Homestead Eggs

I found this recipe for Homestead Eggs in an old booklet  produced by the British Egg Information Service. Onions, apple and bacon are sauteed in butter, then eggs cooked on top. Although egg and apple may sound like a strange combination, I think it’s a winner! Sweet, smoky and tangy elements, all mingled with runny egg yolk. Great for breakfast, brunch or lunch.

I’m always on the lookout for tasty egg recipes, as I absolutely love them. Nutritious, versatile and at less than 20p each, most of us should probably be eating lots more eggs than we currently do.

So, browsing some old recipe books and leaflets online, I was well chuffed to come across Aunt ‘Et’s Book of Look-and-Learn Recipes: serve eggs save money! It’s only nineteen pages long, but contains around thirty egg-based recipes. From a basic omelette, through souffles, rarebit, meringue pies and eclairs, it’s a great little read.

There’s no date on it, but I’d guess it’s from the early 1970s. It was produced by the British Egg Information Service which is still going strong today as the public information arm of the British Egg Industry Council, ‘the official voice of the British egg industry.’

THE RECIPE

Of all the recipes, I think my eye was probably drawn to Homestead Eggs as I had no idea what they were. I was familiar with almost everything else, even if I’d never actually made it. Nor was there any photo of the finished dish to guide me.

Homestead is a word barely used in Britain, so that was no clue. I’d heard of homesteading in the USA; basically a self-sufficiency, ‘back to the land’ movement, so assumed the recipe must be based on an American one.

Intrigued, I was pleased to see that all the ingredients were staples in our house and ones that I love. Eggs (of course), onion, apples, bacon or sausage, and butter. I guess all of these could have been produced on the old, original homesteads, so it started to make sense.

HOMESTEAD EGGS

The booklet recipe serves three, with 2 eggs and 1 bacon rasher per person. I was cooking just for myself and decided to up the proportion of onions and apple, mainly because it was easier to use 1 medium onion and 1 apple rather than one third of 2 onions and 2 apples. This also meant Homestead Eggs would tick off one and a half to two portions of my daily fruit and veg.

Although the recipe suggested eating OR cooking apples, I think firm eating apples are best. The most widely available cooking apples in the UK are Bramleys and they tend to break down during cooking. Much better, I think, to keep the apple pieces intact, retaining a little bite. Anyway, Braeburns were sitting in the fruit bowl so that’s what I used.

I also veered a little away from Aunt ‘Et with regard to the instructions. She wanted me to cook the onions, apple and bacon (or sausage) all for the same length of time. But to me, this could mean overcooked apple and underdone bacon. So I started the bacon off first, then added the onions and finally the apple slices.

‘Et says to cook until the onions are transparent, but I took them a little further to get a bit of caramelization. Bear in mind though, that they’ll continue to cook once the eggs are added so you’ll probably end up with some very browned bits of onion. However, that’s fine with me as I like the different flavours and textures it brings.

Because I think most things look better with a bit of green, I stirred chopped parsley into the mix, just before I cracked the eggs on top. I held a bit back to sprinkle over the top of the finished dish too.

THE EGGS

Once you’ve cracked the eggs in, the lid goes on. Seasoning them first with a little salt and black pepper seemed like a good idea.

At this point, I turned the heat down from medium to lowish. I can’t abide uncooked egg white so wanted to make sure that was done before the bottom of the egg set hard.

‘Et suggests three to five minutes to cook the eggs. I found five minutes was right for me.

UNUSUAL BUT DELICIOUS

While apple, onion and pork are a well trod combination (think roast pork with stuffing and apple sauce), I was a little skeptical about how they would work with eggs. Maybe you are too?

But, trust me. It works.

I was expecting an okay dish. After all, I love all the ingredients. But what I wasn’t prepared for was just how good Homestead Eggs are. I’ve made them for brunch several times since and still honestly find myself wondering why more people don’t know about this lip-smacking, easy dish.

I used smoked bacon and the smoky, saltiness of it was great with the sweet apple and browned onion. Add to that a perfectly cooked egg, the runny yolk cloaking everything, and it was a real knockout.

Aunt ‘Et clearly knows what she’s talking about, so I’ll definitely be trying the sausage version too.

Actually, there’s a few other variations that come to mind:

• Black pudding instead of (or as well as) bacon or sausage
• Mushrooms for a vegetarian version
• Diced, leftover potatoes if you really don’t fancy apple with your eggs
• Add roasted cherry tomatoes
• Replace the bacon with smoked fish such as haddock, salmon or mackerel

Thanks for the recipe, Aunt ‘Et!

UPDATE

I can confirm that substituting sausage for the bacon works too!

For the plate you see here, I added a little dried sage while cooking the onions. Highly recommended!

Print

Homestead Eggs

Homestead Eggs are great for breakfast, brunch or lunch. Onion, apple & bacon fried in butter with eggs cooked on top sounds like an odd combination, but it works!

Course Breakfast, Lunch, Light Meal, Brunch

Cuisine American, British

Keyword homestead eggs

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 1

Ingredients

• 20 g butter
• 1 rasher smoked streaky bacon cut into small strips
• 1 medium onion skinned, halved, sliced thinly
• 1 medium apple cored, halved, cut into medium thick slices
• salt & black pepper to taste
• chopped parsley to taste optional
• 2 eggs

Instructions

1. Put the butter and bacon in a small, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Stir and cook for 2 min.
   

2. Add the onion and cook for 2 min more.
   

3. Add the apple, season everything with a little salt and plenty of black pepper.
   

4. Stir, then cook until the onion is soft and everything is starting to brown a little (approx 6 min)
   

5. Stir in the chopped parsley if using, turn the heat to low, then crack in the eggs.
   

6. Put a lid on the pan and cook until the eggs are done to your liking (3-5 min).

   Serve immediately, with more chopped parsley sprinkled over if liked.
   

Recipe Notes

Variations

• Replace the bacon with chunks of browned sausage
• For a vegetarian version replace the meat with mushrooms
• Use leftover boiled potatoes instead of or as well as the apples.