Hobo Egg
This recipe goes by many different names, and very few of them make any sense at all. Toad-in-a-hole, egg in a basket, one eyed eEgyptians; where did these bizarre titles come from? In my family it is called a hobo egg. I thought my dad had just made that up one day and we were odd for calling it that, but I just Googled “hobo egg” and apparently other people call it a hobo egg as well! Fancy that.
If you haven’t had this fantastic breakfast staple it is essentially an egg fried in the hole of a piece of bread. You get a runny fried egg and a piece of buttery toast to sop up the yolk all at once.
It may seem like a simple dish, but I thought it was fitting with Father’s Day coming up on Sunday. This was, and still is, one of my favorite quick breakfast meals and was one of my dad’s specialities.
When I was younger only my dad could make the hobo egg, it just wasn’t the same if someone else made it. Our shared love of breakfast is just one of the many things my dad and I have in common. If I had a quarter for every time my dad and I got into such an intense laughing fit simply because the other person was laughing and had to stop ten minutes later because our sides were ready to split open, well you get the idea.
Other than our identical sense of humor and his signature laugh, my dad is my rock. He is smart, generous, sensitive, ambitious and is the person I always look to for guidance. I love our close relationship and am so lucky to call him dad. So happy Father’s Day, dad, and thanks for making me special hobo eggs all those years ago!
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 slice of bread
- 1 egg
- Salt and pepper
- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Using the rim of a glass or a round cookie cutter with a 2” diameter cut a circle out of the center of the slice of bread. Place the bread in the melted butter and let lightly brown a minute or two on each side.
- Carefully crack an egg in the hole of the bread while in the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes then carefully flip over. Cook until the egg is no longer jiggling, but still feels soft to the touch, about 3-4 minutes. You want to make sure the whites are cooked through, but the yolk is still runny.