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First off I should admit that I normally wouldn’t bother with a Valentine’s themed breakfast, and tend to not make much of a fuss about Valentine’s Day in general. However, this year it falls on a Friday, which is a bit of a slower morning for us, and maybe… just maybe I’ll treat the family to a special breakfast like this. Maybe it would be fun. Better yet, maybe I’ll get the kids involved, have them carve some heart-shaped fruit to go along with this. Oh, be sure to keep reading for the heart-shaped bacon… (too much?) Or try breakfast for dinner, Valentine’s Day style! The recipes below aren’t so much “recipes” but you’ll get the idea. This sandwich version of Egg in a Basket is pretty fancy – I might just do straight bread and egg, but try this if you’re up for it:
Valentine’s Day Egg in the Basket
The ingredients are pretty self-explanatory and customizable, so I’m not going to bother listing them. I made mine with cheddar and fig jam, and you can throw in whatever you (or, more accurately, the lucky recipient) would like. I was definitely jonesing for some ham with this. You can’t go wrong with ham, egg, and cheese!
Assemble your sandwich, then butter one side of the bread. Separate the egg white and yolk into two bowls. Place the sandwich, buttered-side-down, in a pan over medium heat and grill until golden brown, then remove.
Butter the uncooked side of the sandwich. Using a cookie cutter or a sharp knife, cut out the center. Lower the heat slightly, then return both pieces of the sandwich to the pan, uncooked-side-down. Add just enough egg white to fill the bottom of the empty sandwich center, then carefully slip the egg yolk into the center.
Cover the pan (this will help the egg cook quicker and melt the cheese) and let everything cook for a couple minutes, checking regularly after one minute to make sure nothing is burning. Once the egg appears to be cooked, immediately remove the sandwich and serve!
And to go along with eggs and toast, who doesn’t love bacon?
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Bacon Hearts
Ingredients
12 slices of bacon (this won’t work with stiff bacon, it sorta needs to be loose and floppy. Ha!)
… that’s it!
Directions
Preheat oven to 400. Cut your bacon slices in half. Using two pieces of the cut in half bacon… shape them into a heart on a sheet pan (make sure this pan has sides so the grease doesn’t get all over your oven!). Bake for 18 – 25 minutes (or until done). Serve on a fancy plate or a pretty box and share with your loved one. Extra credit if you dip the bacon in chocolate! Yum!
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Tip: to get this to work you need thick and floppy bacon. Yeah, that sounds weird and I don’t really think the grocery stores are cool with you taking the bacon out of the packaging and shaking it. It’s sort of a trial and error thing, or buy a couple different brands of bacon. We have had a lot of luck with Costco’s Kirkland Brand bacon. It’s thick and floppy. Perfect for hearts.
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