I came face to face with my pickiness last weekend. I’ve been buying eggs from a coworker of Dave’s, which is great because I can finally feel confident that the chickens that hatched my eggs weren’t grossly mistreated, for far cheaper than the supposedly cage-free eggs at the grocery store. When he had duck eggs to sell, I figured it would be a fun new thing to try. Plus, I knew I was making these bacon-egg-toast cups soon, and I mistakingly believed that duck eggs were smaller than chicken eggs, so they would fit perfectly into the muffin cups with all the other goodies.
Not only are duck eggs usually larger, not smaller, than chicken eggs, but they’re different in other ways. For one, the shells are thicker, so it takes a bit of hammering the egg on the counter to break through it. The whites are whiter. Have you ever noticed that the white of a chicken egg is actually kind of yellow? Not so a duck egg.
Also, the white is extremely stretchy; it really never breaks. That means that if you crack an egg into a small bowl and then move it to your muffin cup, bits of white will stick to the bowl and stretch across the counter, and basically your whole kitchen will be coated in egg white by the time you’re done.
But once you’re eating – who cares? Who cares what color the white was when you broke the egg? Who cares if it was extra super freakily stretchy? Once the eggs were cooked, I wouldn’t have known I was eating duck eggs if I hadn’t cracked them open myself. Because I did know, I noticed that the white was firmer. But who cares?
I tried not to, but I have two more duck eggs left, and yet I hard-boiled chicken eggs to bring to work this week. It’s so stupid, because there’s nothing worse about duck eggs compared to chicken eggs; they’re just different. If I was used to duck eggs and someone gave me chicken eggs, I’d think the white was too watery and yellow. The lesson here is one I think we all need reminded of occasionally: Pickiness is all in your head. Still, I’m not sure I’ll be buying duck eggs again anytime soon.
One year ago: Croissants, Pumpkin Biscotti, African Pineapple Peanut Stew, Apple Tart, Vegatarian Lasagna, Carne Adovada
Two years ago: Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Ravioli, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffed Sandwich Rolls, Baked Eggs with Spinach and Mushrooms
Bacon-Egg-Toast Cups (adapted from The Noshery via Annie’s Eats)
I was making these for kids because I thought they’d have a good time with it, but instead they were all, “um, there’s egg on my toast; that’s where I put my jelly.” And then they ate nearly as much as the adults did.
I skipped the cheese and added green chile. Because I live in New Mexico, and that is what we do.
I realized after the fact that I arranged my toast a little differently than the original recipe, by lining just the bottom of the muffin cup with toast instead of the sides as well. I liked my way, so I’ll provide that in the recipe.
Serves 6
6 slices of bread
12 slices of bacon (about 1 pound)
12 eggs
½ cup of shredded cheese (or other flavoring)
salt and pepper
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.
2. Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange the bacon in the skillet in a single layer and cooked until its fat is mostly rendered but it’s still pliable, 4-5 minutes.
3. Using a cookie cutter, cut two 2-inch circles out of each slice of bread. Place a bread circle in the bottom of each muffin cup. Wrap a slice of bacon around the edge of each muffin cup; sprinkle cheese or other flavorings onto the bread in the space lined by the bacon. One by one, crack the eggs into a small bowl and transfer the yolk and some of the white on top of the cheese. (Unless you’re using small eggs, using all of the white will cause the eggs to overflow the muffin cups.) Season with salt and pepper.
4. Bake until the egg white is set, 8 – 10 minutes (longer if you like your yolks firm). Using a thin knife or offset spatula, remove the bacon-toast-egg cups from the pan. Serve warm.
Love love love this idea!
Thanks for the reminder about these . . . I make mine in my small ramekins, so the whole egg fits . . . delicious breakfast (and tomorrow is my day off!!! 😉
Woah – another way to use my mini muffin pan. Awesome.
Victoria – I don’t think a mini-muffin pan would work for these. You need a bigger cup to hold everything.
Try goose eggs! Those are fan-tas-tic! soft boiled…yum! It is hard to try other eggs when you have always had chicken eggs, I remember my fear. I didn’t want to insult my farmer friend when he made breakfast with duck or goose eggs though…it’s definitely in your head!
Well, I can try…the worst I’ll do is set of my smoke alarm (again). Or I could just use a muffin pan like a normal person…
These look amazing! I’ve never tried duck eggs but they do sound intriguing. Thanks for the recipe! (It looks perfect for a brunch party :D)
Did I see some green chili under those eggs? How lucky are you! I can hardly wait for green chili on anything and everything come Christmas at home. Awesome recipe.
These little individual breakfasts look cute and delicious!
Avocado is my green chile. All my food is now “California-style.”
Our old ‘hood was heavily Asian and so there were no chicken eggs sold at the farmer’s market, just duck eggs (including balut — what?). Maybe I should have just tried some instead of whining about it for a year until we moved.
The babies are brilliant You can whipe them up quickly and easily cook a dozen at a time. They would be great for brunch with friends. I can see them with pesto and a drizzle of hollandaise sauce!
What’s that in the background? A pomelo?
Omega – It is a pomelo! And, by the way, I learned that that is not a good way to cut them for eating. It’s pretty though!
These look so cute. I’ve never seen or cooked with duck eggs. I assumed they would be smaller as well. What are you going to do with the last two eggs?
Jen – I’ll probably hard-boil them and give them to Dave. He’s not as…particular as me.
When we lived in California we were about a mile away from an egg ranch. My husband used to go there once a week to buy eggs. He used to enjoy talking with the owners, an elderly couple from Yugoslavia who loved their chickens. We knew the eggs were fresh. And we knew the chickens were well-fed and well-treated.
These little bacon egg cups are adorable. They’d be great for a special holiday breakfast or brunch.
I got a good laugh from this. The only time duck eggs crossed my path, they were in peanut butter cookies that a friend’s mom had made. Sad to say that after I was told they were made with duck eggs, I didn’t eat another. Yep, all in my head, although I remember the cookie being a bit dry. Your comment about the white being firmer makes me think that’s why, less liquid in the dough.
But the bacon cups do look wonderful. Nan
That is fabtabulous! I want one now!!!!
these are sooo cute! i’m not crazy about bacon, but i know the boyfriend would adore these! thanks for sharing 🙂
OMG, it looks like so much fun! I definetely wanna make them for breakfast one of these days! Thanks for the ideia!
Very cool idea, perfect size for a part canape.
This is amazing. I can’t believe I’ve never come across these before! What a great idea!!!
These look amazing! I will definitely be trying this out.
On eggs: I wish people would be more open to trying different types of eggs! I make a dish that uses quail eggs as garnish, and it is perfect for the dish because it tastes exactly like a chicken egg, but in miniature form. People who try the quail eggs think it’s amazing. People who don’t even try it because they’re scared of them are truly missing out!
BaconScotch sent me here. And golly do these look YUMMY! Thanks for a great idea!
Awesome! I’m so making these.
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True free-range chicken eggs tend to have orange yolks (depending on what they’re eating) and are much, much tastier than factory chicken eggs. Note: the legal definitions of “cage-free” and “free-range” are so nebulous as to be non-existant. The best thing is to know where your eggs come from – chickens that spend their time outside in pasture and are only brought in at night to protect them from predators.