Crosby's Bird's Nest Breakfast

John Houser III

This week on the Rouxde Cooking School Podcast we took a crack at eggs (see what I did there?) and I talked about how I make a dish for my son Crosby called a "Birds nest". I also said I would post the recipe. Well dear reader, here we are.

The podcast episode link can be found here: Liquid Chicken
I came up with this idea (I'm sure I'm not the first) when Crosby was first starting to eat real solid food (not cereal mush) and thought this was a cute idea.

It kept him interested with the novelty of the food, and it also kept me interested with making something fun instead of a making a bowl of Cheerios.

It turned out to be a household favorite that Cros, my wife and I all love to eat. It's basically a more involved version of soft boiled egg and soldiers, a special comfort breakfast my mom made a few times for me when I was young. I loved it every time.

I use whole wheat multi-grain bread because my wife cares about how my kid eats. If it were up to me it would be whatever good crusty bread we had on hand. You can use whatever you want. Yes...... plain ass white bread is fine but lets work on getting you off that shit later.

I usually cut the bread to look like the picture about but I have cut them super thing to really look like a nest. It's up to how playful you want to be. The above pic was literally one of Crosby's breakfasts and we were in "get ready for school mode".

As for the butter in this dish, try to use the good European stuff. There aren't many ingredients in this recipe and it makes a difference. If you don't have the good stuff don't hang yourself, just use regular butter (I do most of the time).

Luckily, this recipe is super easy to make. The problem though is the peeling.......

I fucking hate peeling eggs. Especially soft boiled eggs.

I had a shit time peeling the eggs for the photo above (which is why it's broken). The problem was I forgot a trick I learned about egg peeling.

If you add a teaspoon of baking powder to the pot before you cook the eggs it changes the pH of the water and somehow affects the peelability of the egg. It works better than not doing it at all.

So my friends, let's do this!

Crosby's Bird's Nest

1 slice of bread
1 soft boiled egg *see below for cooking instructions
butter- get the good stuff for your first time
Maldon salt- if you don't have this use kosher or table salt
freshly ground pepper- it makes a big difference

• Heat your soft boiled egg up by pouring the hottest tap hot water you have into a big container (I use a plastic quart Chinese take out container) and place the egg into it. Let it sit in the water until you are ready to assemble.

• place your bread into a toaster or toaster oven. Toast until your preference. I prefer mine a little blackened in spots, but for Crosby I toast it until it gets a bare brown on it so it is a bit easier to eat for a child.

• Once your toast is done, spread butter over it to your enjoyment and then cut it into strips long way and then into thirds cross-way to make your branches. Place onto a plate in a circular pattern.

•Peel your egg. Place on top of the bread branches and then top the egg with Maldon salt and pepper.

• For a kid- Let them break the egg open and then chop the egg up and mix thoroughly so egg and bread and with each other. serve to a happy child.

• For an adult- Cut your own shit up and eat it before it gets cold fool!!!

Enjoy!

* For soft boiled eggs:

6 eggs (or more if you want)
a pot to hold six or more eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
water

• Set a timer for 5 minutes and 20 seconds

• Place enough water to cover eggs by at least an inch into a pot big enough to hold at least six eggs

• Drop a teaspoon of baking soda into the water

• Bring the pot of water to a vigorous boil

• Add the eggs

• Boil for 5 minutes and 20 seconds

• Transfer to a bowl of ice water

• After five minutes, dry the eggs off and refrigerated until needed