Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket.....Put Them In A Pan And Fry Them Instead!

I always find it amazing how our tastes somehow change through the years. Growing up, I liked eggs. They were just...you know...okay.
But Now? I love them. I want to eat them every morning and for lunch and dinner. I really think it's my age.
I've never like creamy salad dressings. Now I can't get enough of them and vinegar based dressings (which is all I use to eat), just don't do it for me anymore.
Also, I have always been a carb person. Give me your pasta, your bread, your huddled masses of rice yearning to be eaten.
Now? I love meat. And I say this with a bit of a growl to my voice. Like a neanderthal brandishing a club and grunting in a butcher shop.
Call it my age, the change of life, menopause....whatever. I just don't like the same things I did five years ago.
Anyway...back to the eggs. They were actually one of the first things I learned to cook. And I cooked them with anything. You name it, it could be thrown into a pan of fried eggs. Balogni...salami...onions...peppers...hot peppers...ham....barbecue sauce. Fry 'em up and throw them between two pieces of bread and you got yourself a great meal.
My very favorite is fried peppers and eggs. I find it incredible that this is now served in restaurants. It makes a great sandwich. I especially like it on rye or a crusty ciabatta bread.
The other thing is something I began to make years ago after seeing it prepared in a scene in the movie Moonstruck. Recently I saw a blog with this featured and their little twist made it even more delectable. I call it "Eggs in a Nest".
My last is a family classic. Pepperoni and eggs. This also makes a great sandwich.
So let's eat eggs!

Peppers And Eggs For One

Olive Oil (about one tablespoon)
1 hot banana pepper (or 1/4 green bell or red bell pepper or a combination of both)
2 large eggs (beaten with a fork)

First clean your pepper. If it's hot, make sure you get rid of all the seeds, unless you like your food extra spicy (which I do). Also, you may want to take the vein out of the middle of the pepper. This also adds extra heat. Cut the pepper into quarter inch cubes. Toss them into a small frying pan of heated oil. Let them fry until they are just beginning to get translucent. Add your beaten egg (with salt and pepper to taste). I also sometimes add garlic powder for flavor. Move the peppers around the egg as you move the egg in the pan to make sure it doesn't stick. You want your peppers throughout. When your peppers and eggs are golden....you're done.
I like to toast my bread and add some butter. Then put it on the bread. Some people like mayo on their sandwich. I like the flavor of the olive oil. Mayo will ruin that. It's up to you.

Eggs In A Nest

2 Tbls olive oil
one slice thick crusty bread
one large egg

In the movie Moonstruck, Cher and Olympia Dukakis are eating this topped with a fried or roasted red pepper slice. I tried it. It's great!

I like to start with a crusty bread. Again, my favorites are ciabatta or rye bread, although Italian bread works well. Slice the bread fairly thick. About 3/4 inch. For the next part I use a drinking glass that has approximately a two inch round opening. I turn the glass upside down onto the soft part of the slice of bread and turn it back and forth until I could pull a 2 inch circle out of my bread. (Sort of like a cookie cutter).
In a pan, heat oil. Fry one side of the bread until it's just slightly golden. Flip it over. Gently break your egg over the opening in the bread and drop your yoke into the opening.
I don't like gooey yoke, so I usually break my yoke and let it spread around the bread more. When the egg and bread are very golden on the bottom, I flip the bread again to cook the top side. If you want wet yoke, you may want to just cook this slowly with a lid on it (without flipping it). This way you get that little "skin" over the yoke, but you can still dip your bread. Just check under the lid fairly frequently to make sure you are not cooking your yoke until it hardens.
Again, a piece of red pepper adds a zing to this. My family loves this and I make two each sometimes for supper in my big electric fry pan. I also take the round piece of bread that I cut out and fry it also. It's really good.

Pepperoni and Eggs (for the masses)

About ten years ago we had a family of seven living with us. The father of the family would only eat certain foods. Certain boring foods. Here we go: hamburgers, meatloaf, spaghetti (with pepperoni sauce), pizza, sandwiches made with sandwich pepperoni, and corn on the cob. He also liked eggs. One night I suggested that we make pepperoni and eggs. I thought Mike would die. Absolutely not. I asked him "Do you like eggs?"
"Yes."
"Do you like pepperoni?"
"Yes."
"Then you'll like this." His wife, Chris, to be on the safe side, made some plain eggs. To my astonishment, Mike tried the pepperoni and eggs and liked them.

Ingredients:
One stick pepperoni (chopped into small chunks)
One dozen eggs (beaten with a little milk)
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

In a very large pan fry the pepperoni over medium high heat. You will not need oil or butter because as the pepperoni fries, it excretes it's own oils. (Some people like to add a little chopped onion to the pepperoni oil for more flavor).
Let the meat fry until it darkens. Make sure you move it around the pan so that it doesn't burn. Now by darkens, I don't mean blackens. You don't want it burned. When meat darkens in color, add eggs a little at a time, stirring with a spatula consistently so that they don't burn. When eggs are no longer runny and have a golden tint to them, you are ready. Again, this makes a great sandwich.
Sometimes I will combine the hot peppers and pepperoni and make the eggs with both. Not very often, it's very spicy and can produce killer heartburn.
But, ah me, it's worth it!