If you’ve looked at any big food websites or daily cooking shows like The Chew lately, you’ve heard all the hubbub about eggs baked in avocados.

What’s the big deal?

I had to find out for myself. Looking for a quick lunch before jetting over to the kiddo’s book fair this afternoon (goodbye, $$), I decided to try it out. Bonus: Breakfast for lunch!

I figured it was simple enough that it didn’t require a recipe, but I thought I’d do a quick Google just to make sure there weren’t any dark secrets I should know. The first one that surfaced was that I could use the microwave. (Oh, you thought I wasn’t going to try that first anyway? I’m not THAT fancy, for lunch, anyway.) But that was about it. Here’s the general rundown:

1. Cut an avocado in half (for the unwashed: run the knife around the seed, twist, separate. Jam knife into seed, twist, remove. Try not to cut your fingers off while removing seed from knife).
2. Scoop out a hole a little bigger than the one left by the seed.
3. Dump a raw egg into it.
4. Bake or microwave.
5. Season.
6. Eat.

While constructing my ova-over-avo delight, I quickly discovered there were some tips that the other guys were leaving off. So, in an effort of public service, I give you these tips for making your own avocadian (avocadish?) masterpiece.

1. Season the hollowed-out avocado before you add anything. As delicious as avocado is, it needs salt, or something. Put a titch more on this base layer than you are initially inclined, probably. (Disclaimer: The Chew recipe above did recommend this. But they also squashed them, which is just weird.)
2. Put the avocado into a small oven-safe (or microwave-safe, whichever you are doing) bowl. My little flower-shaped ramekins were perfect. This helps minimize the mess of egg overflow, which is inevitable.
   

   Use a ramekin to season the egg and to pour it into the avocado.

3. When cracking the egg, put it into a small prep bowl before dumping into the avocado. Season the raw egg a bit with salt, pepper and maybe a bit of cayenne. THEN carefully dump it into the waiting avocado. This also helps with aim, minimizing the inevitable mess (see above).
4. Use the bit of avocado you scooped out as garnish. Cut it up (no need to be overly fancy; I just did it with my butter knife) and sprinkle on some lime or lemon juice. Or, make a tiny little bit of guacamole. Either way, keep it in a little bowl until you’re ready for it.
   

   Seasoned egg and avocado, ready for the microwave.

5. I discovered that, in the microwave, the avocado acts as a bit of an insulator. Usually I can cook an egg in 30 seconds to a minute, but this one took a full minute and 30 seconds. This cooked all the whites but a tiny, glistening layer on top that cooked with carry-over heat within a minute, and it left the yolk just a tiny bit runny. Your microwave may be different than mine, so check it at 30 second intervals.
6. Spice and pork are your friends. I generally don’t eat a lot of pork, but of course, bacon. Thing is, I just used up the last bit of it with my numerous potato hash things I’ve been making lately. So, I seasoned the whole thing with plenty of cayenne for some color and kick. If I’d had a tomato or some salsa (left it at my mom’s…sigh), that would have been lovely, too.

So, have you tried this combination? If so, how did you construct it? Did you use the microwave or the oven? How do you feel about hot avocados, anyway? (It was a little weird, but not so much that I didn’t eat every last bite.)

UPDATE: Here’s a reader image from Katrina (see comments below). She made two with the whole egg and two scrambled and liked the latter better. Your turn!