Tuesday Tip - Wakey Wakey Eggs 'n Bakey!!

My husband and I almost always have bacon (or sausage) and eggs for breakfast. The eggs are usually over medium. (On a side note on this, this used to be over easy....and then over easy somewhere along the lines of my life changed to some white still liquid too...GROSS! So now I have to remember to say over medium at restaurants so I don't end up with a nasty white mucus-like egg substance on my plate!) Anyway, I occasionally appreciate a nice scrambled egg too. I've noticed some people (ahem my father) have issues with curling bacon when they pan fry it. And others (sometimes my hubby) tend to way overcook the eggs and then there is no liquid yolk. The perfect fried egg is solid white, with liquid yolk. And the perfect bacon has a nice light crisp, while still being a bit chewy. I realize these are my opinions and others' perfect eggs and bacon may be much different. But if you're like me and enjoy this variation, here are a couple tips for the eggs and bacon.

First, I cook the bacon. Place the bacon in the pan, then turn the heat on to medium low. Reduce heat slightly if your bacon starts to curl. Keep the heat lower and be sure to flip the bacon several times during the cooking process. This helps with even cooking and helps you keep track of how done it is without burning it. When it's to your liking, remove to paper towels and pat excess grease off. Pour the grease out of the pan into whatever container you use. Cooking the bacon over higher heat causes it to curl, and burn more easily. Wipe the pan out of the extra bits, unless you enjoy eggs cooked in bacon grease, then by all means leave it! Make sure your pan has time to cool a little, or use a new pan if desired. The pan will be hotter than you want for the eggs immediately after cooking the bacon. For the eggs, again, your pan will be over medium-low to low heat to cook. If you're good at cracking eggs without breaking them, then feel free to crack them directly into the pan. If you're not, then crack them into a bowl first, and pour the bowl contents into the pan. Let the eggs cook until the bottom white layer is cooked through, and the clear layer that surrounds the yolk just begins to look cooked. Then gently flip them over and cook only an additional minute or two. You can use your spatula to test around the yolk; you will be able to feel when the white is fully cooked and the yolk is still liquid.

Here is a picture to show what the egg looks like right before I flip it. You can see the bottom white is fully cooked through and the clear that surrounds the yolk is just beginning to look cooked.

Enjoy!
~Melissa