Breakfast is my favorite. Early morning is a fine time for me to enjoy food with a cup of coffee and a short period of solitude. My first meal is nearly always two eggs cooked in a small skillet: sometimes scrambled, sometimes over easy with a runny yolk, sometimes poached. It’s how I give my body the energy for the day.

Occasionally, I like to upgrade the eggs by adding hot peppers and tomatoes and a bit of cheese, or putting the egg on a crisp piece of toast with some butter and parsley and seasonings.

Egg on Seasoned Ciabatta Toast with Mushrooms and Balsamic is a robust and welcome way to change an ordinary breakfast of toast and eggs into an extraordinary, yet still simple meal.

Always a fan of dense breads, I like to buy ciabatta bread when I can find it. The rustic Italian bread holds up to any kind of topping, and is an especially good companion to a soft egg. For this recipe, choose French bread, baguette, or your favorite kind of thick and hearty loaf.

Egg on Seasoned Ciabatta Bread with Mushrooms and Balsamic

Ingredients

? ½ cup mushrooms, chopped or sliced
? 1 or 2 slices of Ciabatta bread, or other dense bread like baguette or French loaf
? 1 tablespoon butter
? 1 teaspoon chopped parsley
? 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
? 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
? ½ cup mushrooms, chopped or sliced
? 1 tablespoon DeNigris Seasoned Italian White Wine Vinegar
? 1 tablespoon DeNigris Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, Platinum Eagle
? 1 or 2 eggs, cooked fresh: poached or over easy
? salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Toast bread slices under a 450-degree broiler for one minute.
2. Immediately spread butter on hot bread, allowing it to melt. Sprinkle parsley and Italian seasoning over the bread slice.
3. Place back under broiler for one to two minutes, watching carefully until bread is golden brown.
4. Place oil or butter in very hot skillet. Pour in mushrooms in a single layer.
5. Sauté the mushrooms by letting them sit and get a bit crisp on each side before flipping and stirring, about a minute. When they are partially browned, pour the Seasoned Italian white wine vinegar over the batch and give a quick stir.
6. Transfer mushrooms from skillet and place on a paper towel to soak up water.
7. Drizzle the Platinum Eagle balsamic over toast, place egg(s) on toast, and add mushrooms to the plate.
8. Sprinkle salt over the food to suit your taste.

Rhonda Franz is a freelance writer, licensed teacher, home operations specialist, and domestic chef. She combines her professional background and mommyhood experiences to write on family, parenting, cooking, and education. A city girl at heart, Rhonda is raising three lively (and hungry) boys in the woods of northwest Arkansas with her husband. You can read more about her at captainmom.net.