Eden Diez

March 2020
Creative Descriptive Essay
WRD 203

Egg-in-the-Nest-Toast

My love for the first meal of the day is as unwavering as Ron Swanson’s
passionate love affair with breakfast food. In episodes of Parks and Recreation,
Swanson points to his framed photo of eggs, bacon, and toast with pride. The
large framed photo serves as the centerpiece of his personal office, and it is
perhaps my most relatable element of the entire television series. This passion of
breakfast food, that Swanson and I share, has existed ever since my Grandfather
taught me how to scramble eggs.
“Use a fork,” he said over my shoulder, “It’ll make the eggs fluffier.”
My Grandmother demonstrated how to roll open a hard-boiled egg. My
older cousin, Ryan, showed me how to make pancakes — despite the existence of
step-by-step instructions on the back of the Aunt Jemima box. My cousin was not
the best at cracking eggs open, so I also learned how to swipe pieces of eggs
shells from batter. My younger sister taught me that there is no such thing as too
much chocolate in chocolate-chip pancakes. My Dad showed me how to use the
waffle machine. My Mom informed me that anything can go into an omelette.
I’m a fan of cooking shows and their exhilarating timed competitions, but
I was most drawn to the creative aspect of whipping up a dish. After learning the
infinite methods an egg can be cooked, I was flabbergasted the day my Mom and
Dad cut a hole in the center of a piece of bread and cooked an egg in the center.
This innovative breakfast meal requires minimal effort but undivided attention.
The yolk is especially greedy for your attention.
To begin, gather your favorite sliced bread, an egg, and butter. When it
comes to butter, my Grandpa instilled in me that more is more, so I lather a
generous amount of butter on a square griddle. The exact amount of butter and the
heat level is unspecified because I want to leave measurements up to your
interpretation and personal preference.
As the pan heats on medium/low heat and the butter begins to sizzle, I’ve
already used my butter knife to carve out a large circle in the middle of my piece
of bread. I wouldn’t recommend using the end pieces of a loaf, just continue
ignoring the two pieces as most of us do, until guilt and pity overcome us and we
give in by using them for a sandwich.
Plop the donut-looking piece of bread on the buttered pan and prepare to
use even more butter. Place a dollop of butter in the hole you skillfully carved out,
then lightly add a layer of butter on the side of the bread facing you. This piece of
bread should now be completely buttered up, similar to excessively flattering your
boss for the coveted promotion.
Crack the egg into the center of the bread, which is now on its way to
being toast. Add a dash of salt and pepper onto the egg. Maintain the medium/low
heat, in fact, the lower the better. I wouldn’t recommend rushing the egg to cook
because you run the risk of cracking the yolk.
The yolk provides the sauce in which you dip the bite of cooked egg white
and toast. It is important that the yolk stays uncooked, although personal
preference may come into play if you don’t like runny yolk. If you prefer a
cooked yolk, then I regret to inform you that this breakfast meal may not be for
you and your tastebuds, but I can accept the existence of an egg-in-the-nest-toast
with a cooked yolk if it pleases you.
Within the minute of cracking the egg, it’s time to turn over the piece of
toast. The main goal of this breakfast meal is to avoid cooking the yolk. After
years of cooking this recipe, perhaps 3 out of 10 egg-in-the-nest-toasts I create
have a cooked yolk. This personal statistic is disappointing to me, but then I
remind myself that no one is perfect and cooking is often difficult.
It’s time to flip when the egg white is mostly cooked. You should also
pinch a corner of the bread to peek underneath to see if the bread is toasted. If the
bread is not toasted, this discovery indicates that the bread did not spend enough
time on the buttered, heated pan before the cracking of the egg.
After lathering more butter on the pan pre-flip, I use my fingers to
carefully turn over the toast. Patience is a necessary virtue to practice because if
you quickly flip the toast, the yolk may crack. Successfully turning over egg-in-
the-nest-toast is a process of trial and error, so don’t be discouraged if the yolk
cracks or if you flipped too soon.
After the tedious turn around process, turn off the heat. The existing heat
will cook the remainder of the egg white. Uncooked yolk is acceptable, but
uncooked egg white is not. I would advise that you double check that the egg
white is cooked by poking it with a fork.
You could call this breakfast meal “egg-in-the-hole-toast,” “egg-in-the-
middle-toast,” “egg-in-the-nest-toast,” or “egg-in-the-basket-toast,” but either
way, this under five minute recipe is finished and ready to be ! Garnish your egg-
in-the-hole-toast with more salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, parsley, chives,
cilantro...whatever tickles your taste buds.
This breakfast recipe taught me how to be patient, observant, and that
more butter is more. I enjoy my egg-in-the-nest-toast with a tall glass of orange
juice and fresh fruit. I also plate two or three batches of egg-in-the-nest-toast
because it is that delicious, but I’m also really hungry for breakfast food, just like
Ron Swanson.