Fried Cheese Egg Toast – The Breakfast of Champions (In a Rut)

I’m not sure what your usual breakfast routine entails, but chances are you occasionally get bored with it, and crave something completely different, and when that happens, it doesn’t get much more different than this fast, and easy fried cheese egg toast. Be careful though, since afterwards it’s not easy going back to that bowl of oatmeal.

While pan-frying cheese may not sound particularly healthy, as it caramelizes, it gives up a fair amount of butter fat, which stays behind in the pan. So, you could actually spin this technique as a new, fat-reducing hack – unless you use that to butter the toast, which isn’t a dumb idea.

By the way, I hope you like your yolks runny, since if you don’t, this is not going to be nearly as great. Which reminds me, why do people not like runny yolks? What’s not to like? I hope they don’t think they’re dangerous, because they’re not. Anyway, if you are a fan of the flow, this fried cheese egg toast is the way to go, so I really do hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one Fried Cheese Egg Toast:

1 ounce grated cheddar cheese

pinch red pepper flakes

1 large egg

1 piece of toast

sliced green onions to garnish

pinch of salt

*Note: For best results, rub your non-stick pan with a few drops of olive oil

The Denver Omelet – Denver, Colorado, Not Denver, France

This Denver omelet was one of the first things I learned how to make professionally, during my brief, but exciting career as a short order cook in high school. So, it was a little disconcerting to learn when I arrived at culinary school that everything I had done was totally wrong.

According to the chefs teaching me how to make a classic French omelet, my Denver omelet was overcooked, over-browned, and included too many ingredients.  It was made very clear that if I made that for my exam, I would fail, which was confusing since I thought they were really good, and the people at the diner where I’d worked seemed to agree.

Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate both styles of omelet, and understand they really are two entirely different things. I’m not sure exactly why, but I seem to prefer the softer French version for breakfast, and this heartier American-style for lunch, or dinner. Maybe it’s the browning, or denser texture, but it really does make for a great “can’t figure out what to have for dinner” idea.

As with all omelets, feel free to toss in anything you want, but just be sure to cook it long enough before adding the eggs.  To me there’s nothing worse than an omelet with crunchy, undercooked vegetables in it, and that’s really the only way to screw this up. But, no matter what you use, or when you enjoy this, I really do hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one Denver omelet:

1 tablespoon butter

3 large eggs

1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup diced smoked ham

2 tablespoon finely diced onion

2 tablespoon finely green bell pepper

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

pinch of cayenne