We haven’t done a Cooking with segment in quite some time. As you can see not much has changed. I do miss the days of simpler cooking where we could just dump a bunch of choc chips into custard or cover a sugared cinnamon doughnut in more sugar and call it a meal. I guess we’ve just grown as people and as a channel.

This time I’ve decided to make something resembling a McDonald’s McMuffin, except with a hash brown thrown in for good measure. I’ve got English muffins, eggs, cheese and a packet of frozen hash browns. Surely this can’t be too difficult. It’s just breakfast food, after all!

The hash browns went into the oven at around 220 degrees Celsius, which gave me half an hour to work out the rest of the recipe. The muffins were straightforward enough, although I wasn’t entirely sure whether I should toast one side or both. Then came the eggs. I’ve eaten plenty of them, but actually cooking one properly is another matter entirely.

Finding the right equipment turned into an adventure. I had an egg ring that looked promising until I noticed some of its coating was coming away, so that one wasn’t going anywhere near my breakfast. Then there was the important business of finding a frying pan that looked reasonably suitable.

There were a few distractions along the way too. Pepper was hanging around, and I took a moment to say hello to Chip and Tillie. I’ve got a couple of chickens in the household, although I’m still learning what to do with the eggs once they reach the kitchen.

My first attempt wasn’t exactly spectacular. The egg was rather overcooked, some of the mixture stuck to the ring, and I was trying to manage the camera at the same time. Cooking one-handed is not especially convenient, particularly when you’re already making things up as you go along.

The second egg turned out a little better. By this point the muffins were toasted, the hash browns were ready and I’d remembered that cheese was supposed to be involved somewhere. Getting everything assembled while it was still warm proved to be another challenge. Perhaps the professionals make these things look easy for a reason.

And there we have it, a McRetro McMuffin! The presentation could probably use some work, and the egg wasn’t quite what I’d imagined, but the taste wasn’t too bad. Actually, the second attempt was considerably better than the first.

Maybe I’ll return to cooking again one day. Then again, frozen potato wedges are still a perfectly respectable meal as far as I’m concerned!

Cooking with McRetro