Easy Cooking: Grilled Breakfast Sandwich
The egg is easy to learn but hard to master. This is especially the case if you are not using a nonstick pan, though as a beginner cook you likely are, which is good news for our third meal together. This is my version of a breakfast sandwich we picked up from Best Buns in the Shirlington neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. “On toasted icebox bread.” Unsure what that is, but let me tell you, this toast was amazing: Rich, soft, crispy, and buttery. Or was it?
Notes on Toast
I was trying to figure out Best Buns’ secret when I noticed a crevice in one of the slices, with some stuff just inside. Tasted the stuff: Mayonnaise. That may sound weird to you, but made perfect sense to me, having watched a pre-meltdown video of Bon Appétit chefs rhapsodizing about mayo grilled cheese.
Mayo is a controversial choice for pan-toasting bread, but has three benefits from the emulsion’s three ingredients: oil, egg yolk, and acid. The oil means it readily crisps, the egg yolk gives it richness, and the acid gives it a tang, which can be fun or gross, up to you, though heating mayo up tamps down the tang.
A lot of buildup to say: You will be toasting this sandwich with mayo. I actually think my sandwich is better for two reasons. It uses butter and olive oil too, because why not? And I do not overcook the egg in the sandwich.
I have decided not to add strict time guidelines to my recipes for a few reasons, but this might be a breakfast to try first on a weekend!
Bacon and The Egg
You could make this breakfast sandwich without meat, but then it would be objectively worse, subjectively speaking. I like to use bacon because it is bacon, it is quick and easy, it is bacon, it adds some grease to the pan, and I should add, because it is bacon. Plus what other breakfast meat do people cook on a regular basis? Sausage links? On a sandwich? Do not overthink this.
Some of my bachelor frog bois may be unsure about cooking the egg. I know I was for the longest time, until I watched this Buzzfeed video. Let me give you a shortcut to gauging the egg’s doneness: Gently break the yolk in the pan. Once the white sets a little, pierce the yolk and flow it over the white.
Do not let some purist tell you the yolk should be runny and almost raw. It is up to you. You are, after all, the Simon Pegg of how to cook your egg. But seriously, check out Chef John’s YouTube channel! He is the original food YouTuber and still the best.
Personally, I think super-runny yolks are overrated. They have a unique texture, sure, but a custardy yolk is more unique, and maybe more flavorful. An Instagram-worthy runny yolk is difficult to enjoy if it runs all over your plate. I think people hype runny yolks because they are hard to get right, and maybe because we Americans associate less cooked foods with other cuisines that we consider sophisticated or exotic. That is what makes the egg hard to master, by the way: It contains multitudes.
Reference Photos of Bagel Sandwich Variant
Ingredients
- Olive oil (extra virgin a plus)
- 2–4 strips of bacon (Aldi and Lidl’s uncured bacons are fantastic)
- 1–1.5 tablespoons of unsalted butter (use less butter if salted and more oil; note that 4 sandwiches may only require 2 tablespoons of butter)
- 1 large egg
- ~1/4 cup shredded cheese: Monterey jack or sharp cheddar work well
- 2 slices of your preferred bread (I like this one from Costco)
- Enough mayonnaise to spread over one side of each bread slice
Preparation
Make sure oil or fat is spread around a pan before adding ingredients to it.
- Lightly toast the bread — or not. I usually do because we freeze our sliced bread. Pre-toasting probably saves a little time and might help you avoid overdoing the sandwich contents, which are cooked before assembly.
- Spread a moderate amount of mayonnaise on one side of each bread slice.
- Preheat a nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron skillet on medium heat, with a little olive oil if it is nonstick to avoid fumes (an honestly small risk). Starting bacon in a cold pan is a solid option, but watch out for chewiness.
- When pan is up to temperature, add bacon. Cook to desired doneness, using higher heat for crispier bacon. Flip often to check progress.
- When the bacon is cooked, set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Pour most of the grease into a small glass container. (Grease clogs drains. To avoid rancid smell, freeze the grease or discard in an outdoor receptacle.)
- And the butter to the pan, set to medium-low heat, and crack in an egg. If you are not confident, crack into a bowl, removing any shell with a spoon.
- Once the egg white sets a little, if desired carefully pierce the yolk and spread it over the white, trying to keep the yolk off of the pan surface.
- Once the egg is largely though not entirely cooked, remove from pan.
- Add a bit of oil to the pan. Assemble sandwich by placing a slice of bread in the pan, mayo side down, followed by half of the cheese, the bacon, the egg, the other half of the cheese, and the other bread slice, mayo side up.
- Carefully move the assembled sandwich around the pan to absorb butter and oil. The mayo will brown quickly, so do not let it go too long before flipping. If you flip too soon, do not worry. The cheese should help it stay together, but use a second spatula or a fork if you are not confident.
- Flip sandwich as many times as desired until both sides are browned!
This is a deceptively simple dish you may need a few tries to nail, not to mention making it your own. How do you like your bacon and eggs? How do you like your toast? These foods are subjective, which makes them fun.
