Breakfast for Dinner "Frog in a Hole" Made Healthy for Tyler Florence Fridays

I was craving breakfast food this week when looking for my Tyler Florence Friday's pick, so I was happy when I saw a recipe for "Frog in a Hole" on the Food Network site from the old How to Boil Water show. I grew up eating these fried eggs cooked in the center of a piece of toast, (although at our  house it was known as "Ding Dong Eggs" and I have no idea why). My older brother Bill used to make them on Saturdays for us while we watched cartoons and it was one of the few ways I liked eggs back then. There was nothing better than that little circle of buttery, fried bread and I loved dipping the edges of the bread into the runny yolk. Since I have been feeling like I have been sliding a bit with my eating habits lately, I did want to get less fat and calories and more fiber into it but still have it be similar to the comfort food I remember. I kept the butter, lessening the amount, switched out the bread to a nice boule made with whole wheat flour, swapped out the regular bacon for my favorite natural (no nitrates/preservatives) turkey bacon and served it with a fruit salad of pineapple, watermelon, kiwi and papaya. A very easy--no effort meal!

You can find the recipe on Food Network, here.


"Frog in a Hole"
Tyler Florence
(Serves 4)

8 slices bacon
4 slices good-quality dense, white bread, such as Tuscan bread
4 to 8 tablespoons butter
4 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lay the bacon in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, until crispy. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.

Meanwhile, use a 2-inch cookie cutter or small glass to cut a hole in the center of each slice of bread. Heat the butter over medium heat in a skillet large enough to hold the bread slices in a single layer (or use 2 pans). Cook the butter until it turns a golden brown color. Add the bread and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Flip the bread with a spatula. Now break an egg into the hole in the center of each bread slice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 2 to 3 minutes until the eggs have set on the bottom. Then flip and cook 1 more minute. Transfer to plates and serve with the bacon.


Notes/Results: So good! It really hit the spot as a simple dinner. I baked the turkey bacon until it was nice and crisp on a cookie rack over a foil covered pan. To cook the bread and egg, rather than putting a bunch of butter in the pan, I just very lightly buttered both sides of the bread and used just a bit more in the center for the egg. For the egg, Tyler flips it over for a final minute but I prefer to just leave it until the white sets (no runny whites!), but the yolk is still nice and runny--the better to dip the bread in. A definite keeper recipe, in fact I'll probably eat it again tomorrow.


You can see what recipes the other TFF participants chose and what they thought of them by going to the round-up at the TFF website, here.

Happy Weekend!