final research when completed.. THanks! Big Jay
zozoyezozo@charter.net
My husband makes this for our 5 & 2 yrs old sons excpet instead of toast he uses a pancake...our 5 yr old has named them "pan-eggs"
Dude. This is a Winkie. we have been rockin this thing since 1969!
I love this sandwich. My family calls it the Winkie!! My Father made it for us for the first time in 1969. It is awesome!!!!!
I'm an Aussie, and we called it Frog-in-A-Log. So similar to toad in a hole, but catchier.
The name is whatever your father called it the first time he made it. For us, a family full of boys, it was not toad in a hole, but "turd in a hole". And yes, we also had "S--- on a shingle". For my two sons it is the less crude "toad in a hole".
ever seen the movie V for Vendetta they make this in the movie but I don't remember what they called it.
In V for vendetta they call this eggy-in-a-basket. Very brittish country sound to it I think.
My dad made this for me many years ago. I kept the tradition going. Egg in a hole !
I make this, too.. But.. I don't flip mine. This is how I do it..
I heat a small skillet to medium high.
I cut a small hole in the center of the bread - you can use cookie cutters, for fun shapes..
I spray butter flavored cooking spray on both sides of the bread.
Add bread to skillet, let "toast" for about a minute.
Flip.. Add egg to hole.
Cover..
Within 2-3 minutes, the egg is fully cooked, and both looks and tastes great! =)
We Made this but one side of the family from Oklahoma and Texas called it a One-Eye'd-Jack .
However my Italian side of the family called it "Italian breakfast" and had a green chive oil or some green oil drizzled over it with crumbed prosciutto on top, but was made exactly as described on the recipe above
AND we also S.O.S which is the pleasant way of saying S*__ on a shingle.
My mom made pretty much the same recipe when I was a kid and called it an 'egg in a nest'.