The Cottage Smallholder

Eggy cheesy bread toasties with crabapple chilli jelly

Reading a review of a biography of Eva Braun at the weekend, I discovered that I have something in common with Hitler. He rarely got up before midday.

Since developing CFS a couple of years ago, I tend to spend my mornings in bed. Propped up with my laptop and the Min Pins I do a bit of reading, writing and planning. The latter is generally not plotting world domination but rather what I’m going to prepare for brunch.

This morning it was going to be toasted chicken club sandwiches until D confessed that he had picked the carcass clean.
“I’m happy with toast and marmalade.” He leant back in his chair. “I really mean that. Toast is fine.”
I knew that this was a lie – if you wait until midday to eat you do need something substantial.

Poking about in the kitchen I found a fresh crusty white loaf, a couple of eggs and a hunk of cheddar cheese. So I decided to experiment. If I mixed grated cheese into the eggs, dunked the bread slices in the mix and fried them in a covered pan they might be delicious. If all failed we still had the toast and marmalade option.

Danny hovered about the pan – willing this experiment to be a success.
“They smell good.”
And luckily they were excellent. Crispy yet soft inside, the flavour more eggy than cheesy. Best of all they sang when teamed with freshly made crabapple chilli jelly. Of course the secret of the crispiness in just ten minutes is the fried cheese in the mix.

These toasties are far better than plain eggy bread. They could be served on a bed of mixed salad leaves for a chic starter or a simple and quick supper dish for two.

Eggy bread and cheese toasties (for two)

Ingredients:
I.5 thick slices of white crusty bread, cut into six pieces
2 large eggs
50g – 100g or large handful of grated cheese
A good splosh of olive oil (2/3 tbsp)

Method:
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat – lid on. (the knobs on our hob run from 1 -10 and I set the heat to 4)
Meanwhile beat the eggs and mix the grated cheese into the mix
Dunk each side of the bread slices firmly into the egg and cheese mix
Arrange the bread pieces in the frying pan and dollop any remaining mixture onto the top of each slice. Replace the lid and leave to fry for 6 minutes. Turn and fry for a further 4 minutes. Serve on warm plates with a spoon of crabapple chilli jelly.