Sunny Eyes

various dates

Sunny eyes are eggs that are fried with the yolk intact. They may be shaken, but not stirred. Do not cover the pan, or the eye will get a cataract and go cloudy white like my Poached Eggs.

A. Sunny Eyes vs. over easy eggs

2014-08-29

Pic1: Sunny side up = fry in a small amount of butter or oil, uncovered on one side only.
Pic2: Over easy = flip the sunny side up egg over and very briefly cook the other side too.

I prefer my eggs sunny side up, but restaurants are so afraid of salmonella lawsuits nowadays that they no longer prepare them that way. They always flip them over and turn it into an over easy.

Soft, medium, hard:
Just like with boiled eggs, sunny-eyes can be cooked soft, medium or hard.

Over easy: serve almost immediately after the egg has been flipped.
Over medium: Instead of removing the egg almost immediately after flipping, it is cooked a bit longer. The yolk is partially cooked with a trace of runny.
Over hard: the yolk is punctured just before or after flipping the egg and is fully cooked.
Other pages show some variations on this theme.

B. The effect of covering the pan

2019-11-14

Covering the pan will steam the thin film of egg white over the yolk, making it look a bit like an over easy egg, but without the trouble of having to flip the egg and risk breaking the yolk.
The French call this "œufs au miroir" = glazed or mirrored eggs.

2019-11-14

Pic3-5: covering the pan ... gives the sunny eyes a white cataract ... but the yolks are still liquid

C. Egg Art

internet pictures

Pic3+4: always good for a laugh ... or a scare
Pic5: puurrrfect eyes

D. Sunny eyes, super-sized

2016-04-08

This is how I get rid of the unused egg whites after I make mayonnaise: I make a really big sunny egg. I used three extra egg whites and a whole egg in a small frying pan. I cooked it on high heat until the underside was getting that delicious brown crust. That's the second-best part of a sunny egg for me. The best is of course the yolk, warmed throughout but still completely runny, on toast with fruit preserves.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need per serving:

1 whole egg
3 egg whites
S&P
1 tbsp. butter

Pic6: that white is 1/4" thick

Directions

Separate the whole egg, add the white to the others.
Lightly beat the whites into each other.
Heat butter over high heat.
Pour the egg whites in the foaming butter.
Tilt the pan to spread the egg whites all around the pan. If there is so much white that the center does not cook evenly with the rest, lift the edges and tilt the pan to let the excess go underneath.
Add the yolk to the middle of the frying pan.
Add S&P to taste. (Pic2)
Keep cooking until the white is mostly dry.
Work the edges loose with a spatula.
When done to your liking, slide the egg on a plate.
Serve with toast and fruit preserves. Enjoy.

Pic2: still cooking

Pic3: 5 minutes later, done just perfect

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more and avemariasongs.org

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more
and avemariasongs.org