Egg in a Hole with Smoked Salmon

Hey, there’s a weekend coming up. You should make this. It was a hit at our house last weekend. Egg in a hole or the old egg in a basket or egg in a nest. Whatever you call this recipe, it merely involves removing the center of a slice of bread (or other baked good) and cooking an egg in that space. This one is a little more gourmet, a bit more on the side of fine dining, some might say fancy pantsy with smoked salmon, capers and crème fraîche.

I wouldn’t leave out the crème fraîche like I did. Thought I was going to make the condiment then forgot to keep some of the heavy cream and buttermilk I had around (into another recipe they went). Yeah, that’s all it takes to make crème fraîche, heavy cream and buttermilk with a bit of time at room temperature. The recipe is pretty dry without it unless you have your egg over easy (my preferred way) but still. Maybe add a little fresh dill or chives.

As for the bread, the Real Simple recipe called for country bread. I came across Swedish limpa bread at our co-op which was perfect for this with the fennel, hints of orange, molasses, anise, and caraway. Don’t leave out the onion. I thought raw red onion would be too much but it was a welcome, strong flavor. Not too much smoked salmon which will overpower your bite. But do what you want. I thought the recipe called for too much smoked salmon-you could likely double your servings with the 4 ounces to get 4 eggies in a hole in place of the 2. (I’ll share the recipe that serves 4.)

When you get a bit of the buttery bread with your egg, the caper, a slice of onion and some of the smoked salmon (dip yours in the crème fraîche) there’s just this beautiful flavor. It makes a weekend breakfast (or lunch, snack, perhaps dinner) that much better. It’s also very attractive with the bright pops of color.

Egg in a hole with smoked salmon, capers and crème fraîche
Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 large slices of country bread (or your bread of choice-Swedish limpa was perfect)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup crème fraîche (see above for recipe link)
4 oz. smoked salmon
2 tbsp capers
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
pepper

Cut a hole in the middle of your bread slices-about 3-inches-you can use a cookie cutter or small glass for this. Work in batches in a large nonstick skillet, 2 slices at a time. Melt half of the butter (1 tbsp) in the skillet over medium heat. Place 2 slices of bread in the skillet, crack an egg in each center and cook until the bread is golden and egg whites are set, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Place on plates. Do the remaining 2 slices the same way. Don’t forget to add that last 1 tbsp of butter to the skillet first.

While the last 2 slices are cooking, divide half of the smoked salmon, capers, red onion and crème fraîche with a dash of pepper to the plated batch and serve. Do this for the remaining slices and serve. If you have some fresh dill or chives you could top off the dish.