Egg Express: Breakfast on the go

When I'm in a hurry, one of my favorite things to have for breakfast is an egg sandwich. Often I'll stop by the local bagel shop and grab an egg and cheese on a bagel. However, there are a few things that I dislike about the store bought sandwich, which led me to create my own version.

First of all, it's really upsetting that the vast majority of places that I've been to in San Francisco dump the egg in the microwave. Too often this leads to a thick, flavorless mass of rubbery egg. Tell me what is so hard about having a grill in a bagel shop! :-)

Another problem is that often the bread-to-egg ratio is way off (a sentiment echoed here). Either the egg is falling out the sides or the bagel dwarfs the egg. Many times I feel that it ends up being way too filling for my taste.

For my version, I use a honey wheat English muffin, which adds a subtle sweet flavor to balance out the savory flavors. Add one fried egg, seasoned generously with salt and pepper, plus a slice of cheese, and sprinkle with any garnish leftover from last night's dinner (in this case it ended up being scallions). Perfect bread to egg ratio and plenty of flavor. Yum.

Here is the finished product:


And here is the (very simple) recipe:

Egg Express
(Serves 1)

1 egg, room temperature
1 honey wheat English muffin
small pat of butter
1 slice of cheese (I have to admit that I tend to use American cheese for this because it is so fast to melt. But really any cheese would work.)
salt and pepper
ketchup/extra garnish, if desired

Take a small non-stick pan and heat on medium low. You don't want to cook fried eggs over too high of a heat - otherwise they will cook too quickly and will have a tough texture. Add butter to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.

After the pan is completely heated, add your egg to the pan. One trick to keep the egg from spreading all over the pan (courtesy of Alton Brown) is to crack it into a bowl first, and then gently pour it into the pan.

Liberally season with salt and pepper. Since the top is still uncooked, it absorbs the seasoning nicely. Start toasting the English muffin while the egg cooks.

When the thickest part of the egg has turned from clear to opaque, it is ready to flip. If desired, you can pop the yolk a few seconds before turning. This spreads the yolk flavor a little bit through the sandwich and ensures that it won't be too runny in the finished product.

After flipping, season again with salt and pepper. Take the slice of cheese and place it on top of the egg, so it begins to melt. It shouldn't take much time on this side to complete cooking - less than a minute.

Place the egg on the toasted English muffin, folding or cutting as necessary to fit the shape. At this point, if the cheese still isn't fully melted, you can stick it in a toaster oven for a few seconds. Top with your favorite garnish and ketchup, if desired.

So simple, but delicious!