Herb And Gruyère

For Sunday morning breakfast I made baked eggs, also known as “shirred” eggs, a dish traditionally reserved in my family for one occasion and one occasion only: Christmas morning.

Preparing the eggs down here in Virginia felt odd as I’ve never made them outside of my mother’s Connecticut kitchen, and eating them felt odd, too, because instantly it felt like Christmas morning, and I thus expected to see my sister sitting across from me harmonizing with the Messiah and my brother a few seats down strumming along on his guitar.

Alas, neither of these characters was present and having not inherited a single musical gene, Ben and I tucked into our herb-and-gruyère-topped baked eggs in silence, spooning the perfectly runny yolks over toasted bread, enjoying an unprecedented Christmas morning dress rehearsal.

Baked or Shirred Eggs

Tradition aside, I have no good reason to make baked eggs only once a year. They couldn’t be simpler to assemble, they’re great for a small-ish crowd, and they are far from indulgent. My mother has been making this New York Times Magazine recipe since 1985! Here’s how you make them:

• Crack 8 eggs into 8 ramekins. (Scale up or down as needed.) These 4-oz ramekins are great for baked eggs.
• Season eggs with salt and pepper to taste. Pour 2 teaspoons cream, 1 teaspoon (about) herbs and a few dashes of Tabasco over each egg. Sprinkle with about one tablespoon of Gruyère (or other) cheese.
• Bake in a water bath for 9-14 minutes or until whites are set but yolks are still runny.
• Serve with toast: My Mother’s Peasant Bread or Easy Sourdough Bread are good options.

The combination of herbs — parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme — with Gruyère and soft-cooked eggs along with a few splashes of Tabasco, while certainly festive, is too good to save for one and only one morning a year. Besides, it’s not truly the holidays until all of the usual suspects — baked eggs or not — are present.

More Egg Recipes to Try

• Instant Pot Soft-Boiled Eggs
• Instant Pot Hard-Boiled Eggs
• Oil and Vinegar Toasts + Soft-Boiled Eggs
• Perfect Poached Eggs
• Avocado-Egg Salad on Toasted Sourdough

Description

Notes:

• Use the quantities of herbs as a guide — I never measure anymore.

• Prepare for some trial and error: getting the desired doneness of the eggs may take some practice. Once, for instance, two of the eggs were perfectly cooked — yolk runny but not too runny; whites nicely set — and two of the eggs were overcooked. I discovered afterwards that the overcooked eggs were in ramekins that were a little bit thinner than the ramekins holding the perfectly cooked eggs. So, the thickness of the ramekin makes a difference as does the temperature of the oven (every oven is different) as does the height of the water in the water bath as does the number of ramekins you have in your baking dish. I advise you start checking for doneness after 9 minutes. Just press the top gently with your finger. Keep in mind, too, that they continue to cook after you take them out of the oven.

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, loosely packed

• 1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme, loosely packed

• 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary, loosely packed

• 1 teaspoon finely chopped sage, loosely packed

• 1 tablespoon softened unsalted butter

• salt and freshly ground pepper

• 1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half)

• Tabasco

• 8 eggs

• 8 tablespoons grated Gruyère or Swiss cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Bring a tea pot filled with water to a boil. Combine herbs in a small bowl. Butter eight 4-oz ramekins . Crack one egg into each ramekin.
2. Season eggs with salt and pepper to taste. Pour 2 teaspoons cream, 1 teaspoon (about) herbs and a few dashes of Tabasco over each egg. Sprinkle with about one tablespoon of cheese.
3. Place ramekins in a baking dish large enough to ensure they do not touch each other. Pour boiling water into dish so that it reaches one-third of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake 9 to 14 minutes depending on variables noted above for medium cooked eggs.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Category: Eggs, Breakfast
• Method: Baked, Oven
• Cuisine: American

Description

Notes:

• Use the quantities of herbs as a guide — I never measure anymore.

• Prepare for some trial and error: getting the desired doneness of the eggs may take some practice. Once, for instance, two of the eggs were perfectly cooked — yolk runny but not too runny; whites nicely set — and two of the eggs were overcooked. I discovered afterwards that the overcooked eggs were in ramekins that were a little bit thinner than the ramekins holding the perfectly cooked eggs. So, the thickness of the ramekin makes a difference as does the temperature of the oven (every oven is different) as does the height of the water in the water bath as does the number of ramekins you have in your baking dish. I advise you start checking for doneness after 9 minutes. Just press the top gently with your finger. Keep in mind, too, that they continue to cook after you take them out of the oven.

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, loosely packed

• 1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme, loosely packed

• 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary, loosely packed

• 1 teaspoon finely chopped sage, loosely packed

• 1 tablespoon softened unsalted butter

• salt and freshly ground pepper

• 1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half)

• Tabasco

• 8 eggs

• 8 tablespoons grated Gruyère or Swiss cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Bring a tea pot filled with water to a boil. Combine herbs in a small bowl. Butter eight 4-oz ramekins . Crack one egg into each ramekin.
2. Season eggs with salt and pepper to taste. Pour 2 teaspoons cream, 1 teaspoon (about) herbs and a few dashes of Tabasco over each egg. Sprinkle with about one tablespoon of cheese.
3. Place ramekins in a baking dish large enough to ensure they do not touch each other. Pour boiling water into dish so that it reaches one-third of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake 9 to 14 minutes depending on variables noted above for medium cooked eggs.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Category: Eggs, Breakfast
• Method: Baked, Oven
• Cuisine: American

Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2012/12/16/baked-eggs/

Today I find myself awaiting the arrival of a few dear friends, and for the first time in a long time, I feel very unprepared. You see, they’ve all gone paleo, and as a result, my usual tricks just won’t fly. I’ve stashed away the biscotti ; eaten all of the cheeses; frozen all of the bread .

While my friends have assured me they are all on holiday-paleo hiatus, I can’t help but want to have some treats for them. We’re having chicken drumsticks for dinner — I’m pretty sure that’s what cavemen ate? — and I have some nuts to get us through the early dinner hours, so we certainly won’t starve. I also, without doing any research, made a batch of marinated olives, which I have since learned die-hard paleos don’t even eat. Oops. I hope my friends were being sincere about their paleo-hiatus statuses.

In any case, marinating olives is about as easy as it gets as far as sprucing up the hors d’oeuvres spread goes. Of course it’s totally unnecessary — olives on their own are delicious — but a little garlic and orange zest along with a few spices (crushed red pepper flakes and fennel seed) go a long way, and these flavor elements look so pretty in the serving dish as well. What’s more, you shouldn’t have to make yet another trip to the store to assemble this dish — it’s made with pantry staples.

Hosting a non-paleo party anytime soon? I have few ideas . Perhaps I’ll just save these olives for New Year’s?

Description

Inspired by a recipe in Italy in Small Bites

• 1 orange
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seed (optional)
• crushed red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup assorted olives with pits

1. Remove the zest of the orange using a vegetable peeler trying as best as you are able to remove as little of the white pith as possible. Try to make some nice long strands. If you have really long strands, cut them into shorter (2- to 3-inches) strands. Working with one strand at a time, roll it up into a tight coil, then cut crosswise down to create long thin strips.
2. Slice the garlic thinly. Place it along with the orange strands, fennel seed, crushed red pepper flakes and olive oil into a small skillet. Bring to a simmer over high heat, then turn down to low and let simmer for two to three minutes. You do not want the garlic to brown at all, so keep an eye on the pan and remove it from the heat completely if necessary.
3. Place olives in a bowl. Pour marinade over top. Let sit for at least one hour (if possible) at room temperature before serving or storing. Bring olives to room temperature before serving.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes