Not Overly Easy

Got a bit lazy this week with the challenge and didn't include any new recipes... I know, I know... shame on me. I didn't feel well when we made out the grocery list and there were lots of things buzzing around my mind at the time.
   Apologies.
   This week I present to you all a new experience. One that most people have tried, loved or hated. I was skimming through the web the other day searching for fellow "foodie" blogs and came across a rather brilliant one, Circle B Kitchen. She has all sorts of food on there and beautiful photos that make you want to lick the screen frankly.
   There were quite a few recipes that included eggs, and after a bit of reading, I came to find this blogger loves eggs. She even had a recipe for Fried Panko Crusted Soft Boiled Eggs. A bit hard to imagine, so I've included a photograph. All this egg talk got me to thinking about my own food challenge for the year and I remembered that I had vowed to try an egg
*gulp*
over easy.
I was a bit excited by the idea as it came back to me. This was my lazy week and I found a legitimate thing to try in the kitchen without making a trip to the grocer. But along with that excitement came all the yucky feelings I had and preconceived notions of slimy eggs and running yolks.
   I needed encouragement.
I made my way around the office and asked a few fellow employees "How do you like your eggs?". Luckily we have some pretty enthusiastic egg eaters in the office. I was instructed to try one "over hard" which I remembered from back in my café-working days. There's also over medium and sunny side up and (my favorite) scrambled... but before we get into an exhaustive list of egg preparations, I'll get on with it.
   Over hard.
  Didn't sound too bad.. and I knew this involved sticking a fork in the yolk and cooking it. I resolved to do it and ended up leaving work early that day to account for "Q-time" (which is a fancy way of saying, "we don't want to pay you for 40 hours a week, so leave the building an additional 3 hours.")
I made it home and grabbed the eggs from the ice box, and tossed a package of bacon on the counter as well. It would be a while before dinner.
What the heck! I made a pot of coffee too. Turned on the heater, threw a blanket on the couch and pretended it was Saturday morning.
I got my bacon grease ready in my old cast iron skillet and prepared to make fried eggs for the first time in my life. I almost copped out, but I told myself I could try one over hard, but only if I made an over easy one as well.

   The egg sizzled in the skillet and ran every which way in the salty grease. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to flip the entire egg pancake mess with my little spatula, but Jamie's vocabulary came to mind.
  "rustic."
  I made a mess of it and flipped it over, but it looked divine. Crispy brown edges and a yellow center. I poked the center of one and sunny goo began to sizzle.
  Moment of truth.
Sat on the couch. Sprinkled a bit of salt and pepper on top. (That's how the old men in the cafe always treated their breakfast, so mine shouldn't be any different.) I started with the whites and worked my way in, the over hard egg first.
Crispy, soft, salty and fresh... it was quite good. I actually enjoyed a fried egg!
But then again, that runny yolk stood waiting on my powder blue plate to be broken into. I started with the whites again. It was entirely too underdone for my taste... I just couldn't.
I decided to plop it back in the skillet; however, I did stick my fork in the center and grab a nice taste before it started cooking. It tasted like aioli. It was rich and dense and needed salt!! Bleck! Maybe I will try something dipped in it in the future, but I gave just eating it on its own a try.... and I can say it's not my cup of tea.
I did discover that I enjoy fried eggs though! They just need to be cooked thoroughly. So there it is. I enjoyed the experience and I learned something: trying new experiences is scary, exciting and enlightening. So get out there and try new foods! You may be surprised by what you find!




Valentine's Day is soon approaching. We always enjoy an evening at home with a nice meal. I've been looking to Jamie for inspiration, so we'll see what kind of delicacies we can acquire here in the middle of Texas.