Eye of Sauron Breakfast Boats

Happy Monday and rabbit, rabbit, rabbit!

Half the fun of making a delicious breakfast is having it look pretty, too! These gorgeous croque madame style breakfast boats combine a few savory staples for a simple morning dish. The wide, open faced yolk reminds us of the Eye of Sauron, too, so we’ve named these boats to honor his big, creepy eye in the sky…

Not only were these boats super simple and quick to make, but they also cost us almost nothing! We scored this baguette at Aldi for less than $2, and we already had all the other ingredients lying around. We were even able to get rid of some leftover turkey by making these. Score!

The best part about these breakfast boats is that the way we made them is definitely not the only way to do it. You can add whatever

protein or veggies you want! Traditionally, croque madame is made with ham, or you can opt for chicken, bacon, or any other protein you like best! Likewise, some roasted peppers, garlic cloves, or even thin broccoli would all be delicious toppings if spinach ain't your thing. You can choose to follow our recipe or you can totally make these all your own!

Start by preheating your oven to 360º F, then slicing portions and halving your baguette lengthwise -- or if it’s a little on the smaller side, just cut off that tough bottom part. Alternatively, you could keep the baguette whole and just carve out a hole to crack the egg into, but we chose to flip them upside down and trim off the bottom because it gave us a flatter surface to spread all the toppings over instead of the bumpy top of the bread.

For our baguette, it was definitely on the thinner side. We cut our baguette into thirds, then cut the bottoms off of those pieces. We made little flatbreads out of the bottoms of the bread by just putting cheese and some giardenara on them and taking them out at the halfway point of baking.

Next, we carved out a well in the middle of the bread for the egg to sit in. We dressed the exposed bread with miscellaneous toppings -- we used aged white cheddar, shredded turkey, and spinach. Finally, we cracked an egg into each piece’s well. Depending on how big your eggs are and how big your bread is, you may have some spillage, which we definitely did. Totally okay! It’ll all cook and be toasty and delicious. The bottom loaf in the picture to the left definitely had some -- and it was yummy!

At this point, we seasoned the eggs with salt and pepper, some paprika for a little color, and the tiniest bit of garlic powder. It adds just a little bit of flavor that really makes these sing!

Then, we cooked those bad boys for about 16 minutes. Only one of the three had a partially runny yolk, so I’d only go for about 12 minutes if you want it more runny, and stick with the 16 minutes if you want your yolk cooked all the way through.

Top them with whatever you’d like once they’re cooked! I added a little parsley to each one for presentation, and I topped mine with some avocado. Jesse used hot sauce on his. Whatever floats your (breakfast) boat! ;)

And for my visual people who prefer a recipe as a whole… Here you go! These are super fun and easy to spruce up however you’d like, so go crazy!

Last of all, remember to value your food and cheer and song today and every day. x