Valentine's Brinner

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd try to make that fancy 'egg in a basket' sandwich I posted yesterday (with the boy's help of course) for an extra special Valentine's Day Brinner. We also made bacon (duh) and hash browns, which he cut in the shape of hearts. Here's what we ended up with:

Not bad, eh? The sandwich was actually kind of easy - you're essentially making a grilled cheese sandwich.

 First, start with your sandwich fixings.... We went with just sharp cheddar, but you could use any kind of cheese, add ham, spinach, jam- whatever you think would be good with an egg. Remember though - you'll be cutting out the center, so I'd put those thicker toppings (like ham) more on the edges to make your life easier. Also, we used plain ol' sandwich bread, but if you did sourdough or something bigger it might be easier.

Assemble your sandwich, buttering the outsides of the bread. Place on the pan and start grilling.

Here's what is going to happen next.... When you are ready to flip, take the sandwich off the grill, cut out the heart sandwich (this will be easier if you have a cookie cutter!) and then place it back on the grill, flipping it so the uncooked side is down.

Then, you'll drop an egg into the center.

We just cracked ours and dumped it in there. However, it is probably easier if you follow these directions and separate the egg white and yolk into two bowls. When the time comes to pour in your egg, you can pour in just the amount of egg white you need, and then slip your yolk in too. If you just crack it like we did, you end up with way too much egg for the little heart cut-out.

You're aiming for a nice, runny, sunny-side-up egg. We ended up having to put the whole pan in the oven and had to reflip our sandwiches so our eggs were fully cooked. The original recipe noted that covering the pan would help the egg cook quicker and melt the cheese.

Once the egg is cooked (and your sandwich isn't burnt) - Voila! Valentine's Brinner!