Everything tastes better with an egg on top

seattlepi ^ | April 14, 2009 | ALISON COOK

[JoeProBono]

"Everything tastes better with a fried egg on top," I used to tell people as a joke. I was exaggerating, of course, but not by much: My life list of dishes that profit from a crown of wobbly, runny-yolked egg grows longer every year.

Give me a choice between a Croque Monsieur, (the classic French grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich) and the Croque Madame that plops a fried-egg bonnet on top, and it's no contest. Is there a burger that tucks a fried egg into sumptuous layers of bacon and cheese? I'll have that, please. When the smart young chefs started sending out first courses adorned with cunning fried quail and duck eggs a few years ago, I rejoiced.

From Peru to Penang, from Denmark to Bruges to Mozambique, food cultures agree that a deftly fried egg can put a dish ever so agreeably over the top. There is anticipation, drama and happy release in the moment a fork (or a chopstick) pricks the yolk--sending a cascade of golden goo every which way. A sense of luxury clings to that satiny liquid, which enriches any sauce known to man.

At a purely visual level, a fried egg gives a dish cosmic resonance, too, especially when served sunny side up: the egg-white orb centered by its yellow eye conjures up the sun itself, and (for me, anyway) the music of the spheres. It's the universe on a plate.

My fried-egg-on-top mania started long ago, at Houston's venerable Spanish Village restaurant, where I discovered the Enchiladas con Huevos that changed my life. As our neighbors in New Mexico know, the earthiness of serious red chile gravy is uniquely suited to the smooth unctuosity of egg yolk: They deepen each other's charms. Add the slide of melted cheese, the crunch of raw onion, and you have a guilty pleasure for the ages. An interactive pleasure, at that; when the enchiladas are set before me, I like to watch the over-easy yolks wiggle a little before I sploosh them. For a moment, I'm a kid again.

[hoagy62]

The Red Robin restaurant chain has the Royal Robin...beef, cheese bacon and topping WITH a fired egg on top. My absolute favorite.

[GSP.FAN]

My favourite when i was a kid toast soldiers and boiled eggs ...

[JoeProBono]

Red Robin Royal Burger

[LongElegantLegs]

Eggy in a Basket:

But to really get the full effect, you need a fresh slice of bread about an inch and a half thick, & cook it in the grease of 1 slice of bacon.

[JoeProBono]

Mmmmmm

[caveat emptor]

Egg white has a natural antibiotic activity thanks to two proteins in particular, ovotransferrin and lysozyme. They act, respectively, by depleting the environment of iron, essential to bacterial growth, and by destroying the walls of some bacteria. This antibiotic activity was already known but researchers were able to show that it is partially inheritable and that hens can therefore be selected on the basis of the antibacterial activity of the egg white. These two proteins only explain part of the antimicrobial potential. Other antibacterial agents present in the egg white are yet to be identified. Source.

Egg white was sometimes used as an antibiotic before the discovery of penicillin. I buy eggs from a neighbor, who lets the chickens run free during the day. The eggs have thick, firm shells which require some effort to break.

[grame]

Egg and english muffin. My everyday breakfast. I've learned how to ‘poach’ my egg in the skillet with a drop or two of oil. Some sea salt on top and I'm like the dog on Deputy Dawg when he got his treat, just floating in contentment.