“My dear friend Brian Hart Hoffman, president of Hoffman Media, asked me to fly to Los Angeles with him to go to brunch at Ellen Bennett’s. Ellen is the founder of Hedley & Bennett, a company that makes handmade aprons in Los Angeles. She hosts brunches for fifteen to twenty people who don’t know each other. All of us walked into Ellen’s house at 10:00 a.m. on a Sunday and just started cooking. Then we sat on blankets in the backyard and ate. The experience was yet another amazing example of how food brings people together. As we broke bread together in a stranger’s home, everyone contributing something to eat, any barriers between us came down and we could enjoy each other’s company. I taught everyone how to make biscuits and then used the leftover dough to make Eggs in a Hole. I was only in Los Angeles for a total of thirty-six hours, but I left feeling uplifted, savoring the feeling of sharing friendship and goodwill through food, sunshine, and hands working together in the kitchen.” —Carrie Morey, in her new cookbook Hot Little Suppers. Read our interview with Morey here.
Recipe
Eggs in a Hole
Biscuits? Check. Eggs? Check. Brunch? Check.
Photo: Angie Mosier
Ingredients
EGGS IN A HOLE (Yield: Depends on amount of leftover dough)
Leftover buttermilk biscuit dough from stamping out biscuits
Melted butter (amount will depend on how much dough you’re using)
Medium Eggs (one per biscuit cutout you want to fill)
Freshly ground coarse black pepper
Salt
Garnish of your choice (optional)
Preparation
After making biscuits, reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Transfer the leftover biscuit dough to the baking sheet after all twelve biscuits have been stamped out. You now have your “nest.”
Brush the nest with melted butter and bake for 12 minutes.
Pull the biscuit nest out of the oven and crack an egg inside each biscuit cutout. If garnishing with an item such as cheese, add now.
Bake for an additional 7 minutes, or until the egg reaches your preference of doneness.
Brush with melted butter again, then sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.
Recipe excerpted with permission from Hot Little Suppers by Carrie Morey, published by Harper Horizon.