Eggs in Baskets with Candied Bacon & Eggland's Best Picked me as a Grand Prize Winner!

Last week, I had a very unexpected surprise sent to me via an Email from Foodbuzz.  Last February, I redeemed a coupon for a dozen eggs from Eggland's Best Eggs, that was sent to me as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program.  I was delighted, because I love their eggs. Truthfully, I do pay a little extra when it comes to buying eggs. I really can taste the difference as compared to commercially inexpensive eggs.   I decided to make Eggs in Purgatory, which turned out to be healthy and delicious.

I  uploaded the photos of my dish onto Eggland's Best's Foodbuzz Web page, and that was that.
Three months later, the email said that  I won the Grand Prize from Eggland's Best!  I've finally been given the green light to announce this, since it's now posted.  What did I win? I'll tell you, after I share with you another egg recipe that I made with-- what else-- Eggland's Eggs.  I was inspired to make this while channel surfing, and I caught a Food Network show that I rarely watch (not enough time in the day). The show is called "Cooking for Real" and I decided to improvise a bit. 'Nuff said, let me just show you:

 Instead of using Prosciutto, I decided to make Candied Bacon.   My family is very happy (and greedy) when I make this. If you've never tried this technique, you will thank me if you do.  The saltiness of the bacon, with a brown sugar glaze coating... even I-- the not-so-wild-about-bacon-person has a hard time resisting these. It takes about 25 minutes to make these, so I started these in the oven, first.  Once they were finished, I let them cool a bit, and chopped them...

Make extra.  Trust me.  I had to fend off hungry hands from snatching these!

I love Yukon Gold Potatoes. You can use Russetts, but unpeeled Yukon Golds are my choice.  Using my food processor, these were quickly grated.  Squeeze all of the extra moisture with a towel (I like to use my potato ricer...it works great!  I grated a few too many taters, so I stored them in the fridge in some water. It works great! I decided to go for extra-virgin olive oil, rather than melted butter and I added salt & pepper, to taste.  Give it all a toss and now...you need a giant muffin tray, or you can use oven-proof ramekins.

  Spray the muffin tin lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Press the grated potatoes evenly into the muffin cups being sure the potatoes go up the sides and a thin layer and covers the bottom. Bake until the top edges turn light golden brown and the potatoes are cooked through, about 35 to 40 minutes.

 Shrinkage! These are ready for the next step...

Remove the potatoes from the oven and gently crack an egg into each cup. Bake until the egg whites set but the yolk remains runny, about 6 to 8 minutes.

 I decided to top the eggs with the chopped candied bacon.  Then, 

Top the eggs with grated cheese.  I used what I had in the fridge, but you could use Provolone.   Broil both until cheese melts,  about 1 minute. If using the Prosciutto, put that on the very top so it can broil along with the cheese. As for us-- I made extra candied bacon.  

Breakfast is ready!

The yolks are cooked exactly as we like them!  The potatoes were perfect for soaking the beautiful yolks.  The sweet & salt of the bacon was perfect.

VERDICT:  Awesome!  I'm so glad that I made the candied bacon. The Prosciutto and maple syrup combo sounds good, but I'm sold on the bacon bits.  In fact, the next day, I squeezed the water out of the leftover shredded Yukon Gold's from the fridge and...

 ...here it is in a ramekin.  You can view the original recipe here.

So, what did I win?  We'll start with one year's worth of Eggland's Best Eggs. Thanks!  Drumroll...

I also won a $500.00 gift certificate at any spa of my choice!  You cannot understand just how much I appreciate this prize.  You see, I am a (retired) licensed esthetician who owned a facial business and worked at spas for 15 years!  For once, I get to be the Princess and I get to be pampered!  After the wild week at work, since our students will graduate this Friday, I will be more than ready to spend a day in a massage room, with a nice manicure and pedicure.  Wow!

The printed recipes are at the bottom of this post.  I might be scarce for most of this week, but I'll do my best to share more recipes.  I'm behind in visiting my blogger friends, but I'll catch up!  I miss y'all!

A very happy,