Upside-Down Pear

Lately, I’ve had two baking failures. One: I made this zucchini bread recipe. It came out VERY strangely indeed, and tasted strongly of baking soda. Two: I made rhubarb crumble and forgot to turn the timer on, so it burned up dreadfully. I am guessing that is the last rhubarb of the season, too — and one of my favorite easy recipes.

Rhubarb Crumble Pie

• 1 bunch rhubarb
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 4 oz. (1/2 stick) butter
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Remove any leaves from rhubarb. Wash & cut into 1-inch chunks, and place in a 9″ or 10″ pie pan.

Mix together the flour, sugars, and salt. Melt the butter and stir into the flour/sugar mixture until you get a big crumbly mess.

Cover the rhubarb with the crumble mixture. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the top is brown & crisp and the juices all bubbly.

Serve warm or cold! Keeps a bit over a week, covered, in the fridge.

Now, onto the Greek fried eggs. This morning, I minced a clove of garlic and divided it into our two bowls; I kept it pushed to the side so that I could put the egg next to it & the hot oil would pour directly onto it and sizzle it up.

This resulted in a lovely, garlic-infused breakfast. Highly recommended!

A while ago, someone — either my husband or my mother-in-law — gave me a copy of The Olive and the Caper: Adventures in Greek Cooking, by Susanna Hoffman. I haven’t made a lot from it, but everything I’ve made has been delicious. (The moussaka recipe is meltingly good, and freezes very well.)

The dish I make the most often is the Greek fried egg. Hoffman says that fried eggs are not so much a breakfast food in Greece, though they are occasionally served to tourists. The fried egg method she outlines is different and surprising, but produces an egg like nothing I’ve ever tasted: crispy-brown on the bottom, tender on top, olive-scented and amazing.

Greek Fried Egg

• 1/4 cup good extra-virgin olive oil (yes, really)
• 1 large or extra-large egg
• 1 piece good bread (optional)
• a few kalamata or spicy green olives (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a small, heavy skillet until drops of water sizzle off immediately. Break the egg into a small bowl (so you don’t have to worry about picking shell out of hot oil!) and then tip it gently into the oil. After about 20 seconds, use a spatula to dislodge the egg from the bottom of the pan and push it to the side; spoon hot oil over the top of the egg repeatedly, staying well back so as not to get splashed!

Timing: about 1 min. 15 sec. total cooking time for your yolk to be just at the edge of gelatinous; about 2 min. for it to be jelly-solid; about 3 min. for it to be burned! (Note: 3 min. not really recommended.)

Lift the egg out of the hot oil and put it in a shallow bowl, like a soup plate. Pour the rest of the oil over top of it, let sit a few minutes to cool, and eat with bread and/or olives. Soak up the oil! It’s delicious, and good for you.

Hoffman says these can be eaten at room temperature as well as warm, but I can’t imagine having the self-control to just let them sit there that long!

You could probably also put garlic into this recipe — I’d put it in the bowl before pouring the hot oil over, so it doesn’t burn — but I haven’t tried it. If you do, let me know how it works out!