One of the nice things about having chickens in the backyard is that we rarely run out of eggs—which means we’re always ready for breakfast. (We’ll have fewer eggs than usual this Winter, but that’s best told in another post.) “Breakfast” isn’t necessarily a morning thing in Gourmandistan. Since we try to have Steve’s home-cured bacon around along with fresh eggs, breakfast can be the perfect answer to “What’s for dinner?,” especially if we’ve been too busy/frazzled to plan ahead. Of course, Michelle prefers that the evening meal still have some elegance, even if we’re being simple. (Steve, if left alone, will occasionally just eat a plate of scrambled—but he has trouble restraining his bachelor mentality.) One way Michelle has helped us enjoy breakfast as dinner is by deciphering The Zuni Cafe Cookbook‘s somewhat inscrutable instructions (what does “just oversaturate” mean, Judy Rodgers?) for “Fried Eggs in Bread Crumbs.” It’s a simple, tasty way to dress up a batch of eggs—and conveniently comes with its own toast.

You don’t see yolks this color in supermarket eggs.

FRIED EGGS in BREAD CRUMBS

(adapted, only slightly, from Judy Rodgers’ The Zuni Cafe Cookbook)

For 1 serving:

• 3 TB. bread crumbs
• Salt & pepper
• About 2 TB. olive oil
• Coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 eggs
• About 1 tsp. sherry vinegar

Season the crumbs with salt, pepper and rosemary, then drizzle some of the oil over (“to just oversaturate them,” whatever that means).

Place the crumbs in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Warm the crumbs through, tossing.

Make a couple of indentations in the crumbs, and pour remaining olive oil into them.  Crack eggs into the indentations.  Cook the eggs as you like.  (We prefer over medium.)  Plate eggs and crumbs, and drizzle vinegar over.