More than likely, you have eaten this simple little egg and toast dish before. And, more than likely, you had your own special name for it.

Only 5 minutes of my time spent on search engines yielded the following names for basically the same dish: “Egg in a Basket”, "Floating Eyeballs", "Toad in a Hole", "One-Eyed Jack", "Egyptian One-Eyes", " Picture-Framed Eggs", "Army Eggs", "Eggs in a Nest", "Egg in a Blanket", and some names I'd rather my name not be associated with!

There are, as in most classic recipes, many variations. You can scramble the eggs prior to putting them in the hole; you could add cheese, ham or vegetables to the egg; you could even top the finished product with maple syrup or salsa. My secret to making this extra-scrumptious? Using nothing more than good bread and real butter!

If you've never ventured close to the stove, this would be a good first recipe to try. It's fun to make but there is some technique involved. You have to crack that egg, dead-on-center, plopping it directly into the hole. The heat can't be too hot, or the toast will burn; or too low, or the egg will cook before the toast browns.

I brown the toast "hole" in butter too--it's my little snack while I'm cooking. Have fun making up your own name for this simple breakfast classic!

Yield: 2 egg toasts Time: 10 minutes Cost: apx. $1.00

Ingredients

2 pieces sandwich bread 1-2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 eggs

Directions

1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat on a flat griddle or skillet. 2. With a cookie cutter or glass, press a hole through the center of the bread slices. 3. Place bread in melted butter and lightly brown both sides of bread, about 1 minute per side, adding more butter to pan, if desired. Put a sliver of butter into hole and let butter melt. Crack egg into hole and lightly season egg with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. 4. Let egg "set", about 2 minutes, then, with a spatula, carefully flip egg toast over and cook other side until desired level of doneness. Serve immediately.