Dads and Eggs

I've said it before and I will say it again.  I am not particularly fond of eggs eaten alone.  But I love cooking them for my family and am fascinated with them.  They are so versatile.  The list goes on for miles with what you can do with eggs.  But, the expert of all experts on cooking the perfect fried egg is my dad.  He taught me his secrets.  There may be other ways of course, but, cooking the perfect fried egg is all about patience.  What's up with dads and cooking/loving fried eggs?  Maybe it's the bacon grease.  Yes, ours involve bacon grease.

Dad. Happy.  Must have had a fried egg for breakfast :)

A while back, my youngest daughter wanted to make a fried egg for breakfast.  It was approximately high noon, which was the usual time for her first meal of the day.  Since I was on a limited lunch hour, I verbally instructed her from across the room.  Small saute pan on the stove to heat up, check.  Eggs out, check.  Jar of bacon grease....uhhh, this is where she got a bit confused.  "You want me to put THAT much bacon grease in the pan?" she asked.  "Yes" I explained.  "So you're taking something healthy and turning it into something UNhealthy?" she said shockingly.  "Most definitely" I answered proudly. 

The trick, see, is to place just the right amount of fat in the saute pan and heat it on a low-medium temperature and once the egg is a bit 'set,' you begin to slosh the fat onto the top of the cooking egg to give it that little layer of white on top of it's bright yellow center.  Some diners and restaurants simply use a griddle, no fat, and cover the egg with a domed lid to cook the top of the egg.  Often times they may even give it a spray of water and cover it with a lid.  If you are on a bacon grease free diet, then by all means go this route.  But if you want to enjoy a good old southern breakfast once in a while, a little bacon grease will be a-okay.

WHAT YOU NEED:

Eggs (room temperature work best)
Bacon Grease (for this particular recipe)
Salt/Pepper
Small Saute Pan

WHAT TO DO:

Place a small saute pan on a burner of equal size
and preheat on low-medium heat.
Add enough bacon grease in the pan to come up the sides
by about 1/4-1/2 inch.
Let the fat come up to heat a bit before cracking your egg into it.

Next trick is to crack a whole egg directly into the grease.
Do a little tap tap with the egg
on the edge of the counter to barely crack
and then dump it's contents into the hot bacon grease.
I've cracked many an egg in my life and have mastered

doing this with one hand.

Don't worry about bits of shell -
the quicker and better you become, this will rarely happen. 
When it does, just use the same shell to scoop the piece out with.

Works like a charm.
If your grease spits and spatters too much,
turn your heat down a bit.
You want to gently cook your egg, not flash fry it.

Once your cute little egg is resting in the bacon fat,
leave it there for a minute or two
until you start to see white all around it -
then you can begin sloshing the bacon grease
up over and around it using a good heat proof spatula.
Continue doing this until your egg is cooked to your liking.
Slosh, slosh, slosh.  Ever so gently.

Gently remove to a plate and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper,
a pinch of salt, and you are ready to dive in.
Gobble it up with some bacon, toast
or biscuits to accompany that little piece of sunshine
and you are in southern heaven.
Adding several shots of pepper sauce
will just be the icing on the cake.  MMM.

Please pay no attention to that horrific blob of CATSUP
on that plate.  Who does this?  Eggs with CATSUP???
Kids.

Thanks Dad for teaching me your tricks!
You are indeed the master fried egg cooker and more! :)

ENJOY!