Crisp bacon, eggs over medium (or as you like them), and nicely toasted raisin bread is a fine way to start the day. Here are some instructions for a breakfast that looks and tastes good.
Ingredients:
- Premium bacon that has a nice blend of lean and fat
- Fresh eggs
- Raisin bread (or your favorite artisan bread)
- Soft butter or butter like spread
- Fruit
Equipment/supplies:
- Teflon skillet
- Tongs
- Thin blade spatula
- Paper towels
Instructions:
Fry the bacon first, then prepare the toast, and do the eggs last. If you want to be well prepared put the bread in the toaster oven, but do not start the toasting until your bacon is fried.
Fry your bacon one notch below medium heat (about 325 degrees). If you use too much heat the bacon will burn. Preheat the skillet to the desired temperature before you lay the strips of bacon in the pan.
Use tongs to turn the bacon often. If the ends of the bacon curl (or other parts), use your tongs or a sturdy spatula to flatten the curl and hold the press until the fat has had time to start cooking brown. Do this on both ends and then turn the bacon. Repeat the process on the flip side. If you keep turning the bacon and keep flattening fat that is curling, your going to have nice crisp bacon. You really don't want strips of bacon that are half burned and/or half uncooked fat. Frying bacon requires your attention, so stand at the range and keep turning the bacon and pressing out fat curls until the bacon is fried crisp. Enjoy the aroma! When the bacon is fried to perfection, use your tongs to lift the strips from the frying pan and lay the bacon strips on paper towels.
Dispose of all of the fat remaining in the skillet and use paper towels to wipe the skillet of any remaining fat or bacon bits to have the skillet ready for frying your eggs. Set the fry pan off of the burner and let it cool.
Make your toast. I prefer using a toaster oven because I've found this to the best appliance to toast and one that provides a wide range of capability for other cooking tasks, including baking, broiling, and convection cooking. I like it better for making toast than a pop-up toaster because it doesn't pop-up, provides more space for toasting, and provides a variety of better controls for making toast.
Have soft butter or a butter like spread at the ready. Spread soft butter/spread while the toast is still hot and the spread will melt immediately. You'll not tear up the toast trying to spread hard butter that will tear up the bread. Plate the toast.
Crack the egg(s) and pour the yolk(s) and white(s) into bowl(s) for each person to be served. For example, if you're going to fry two eggs for Mom, crack two eggs and put the eggs in a bowl for Mom's serving. I like to get the eggs ready in bowls because I break fewer yolks and I like to keep the yolks intact so that folks who wish to do so can dip their toast in the yolks. (If you prefer to have fewer dishes to wash, just crack the eggs and pour them into the hot skillet.) You'll also break fewer egg yolks by using a thin blade Teflon spatula for frying eggs.
Put the skillet back on the burner and preheat it to a medium temperature (350 degrees). Melt two pats of butter in the skillet (or use a small amount of olive oil; you do not need extra virgin olive oil which should be reserved for table use).
When your skillet is preheated, carefully pour an individual serving of eggs into the skillet. When the bottom layer of the egg white is cooked carefully slide the thin blade spatula fully beneath one egg and then turn it over. Repeat the process for each egg. (Do not keep frying until the edge of the egg starts turning brown. You'll eventually develop a sense of the right time to turn eggs.)
To eliminate unnecessary grease, put a pad of paper towels in one hand and be prepared to turn the egg out onto one half of the paper towel when the egg is nicely fried. Flip the egg to the other half of the paper towel pad and then gently turn the egg out onto the serving plate. Repeat the process for the next egg. Add bacon and some fruit to the plate and serve the perfect breakfast with juice and coffee.
You'll probably not make a perfect plate of bacon and eggs every time, all of the time, but you'll soon learn you can make a perfect plate most of the time. I love the pleasure I get from turning out a perfect or near perfect plate of bacon, eggs, fruit, and toast.
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