What are Gashouse Eggs?
What are Gashouse Eggs is a really good question? One of the great things about cooking, and I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, is that after twenty-five years I am still learning. Now lots of you will be saying what on earth are Gashouse Eggs? To be honest I had to do some research. You will probably have seen pictures of Gashouse Eggs. You might have watched it been made on Friends, and you may have cooked them without even knowing. Put simply it is eggy bread. A slice of bread with an egg in a hole in the center which is either baked or fried.
Now you may also know the chefs can not resist tinkering with recipes. So I have set about to make the ultimate Gashouse eggs. A kind of French Toast hybrid or really eggy, eggy, eggy bread ( Oye Oye Oye ). Slices of rich brioche loaf soaked in a mixture of free-range egg and Jersey milk. Which is cooked in butter with a fried egg inside the hole. Let me tell you the result is pretty spectacular, especially with a little freshly grated Parmesan on top. It is great served with some crisp bacon or some freshly cooked asparagus spears as a great vegetarian breakfast.
The Full English Breakfast question?
Do you like a proper fry up? I love a full English breakfast. Some sizzling sausages, crisp rashers of bacon, buttery mushrooms and a grilled tomato. All served with hot buttered toast and tea are certainly on my list but what else? Black pudding, fried, poached or scrambled eggs, and some people like baked beans. I’m not a fan of beans but I guess really, it’s a question of personal preference.
My fancy Gashouse fry up.
So today I made a rather fancy looking fry up. Not quite a Full English but pretty damn good as breakfasts go. Simply grill some good quality dry-cured bacon. Add a couple of bangers, good pork sausages. I have used the rather delicious Me and the Farmer sausages for over ten years now. Quickly poach and butter early season asparagus. Pan fry an umami-packed Trumpet Royale or King Oyster mushroom and Gashouse Eggs, my killer version of eggy, eggy bread.
Gashouse Eggs
Equipment
- Non-stick Frying Pan
Ingredients
- 4 Slices Brioche thickly cut
- 6 large Free-range Eggs
- 120 ml Full fat Jersey milk
- 20 grams freshly grated Parmesan Optional
- 4 tablespoons Unsalted Jersey Butter
- A drizzle of Vegetable Oil
- 1 large pinch fine Sea Salt
- 1 large pinch freshly grated Black Pepper
Instructions
- Using a small sharp pointed knife or a pastry cutter make a whole in the brioche slices.
- In a large bowl whisk two of the eggs, the full-fat milk, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the brioche slices and allow to soak for a few minutes. Turn over and continue to soak.
- Heat a little of the oil and butter in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat until it starts to foam.
- Carefully drain two slices of the eggy bread with a slotted spatula and transfer them to the pan. Fry the bread for approximately three minutes, until golden brown and flip over.
- Crack in an egg into the hole in each slice. Gently cook for another three minutes until the bread is crisp and the egg is cooked. Spoon hot butter, from the pan, over the egg to aid cooking.
- Remove and keep warm on a baking tray in a warm oven. Repeat the process and cook the remaining bread.
- Sprinkle with the Parmesan if using and serve.
