Monthly Archives: December 2009
Baked Herbed Eggs
Baked Eggs courtesy of Foodchannel.com
I was out with friends and we were walking around a cooking shop. My friend Al was looking through several sizes and kinds of ramekins. I asked what those were for and he replied, ‘baked eggs.’ I was intrigued and bugged him enough until he sent me the recipe he was using. I thought a leisurely New Year’s Day might be a chance to give them a try.
I’ve been playing with the recipe, cooking one egg at a time in the oven-proof pyrex bowls I have. Each easily holds 1 egg, so it’s a great way to try different flavors. I’m partial, for the moment, to a cajun mix I have. Each egg takes about 3-4 minutes. I take them out while they are still a bit runny and let them sit for a minute and they finish cooking. The first one I did, I left in until it was fully cooked and by the time I got it out of the bowl it was too cooked and very dry.
Here is the recipe as Al sent it to me, along with his notes on his cooking experience with them. Once you get the basic recipe down, try adding other flavors as you like, maybe some spinach or mushrooms. I also saw a recipe where the bowl was lined in bacon. Yum. From Alton Gunn:
Herb Baked Eggs
Recipe By: annie’s eats
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh chives
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 12 large eggs
- 1/4 cup heavy cream, divided
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
Directions:
Preheat the broiler for 5 minutes and place the oven rack 6 inches below the heat source. Combine the garlic, thyme, rosemary, chives, parsley, and Parmesan cheese and set aside. Carefully crack 3 eggs into each of 4 small bowls or teacups without breaking the yolks. (These are not the dishes you will bake the eggs in.) It is very important to have all the eggs ready to go before you start cooking because you must move quickly.
Place four individual gratin dishes or oven-safe crocks on a baking sheet. Place 1 tablespoon of cream and ½ tablespoon of butter in each dish and place under the broiler for about 5 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Quickly but carefully pour each serving of eggs into the individual gratin dishes and sprinkle evenly with the herb mixture. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Place back under the broiler for 5 to 6 minutes, until the whites of the eggs are just cooked. (You may need to rotate the baking sheet halfway through to ensure even baking.) The eggs will continue to cook after you take them out of the oven. Allow to rest for at least 60 seconds before serving hot, with toast if desired.
Notes:
About four minutes for each of my small cups (one egg each)
Added a pinch of parmesan on top of each cup when I put it back in and that was nice
Larissa’s Curried Fruit
This has become one of my favorite Christmas Eve dishes from my friend Larissa.
Larissa’s Curried Fruit
- 2-15 oz cans Peach halves
- 2-15 oz cans Pear halves
- 1 can Apricot halves
- 1 small jar Maraschino cherries
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/3 cup butter melted
9×13 glass baking dish
Place fruit side by side, in one layer, hollowed side up in a 9×13 baking dish. Place a cherry in the center of each piece of fruit. Stir together the brown sugar, curry, cornstarch and melted butter. Pour sugar mixture evenly over the fruit. No need to be too exacting with the topping, it will melt down and even out nicely in the oven. Bake in 325 degree oven for 1 hour.
Welcome Back
I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite ready to take up the recipe task yet. I seem to have been cooking non-stop for the last two weeks. Last night I made my last Cranberry Upside-Down Cake, and did something a bit different. I made a full batch of the cake part of the recipe and a half recipe of the cranberry filling and a half recipe of Pineapple Upside-Down Cake filling (which was by request – hard to turn down a, “my favorite cake is…” comment). Very easy to do and a nice change of pace. And really made me a hero today.
When I went grocery shopping this weekend, I found myself drawn to a theme: lime, cilantro, corn tortillas, pico de gallo (the spice, not the salsa) and pineapple. I’m thinking I’ll be making chicken tacos at some point and maybe fajitas later in the week. Usually when I shop, I’ve already planned out my meals for the week, but couldn’t face it this weekend, so it should be fun to see what I can make from the mish-mash of ingredients I purchased. Always better to shop with meals in mind, but this could be fun, too.
This week will probably continue to be light in posts as we all recover from the holidays and next week I’ll begin in earnest on our series and tips. But I’ll post a couple of light recipes this week and a friend’s recipe for baked eggs. Until then….
Merry Christmas!
I have nothing profound to say. But I wanted to take a moment and wish you all a very happy holiday season. I’m so very glad you all stop by here from time to time to see what’s going on. And a special thank you to everyone at Balloon-Juice (especially John Cole and Anne Laurie) and to everyone who has shared their recipes with me. You guys make it special. xoxo - TaMara
Nigella Lawson’s Clementine Cake
This is one of my favorite holiday recipes. It’s from Nigella Lawson:
Clementine Cake
- 4-5 clementines
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup ground almonds
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
springform pan
Put the clementines in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours. Drain and, when cool, cut each clementine in half and remove the seeds. Dump the clementines – skins, pith, fruit and all – and give a quick blitz in a food processor (or by hand, of course). Preheat the oven 375 degrees. Butter a Springform pan.
You can then add all the other ingredients to the food processor and mix. Or, you can beat the eggs by hand adding the sugar, almonds and baking powder, mixing well, then finally adding the pulped oranges.
Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for an hour, when a skewer will come out clean; you’ll probably have to cover with foil after about 40 minutes to stop the top burning. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, on a rack, but in the tin. When the cake’s cold, you can take it out of the tin. I think this is better a day after it’s made, but I don’t complain about eating it at any time.
Gotta run, baking for tomorrow and time to watch the Grinch. Enjoy….
