Eggy Crumpets

October is tomorrow and I have no idea where it came from. Did summer even actually happen? I seem to recall a brief 3-day vacation to Boston and the occasional blistering hot and hazy day but all in all it’s as if rainy spring days slipped into fall leaving rarely any room for interruption. Although, it is hard to complain when nearly every day these past 3-weeks has brought crisp and dry air, deep blue skies, cooler temperatures and warming suns. Perhaps summer could have been more, well, summer-y, but I’ll welcome fall any day.

I’ve actually recently wondered why springtime is representative of new beginnings and youth when it’s the fall that seems to reawaken the child in me and makes me feel alive after drowning in the heat of summer. Fall is early mornings waiting for the bus on the first day of school, cross country invitationals, homecoming dances and high school football. It’s the 4 months I spent in London and England, meandering about tiny village streets amongst crimson leaves and golden beams of sunlight. It’s the whiff of that sweet, rich smoky smell that permeates the country air. And of course it is my most favorite of all foods.

My forays into the world of food and cooking began in my mid to late teen years and I was naturally attracted to fall foods and flavors. Most vividly I remember my friends and I coming back to my house to after a homecoming dance. My mom had prepared a monstrous spread of fall treats to satiate our post-dancing appetites. There were sliced honeycrisp apples and caramel dip, crackers with hunks of cheddar and smoked gouda, slices of baguette, apple butter and cold grapes, and bottles of sparking cider. I was just in awe of the amazing variety of complex flavors that existed amongst these foods and it was at this point where my interest began to turn into a passion.

A few years later I studied abroad in London in the fall of my junior year at college. I was living in an apartment and cooking for myself for the first time and I definitely took advantage of this newfound ability. I went to markets every weekend and cooked very elaborate dinners, all very much sticking to the seasonal fall theme. For breakfast, however, I kept things much simpler. The mornings held early classes and weekend excursions, leaving little room for elaborate breakfasts. Luckily, I was never in short supply of a loaf of phenomenal bread from local bakers and so that made up the grand majority of my breakfasts. But one morning before a 3-day weekend trip, I was out of all groceries and the only option was a forgotten package of crumpets in the corner of the cupboard. I was skeptical of the texture, having read that an undercooked crumpet is not too far from a round disk of rubber. But, I let it hang out in the toaster until golden, spread over a thick layer of butter and jam and took a bite into the most pleasantly surprising foods I’ve tried. The texture is crispy yet custardy and each of the little holes fills with butter, gushing out with each chew. They are definitely made for comfort on for cold-weather mornings.

I spent the next few years at home dreaming about those crumpets but unable to find them until I discovered them at by nearby Wegmans. I ate the crumpets in the traditional manner, toasted with butter, but later started looking for alternative ways to prepare them. I soon came across a recipe for eggy crumpets by none other and the great Jamie Oliver. He takes the crumpet and gives it the French toast treatment, dipping it in a mixture of eggs and spices and frying it in a buttery skillet. He pairs it with the classic fixings of maple syrup and bacon but I decided to take the crumpet and make it a little more savory. I spread some goat cheese over each crumpet and topped them with roasted cherry tomatoes, sautéed kale, and flaky sea salt. The acidity of the tomatoes cuts through the richness of the eggs and cheese and the earthy kale just balances everything out. It’s the perfect indulgence on a beginning-of-fall afternoon, made with the last of the summer cherry tomatoes and perhaps paired with a chilled glass of cider. It’s a dish you’ll return to with nostalgia year after year.

Eggy Crumpets with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Adapted from Jamie Oliver
Serves 1

Ingredients
2 crumpets
1 egg, beaten
a pinch of smoked paprika
a pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste
a pat of butter
½ cup cherry tomatoes
olive oil
2 leaves of kale, stripped from the stem and torn into pieces
goat cheese

*Please note, I realize that the ingredients aren’t very precise but go by your instincts when seasoning and assembling. If you like more spice, add more. If you like lots of tomatoes and tons of goat cheese, by all means use as much as you like and vice versa.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Tip your tomatoes into a small roasting dish and lightly coat them with a drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, shaking them around in the dish occasionally, until shriveled and slightly blistered.

While the tomatoes roast, prepare the crumpets. Beat the egg in a wide shallow dish and add the paprika, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Add the crumpets, flipping several times to coat and letting them soak for about 5 minutes. Heat up a skillet on medium heat and add a pat of butter. Once hot, place the crumpets in the skillet (I recommend setting them in the pan so that the holes are initially facing up. That way you can pour any extra egg into the holes. Flip the crumpets to cook the other side and cook until they are golden and cooked throughout. You can add the kale to the pan alongside the crumpets a sauté for a few minutes until crisp tender.

Spread some goat cheese overtop each crumpet and top with the roasted tomatoes and some of their juices. Serve with the kale on the side and sprinkle with flaky sea salt over all.