Sunday breakfast with Charlie Pickering
Ellie Parker 29 September 2010
"You need the cheapest circular, soccerball ham for this dish", says Charlie Pickering, "like this Hans premium boneless stuff I bought for $3.65."
Sunday morning at Charlie's house has immediately taken an unusual turn. Charlie holds a mound of pink ham-like meat that, according to the packet, has been "pressed into the traditional 'Virginia' shape". Pickering, the dashing comedian host of The 7pm Project and the face of Generation X on Talkin' 'bout Your Generation, clearly has a talent when it comes to pressed meat.
Not many people would associate the curly headed lad with el cheapo deli goods, but Charlie is one of those cooks who is constantly thinking outside the square. As much as he loves fine wining and dining, Charlie is equally excited by his ever expanding risotto-in-a-rice-cooker repertoire. He also gets a bit dreamy-eyed when talking about his latest batch of experimental home brew.
Sunday mornings at Pickering's house are no different. They revolve around another special Pickering invention, the Inside Outside Egg. These little eggy numbers were created, in a moment of crisis, at a Pickering family brunch. Charlie was short on ingredients and ramekins. And so he pulled out his mother's silicon muffin trays, lined each muffin hole with a piece of ham and started cracking eggs and pepper. Lo and behold, a breakfast beauty was born. "It's a wheat-free eggs benedict", says Pickering, "just add hollandaise once they come out of the oven. And compared to the traditional home fry up, these are slightly fancy without the drama."
This all fits into Charlie's theory on breakfasts in versus breakfasts out, "breakfasts out have to be a bit swish, whereas breakfasts in should be simple, quick, easy and able to be whipped up in my pjs".
So there you have it. Pressed ham finally has a calling. Breakfast in with Inside Outside Eggs.
Recipe for Charlie Pickering's Inside Outside Eggs
Take a greased silicon muffin tray and line each muffin hole with a piece of funny looking 'soccerball' or 'virginia' ham. Into each cavity, crack an egg or two and sprinkle freshly cut chives. Season with salt and pepper and bake in an 180C oven until set. Up-turn each little Inside Outside onto a plate and serve with hollandaise sauce. Vegetarian versions can be made using baking paper instead of ham. Finely chop some spinach at the bottom of each cavity and then crack the eggs on top and season as above. You get the picture - the variations are endless.