Perfect Egg & Chips

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One of our favourite meals to have when I am lacking in time and inspiration is Egg and Chips. Again, something I had never considered eating before I moved over here to the UK. There is nothing on earth more satisfying than a perfectly cooked chip, unless it is a perfectly cooked chip accompanied by the perfectly fried egg. With a slice of white buttered bread, you have a feast for the Gods.

Unless you want to add some baked beans. They are pretty wonderful when included as well, but we mostly do Egg, Chip and Beans for breakfast here at home, and only ever on a Saturday.

Egg and chips are a form of comfort food over here I think, and let’s face it . . . they’re simple to execute, quite filling, economical and very tasty together. I think you might even go so far as to call this the “poor man’s supper.”  

  

 The perfectly fried egg is a beauty to behold, with it’s crispy edges, beautifully set white and wobbly yolk, just perfect for bread or chip dipping . . .

I suppose everyone has their own way of making chips, and indeed their own way of frying an egg. This is my way and results in perfectly cooked chips and eggs every time.

Peel your potatoes and cut them into chunky chip size.  Soak them for at least 15 minutes in cold water to help get rid of some of the excess starch.  Drain and then dry them very well with a clean tea towel. 

Heat your oil to 170*C/335*F.  Add the chips to the hot oil and then fry them for 6 to 8  minutes, just until they begin to colour.  Remove from the oil and drain, whilst you increase the temperature of the oil to 190*C.  Once heated add the blanched chips and cook for a further 3 to 4  

 minutes until they are nicely browned and crisp.  Drain well and keep warm while you do the eggs. 

Make sure your eggs are at room temperature.  Place a large skillet over medium heat.  Add a knob of butter and allow it to melt and heat up.  When it just starts to sizzle, you are ready to fry your eggs.  Break the eggs, one at a time into a small bowl and slide them into the hot fat.  Let them settle for about 30 seconds and then reduce the heat to medium low, tilting the pan and basting them every so often with the hot fat, so that the tops of the whites can be cooked too.  After about a minute or so the eggs will be ready, so remove them from the heat.  Remove with a slotted kitchen spatula and drain for a few seconds on some paper toweling before putting them onto warm plates to serve. 

Serve hot and sprinkled with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, along with some hot chips on the side.  Don’t forget the Malt Vinegar!

We like to have bread and butter with this.  Fresh soft white bread, squidgy and just perfect for dipping into the runny egg yolk, and . . . . to make a chip buttie with after.  Chip Buttie = soft buttered white bread wrapped around some hot crisp chips, so that the butter on the bread melts around the hot chips.  Moreishly delicious!  Very naughty, but very good!   I tend to use whole wheat bread these days for myself, but white bread is more traditional.  Bon Appetit!