Egg in the basket, which is also known by many other names, is an egg fried in a hole in a slice of bread.
Description
The dish consists of a slice of bread with an egg in the middle, fried with butter or oil. It is commonly prepared by cutting a circular or square hole in the center of a piece of bread, which may be buttered. The bread is fried in a pan with butter, margarine, cooking oil, or other fat. At some point, an egg is cracked into the hole in the bread. When the egg is added to the bread determines how well-done the egg and bread will be relative to each other in the final product. The pan may be covered or the bread flipped while on the heat to obtain even cooking. A waffle or bagel (with a large enough hole) can be substituted for the slice of bread.
thumb|Scrambled egg in the basket served with its "hat" or "lid"
Names and origins
A recipe for "egg with a hat" appeared in Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking School Cookbook in the 1890s. Italian immigrants to the US cooked a similar dish called uova fritte nel pane.
The name toad in the hole is sometimes used for this dish, though that name more commonly refers to sausages cooked in Yorkshire pudding batter.
See also
- French toast
- Fried egg
- Khachapuri
- List of bread dishes
- List of egg dishes
- List of toast dishes