Kids Special - Peek-a-boo Breakfast

A note of caution: Cooking is an art of Chemistry, it can be fun if you can involve your kids. However kids are vulnerable when it comes to sharp objects and hot items. It is your duty to ensure their safety. If you are not confident about it, do not involve your child.

When I first uttered this name, my 5 year old daughter gave me a look :-O. “Dad, what is that” she asked and I could see the hidden enthusiasm in her eyes. I said “Do you want to help daddy make this lovely new breakfast, then go and get your chair!” She usually wants to help me in the weekend cooking; as the bench top is a little too high for her she will go and get her little chair to stand on. My twin boys 2 ½ years old were as usual watching and grooving to Wiggles songs on TV… “Do the monkey..hoo..hoo..ha..ha..”. While she disappeared in the rumpus room to get her chair, my soliloquy was in response to her question, “Things daddy has to do to interest you all in food”. 
Many of you will agree with me that it is really hard to get kids to eat when all they are interested is fun…fun and more fun!! I still remember, I myself was a very fussy eater and my parents had hard time making me eat. One game I recollect they used to play; called “Thief in the plate”.  My dad would put a morsel aside and would close his eyes and I was the thief who would steal this morsel and eat it before he opened his eyes…it was fun-n-game for me and for them it was a relief that I had my supply of energy. Now it is my turn to play dad!

So every weekend mornings, during breakfast time I could see a question mark floating around my head. Anything special before they start wasting their energy??  I came across this recipe of  egg in a bread with tons of American Cheese!. I didn't wanted to make it too cheesy and loaded with fat, so I improvised the original recipe. One thing every Australian child love is Fairy Bread! A buttered slice of bread with coloured sugar sprinkles on it. I combined these two recipes and gave a funky name. My kids love it and ever so often they enjoy this weekend Peek-a-boo Breakfast. 

Here is the recipe....

Peek-a-boo Breakfast

What  you will Need

• ·         1 slice of bread. Thicker the better.
• ·         1 egg
• ·         butter
• ·         Pinch of salt and pepper
• ·         Handful of cake sprinkles (hang on…don’t make faces, I will tell)
• ·         A small round cookie cutter or milk bottle cap will do. There is no big rule for the shape of the cutter as long as you have enough bread to eat.

 What you need?

Cut the bread using the cutter as shown above. Do not discard the round piece which you had just cut, keep it aside.  Butter the whole bread on one side as well as lightly grease the non-stick pan and place the bread butter side down. Do not put it on the heat as of yet, if you want your child to get involved. It is better for them to touch a cold pan, than a hot one!

Now hold the egg horizontally over a bowl and get your child to crack it with the back of a spoon. Teach them to hit it just perfect, even if you have to waste an egg…it is worth it! Because it is all about enjoying time with your kids, getting them interested in food and in turn teaching them the art of cooking.  Now slowly drop the egg in the centre of the  bread as shown below.

Egg in the hole!

Cook the egg on a low-medium temperature. The egg will get cooked bottom up, once you see it is cooked, flip the bread slowly and cook on the other side. Make sure before you flip you apply little butter on the top and lightly garnish with salt and pepper.

Remember that piece of bread which I asked you earlier to keep it aside? Hope it was not eaten or thrown away?? While the other side of the egg is getting cooked, butter the round piece of bread and sprinkle it cake sprinkles. 

Preparing Fairy Bread

The Round Fairy Bread

Your egg-toast should be ready by now. Serve on a plate with the fairy bread partially covering the egg. You can tell that the egg is hiding in the bread - Peek-a-boo! 
My kids ate it all obviously the fairy bread part was devoured first :-)

Peek-a-boo!

It is a very wholesome breakfast. For the adult version, you can skip the fairy bread if you are not a sweet tooth I like a bit spicy and garnish my egg with a pinch of extra pepper and red chilli flakes. This eggsotic breakfast is protein loaded and if your child loves multigrain bread you are fortifying it with other good stuff.  Kids are happy, we are happy!

Another variation as suggested by my daughter. Using tomato sauce to draw a Mickey Mouse face!

Remember Compute, Create, Cook is all about learning something new and sharing. So until next time... Happy Cooking!