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Everyone around me seems to be completely freaking out about how there are fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I am still under the total and complete delusion that I will be making all of my holiday gifts this year, so the lack of shopping days does not phase me at all. Yes, I do realize that fewer shopping days could/should also be interpreted as fewer crafting days, so please do stay tuned for that freak out in a few weeks.
What I am kind of psyched about is that there are fewer days between turkey and all the trimmings. And more urgently, leftovers. Every time someone came into the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning and marveled at all of the vegetables we had ready to go, we sort of rolled our eyes. Because there isn’t properly such a thing as too many vegetables. And as we kept repeating, this was the only time we were cooking any thing start to finish for the next four days.
Because, um, leftovers. We aren’t the sort who feel the need to transform turkey into something crazy. No turkey potstickers or stuffing frittata for us. We are content to repeat plates of the dinner itself, alternated with turkey, stuffing, coleslaw and cranberry sauce sandwiches, until all of the meat is gone. Where we do get creative with leftovers is with the other meals of the day. I may not normally make a salad for breakfast, but I’m glad to have a bowl of bright but slightly wilty greens at the ready, to throw on a sandwich or as the base for breakfast. Also we are a big cocktail hour family, so there are always bits of cheese and crudités left to play with. Hence these blue cheese eggs. The brightness of the salad contrasts nicely with the richness of the runny egg yolk, the blue cheese adds umami. What started as an impromptu breakfast, pulled together while hanging on the fridge door grabbing tin foil covered bowls, was such a success that it has been repeated for lunch and dinner on various days until we ran out of cheese.
In super small single egg-sized pan over a medium-high flame, I melt fair-sized knob of butter. When the butter starts to foam, I break an egg into a ramekin. I know, normally I stay away from such fussiness and extra dirty dishes, but breaking the egg into a bowl or a ramekin, does help to keep the yolk from breaking during cooking and a runny egg yolk is a key point of happiness in my little world. Also, I have singed a goodly number of fingertips trying to fish out a sliver of egg shell from the hot pan before the white cooks around it. Slide the egg into the bubbling butter. After about 30 seconds, turn the heat down, cover the pan, and cook until the whites are set and the yolks begin to firm around the edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spatula, gently flip the eggs over, sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese, cover the pan again and cook just until the cheese is melty, about 45 seconds. Place some salad on a plate, and slide the cheesy egg on top. When you cut into the egg, the yolk will ooze all over the greens, forming it own unctuous dressing.
