Oeufs En Cocotte

For those of you who are vegans, or otherwise don't eat eggs. You might as well stop reading right now.

This post is about eggs.

I have always loved eggs for breakfast, especially poached eggs. When I was little, my favourite breakfast was either a soft-boiled egg with toast soldiers or toad in a hole (my mother's version was an egg fried in bread). On special occasions, I would get oeuf en cocotte - an egg baked in a ramekin with butter & cheese.

When I was married, I sometimes made toad in a hole but I made oeufs en cocotte a lot. My then-husband also had his grandmother's egg poacher which we used quite a bit.

Since I've been divorced, I've made soft-boiled eggs, and toad in a hole, but I had not made oeufs en cocotte. Until today.

I began reading "Julie & Julia" which my aunt had given me for Christmas several years ago (while it was still on the NYT bestseller list) but which I had just not gotten around to reading. Since the movie is coming out, I decided that I had better get to it.

Of course, Julia Child loved eggs, butter, cream, and cheese which are exactly the ingredients of Oeufs en Cocotte. Julie Powell, the author, makes them frequently in the book, calling them the perfect dish.

And then this morning, I was inspired to make them when one of the people I follow on Twitter complained that no matter what he tried to do with eggs, they always end up scrambled. I found an easy recipe and tweeted the URL back to him. Then I proceeded to the kitchen to make them myself. Because if there's something I nearly always have in my kitchen, it's the ingredients for Oeufs en Cocotte.

Here's my recipe:

Preheat oven to 450 F

In a ramekin, place 1 tbsp of butter (if your ramekin is large enough for two eggs, use 2)
On top of the butter, crack 1 egg (or 2)
On top of the egg, put 1 tbsp of cream, creme fraiche, 1/2 & 1/2 or sour cream (or 2)
On top of the cream, put 1 tbsp of grated cheese of your choice (or 2)

Place ramekin in another baking dish, fill the outer dish 1/2 way with hot water. Place in hot oven and bake for at least 10 minutes or until the eggs are done to your taste.

Remove ramekin from baking dish and place on serving plate. Salt/pepper/parsley to taste. Serve with toast. Makes one serving per ramekin.

Easy Peasy!

It was delicous btw.

Tsarina's Black Bean Stew

I was going through my pantry the other day and discovered that I had some dried black beans that I hadn't used yet. I thought I would make a stew since I also had some beef in my freezer. But what else? I searched for a recipe and finally decided to just make one up.

FYI - though I used beef, any kind of meat could be used. If you are vegan or vegetarian, omit the meat and feel free to add the equivalent amount of TVP or Kale or Spinach or anything else you might like, but wait until the beans and potatoes have cooked thoroughly.

Ingredients:
1 T Olive Oil
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped peppers (green/red/yellow/orange - whatever you like)
3/4 lb. meat in chunks (for vegans - substitute an equivalent amount of vegetables or TVP)
4 cups sliced potatoes
4 cups drained & rinsed black beans (dried beans should be 4 cups AFTER soaking)
1 cup mirepoix (diced onions, celery & carrots)
1 qt vegetable stock
1 t garlic powder
3/4 t cayenne pepper
3/4 t dried thyme leaves
1 cup wine (whatever you're drinking with dinner)

In stockpot, saute onions, peppers & meat in oil (for vegans - omit meat) until onions are clear and meat browned. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover & Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (Vegans - add additional vegetables or TVP near end of cooking time) Add Salt/pepper/parsley/chives to taste. Serve w/sourdough bread & green salad.

Makes 6 meal-size servings.