Phyllis.
I want a chicken.
For awhile I've kind of suspected I wanted a chicken, ever since I found out it is actually legal to own chickens (but not roosters) in the city of LA. My obsession with really good eggs has already been documented and I am always on the hunt for new egg vendors at the farmers market. So after meeting a chicken named Phyllis last weekend and trying her seriously amazing eggs, it's official: I want a chicken.
My friend Jon was house-sitting for his friends in Highland Park and part of the deal was caring for Phyllis, their backyard-roaming chicken. With her green-black body, gentle disposition and head of fluffy white feathers that wobble when she walks, she's a real cutie. Fortuitously, Rob and I stopped by to visit after seeing Food Inc., and seeing Phyllis happily scratching around in the compost pile and jumping up to snag grapes off the vine seemed like a tonic for the stomach-turning treatment of animals we had just watched onscreen.
Phyllis lays one small egg about once every two days and Jon was nice enough to give me two eggs he had saved in the fridge. I knew they were destined for something simple but special, and Zuni Cafe's fried eggs in bread crumbs seemed just about perfect. It's one of my favorite ways to cook good eggs because it combines rich, runny yolks with the toasty crunch of bread crumbs and the warm flavor of thyme in a way that seems fancy yet tastes just like that childhood favorite of mine, egg in the basket. (Or egg-in-the-hole or cat in the hat or whatever it is your mom happened to call it.) With a simple beet salad -- just chopped raw beets, salt, pepper and fresh lemon juice -- and a couple slices of toasted olive bread alongside, I had the ideal summer meal: easy, oven-less and utterly satisfying.
Phyllis's eggs, by the way, were incredible. Is chicken-napping punishable by law?
Fried Eggs in Bread Crumbs
Adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
Makes one serving
3 tablespoons panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
Salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
A few sprigs of thyme
2 eggs
In a small bowl, mix the panko with a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil until the bread crumbs are the texture of wet sand. Strip the sprigs of thyme and set the leaves aside.
In a medium-size nonstick or cast iron skillet, fry panko until crumbs are just beginning to brown. Quickly add remaining tablespoon of olive oil and thyme leaves to the pan and push panko into the middle, forming a flat little island at the center. For over easy eggs, separate about half the crumbs and let them hang out at the edges of the pan. Stir them occasionally so they don't feel left out.
Crack eggs over the panko island. Cook until whites are set and bread crumbs are a toasty brown. For over easy eggs, scoop excess panko over the tops of the eggs and flip once. Serve immediately. While eating, think about the awesomeness of chickens.
Your post makes me want to own a chicken too. Fresh chicken eggs sound delicious!