#drop biscuit

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tablespoon baking powder (the stuff in the canister, not the stuff you use to deodorize your fridge)

1/2 teaspoon table salt

2 ounces of cold butter (half of a small stick, or 1/4 of a big stick)

Some milk -- maybe half a cup (I used 2%, but any milk will do; you can even use water if necessary)

A sprinkle of coarse salt (kosher salt, sea salt, whatever)

1 large egg

Some more butter to fry the egg

Toppings (cheese, bacon, cayenne pepper sauce, etc.)

Note: I have this lovely little five-inch cast iron frying pan. It's the perfect size to make a single biscuit-sized fried egg, even if it is a pain in the ass to pick up without lighting an oven mitt on fire because the handle's about three inches long.

I also use parchment paper on a baking sheet. Parchment paper is the most wonderful stuff in the universe. It's even reusable. Go buy some. Use it to line your baking sheet.

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, and table salt in a small bowl.

3. Cut up the butter into small pieces, about 1/8-1/4 inch. You don't have to be precise. The smaller they are, the easier your life will be later.

4. Mix the butter and the dry ingredients. Use your hands to rub the butter into the flour mix. Just run your fingers through, and when you find any pieces, smush them between your fingertips. Don't do this for too long. You don't want to end up melting the butter. Lumpy is fine.

5. Pour a little milk in. Stir. Pour in more milk if necessary. Your goal is a wettish, lumpy dough. You want it to be wet enough that you can spoon it onto the parchment paper but dry enough that it doesn't turn into soup.

6. Spoon the dough into two lumps. Build up the lumps so they're kind of substantial. Try not to make them pyramid-shaped, or you end up with a biscuit that has a bigger base than a top, and it's weird to cut. (Yes, I did that.)

7. Sprinkle coarse salt on top of each biscuit lump.

8. Pop the biscuits in the oven for 20 minutes.

9. While the biscuits are cooking, make coffee.

10. When the biscuits are done, take them out of the oven and let them sit on a cooling rack or on a plate. Get them off the baking sheet.

11. Heat the egg-frying butter in a tiny frying pan. If you're using nonstick, you need less butter and can probably get away with a cooking spray. If you're using cast iron, use butter.

12. When the butter is sizzling, crack the egg in the frying pan. Try not to get too many shells in it. This leads to cursing and burnt fingers.

13. Flip the egg. This is a process that for me at least required tongs to hold the damn frying pan (Seriously, Lodge, who the hell makes a frying pan with a teeny tiny handle?) as I tried to shove a little spatula under the egg to get enough that I could flip it rather than folding it.

14. Use a serrated knife to GENTLY cut each biscuit horizontally in half. These biscuits crumble easily, so if you go hacking at it like a lumberjack, you'll end up with biscuit crumble.

15. Assemble the biscuit.