Crispy Fried Egg over Open-Faced Brisket Sandwich

This was my first recipe for 52 weeks of cooking. The ingredient was eggs! I wanted to do something creative and  incorporate things in my refrigerator.  When Blair and I first saw the list for the challenge, he immediately said he wanted to do a crispy fried egg! He had had one this summer at a restaurant in Dallas and really wanted to attempt it at home. So after scouring the web for a similar recipe, we found one at Former Chef. I was a little afraid of this style of egg- it was both poached which I had never done before AND fried! EEK! It turns out it was pretty easy and I have a feeling it will be one recipe we come back to when we want to do something fun.

Crispy Fried Egg

• Flour
• Eggs (1 beaten, however many you want for frying!)
• Panko Bread Crumbs
• Salt and Pepper
• Other spices- I used cayenne!
• Canola Oil
• White Vinegar

The first thing you will want to do is get everything set up, it makes it easier to keep the timing of the recipe.  Get a large pot and fill about 3/4 of the way with water and start boiling/simmering it on the stove. While that is getting hot, you can do the set-up. So make one little bowl of flour (add salt, pepper and spices to taste), one bowl for the beaten egg, and one bowl for the breadcrumbs. This is how you will bread your egg after it is poached. Also set up a frying pan and add enough oil so that you can pan fry your breaded eggs ( I used a cup at first and realized it wasn’t enough for the size of my pan so added about a half a cup more). Start heating up the oil. It will be ready for your eggs, when you throw in a little piece of panko and it sizzles and starts to color up a bit. It will be too hot if it immediately turns brown.  Also, set up a plate with paper towels on it to set the eggs on after they are done poaching.

Once the water starts to simmer it is ready to poach the eggs. Add about a tsp ( I misread and added a tablespoon and it still worked out) of vinegar to the water. Now crack one egg into a little bowl and slowly drop the egg into the simmering water.  Repeat for every egg you want to make ( I made two at the same time, so depending on the size of your pot you can probably make more). Poach for 3-4 min. I did 3 because I wanted the egg yolk to be super runny. To get the egg out of the water, very gently lift out with a slotted spoon and place on the paper towel plate. Now let the eggs sit for a couple of minutes before you start breading them.

Once the eggs have sat it is time to bread them! Very, very gently pick one up and place it in the flour bowl. Once it is covered, move to the egg bowl, and then to the panko bowl. Set it one a plate and bread the rest of the eggs.  This is what mine looked like after it was breaded.

Now it is time to fry them! Remember to check your oil to make sure it is hot enough or not too hot! The first one I made the oil was not hot enough so I had to cook it longer and I lost my runny yolk. Sadness. So once you check the oil and it is perfect, then take your slotted spoon again and gently lower the egg into the oil. It should take about 15 seconds per side to get all brown and crispy. Remove the egg and place on paper towel plate. It should look like this.

Notice the one the left is not very brown, this was because my oil was not hot enough. The one of the right turned out perfect though!

Now you have a Crispy Fried Egg.  Eat it by itself, or use it to top something yummy! I used mine over leftover brisket and toasted french bread. Soo delicious!