Time for Breakfast

Inspired by this post, I decided to try my hand at baked eggs, or as the French call it, oeufs en cocotte. They've become a welcome addition to breakfast because they are really easy to put together, assuming that you have other ingredients on hand to jazz them up.

It's so easy that even me, a groggy, grouchy morning person (at best), can put it together with minimal fuss. Here's my lazy Sunday routine: roll out of bed due to a cranky cat who steps on my head because he must eat breakfast at 7 AM, get the coffee going, and turn on the oven to 350 °F. For the eggs pictured above, I cracked 2 eggs into an oven proof dish and added a splash of milk. Meanwhile, I cooked two pieces of bacon in my beloved cast iron skillet. Once the bacon is nice and crisp, I remove the pieces from the skillet and toss in some clean, dry spinach. I saute the spinach for a few minutes, and then turn the burner off.

To assemble the baked eggs, I crack two eggs into an oven proof dish and add a glug of milk, crumble a little bacon over the eggs, add a pile of wilted spinach, and add a dollop of tomato sauce (just some tomatoes I cooked and ran through the food mill the night before). I also sprinkle some fresh thyme and salt over the top, and add a few cranks of pepper. Now, put the assembled dish into the oven on a pan and let it bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on how runny you like your yolks.

In past incarnations of oeufs en cocotte, I added mushrooms that I sauteed in butter and garlic and finished with some marsala, torn basil leaves, roasted squash... Basically whatever is in my refrigerator that morning is fair game to be cooked with eggs.


When I made the eggs pictured above I also served it with some sliced nectarines and a still cup of home roasted joe. (I love my knitted cable mug!)

Speaking of knitting, I have a huge backlog of finished projects to share. Soon.