Egg in a Hole*

By Kwasome

This creative dish combines the best of the breakfast world--crisp buttered toast and creamy fried eggs. Use a substantial sliced sandwich bread, such as Pepperidge Farm, which has a fine crumb, for this recipe. Soft breads, such as Wonder, or slices from a thick-crusted rustic loaf, for that matter, are not options here.

Ingredients

• 4 slices high-quality white sandwich bread
• 2 Tbs unsalted butter
• 4 large eggs
• Table salt and ground black pepper

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 200 degrees. Using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut and remove a hole from the center of each slice of bread. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it just begins to brown, swirling to coat the pan. Place 2 slices of the bread in the skillet and slide 1 egg into each hole.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until the egg whites begin to set and the bread is well browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Carefully flip the bread and eggs over and continue to cook until the eggs have reached your desired doneness, up to 70 seconds longer. Slide the bread slices onto a plate and keep warm in the oven. Wipe out the skillet and return to medium heat. Repeat with the remaining tablespoon of butter, bread, and eggs.