I have no idea what caused me to get the picture in my head of 2 eggs floating in a ramekin, but I’ve been wanting baked eggs all week (eggs en cocotte as the French say – thanks Mrs. Paladino!).
I first had baked eggs when I was trying the Atkins diet a number of years ago and it became my Saturday stand by. Combined with some bacon and I was ready to face the day. However, when I went looking for my Atkins recipe book this AM, it was nowhere to be found. Guess I have to wing it.
Running on Memory
From my recollection, the final baked egg concoction would cook in a ramekin within a water bath. I started the oven pre-heating to 375 while I got out a 9 x 12 baking dish and then hit switch on the electric tea kettle to boil the water for the bath. Since this was going to be a 3 baked egg affair I used a large ramekin and buttered the inside.
I couldn’t recall if the herbage and cheese for the baked eggs went on the top or bottom so I opted to split the difference and put the herbs on the bottom and cheese on the top. Consulting The Flavor Bible I went with salt, pepper and basil for the herbs and sprinkled each in the bottom. The eggs followed, then the heavy cream, and finally a hit of Parmesan cheese.
Into the baking dish, then the boiling bath water around it just up to the level of the eggs in the ramekin and then into the oven. How long? I cheated and checked Joy of Cooking – 15 minutes or until the whites set up - since I didn’t want to mess this up.
Meanwhile I fried up some pepper bacon, let it drain and then rough chopped it for use as a garnish. When the whites set up, out it came from the oven and then from the bath. After a hit of the chopped bacon, I was ready to dig in.
It was as good as I remembered! Here’s the recipe as it went together:
Baked Eggs (Eggs en Cocotte)
- 2-3 cups water
- 1-2 tsp butter (for ramekin lubrication)
- salt & pepper
- dried basil
- 3 eggs
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
- 1-2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
- cooked bacon, chopped for garnish, about 1-2 slices.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and start 2-3 cups of water boiling – an electric kettle works great.
Butter the inside of a medium sized ramekin and season the bottom with the salt, pepper and basil. Carefully crack the eggs (no broken yokes please) and add them to the buttered ramekin. Drizzle the heavy cream over the tops of the eggs and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the top of the eggs and cream.
Place the ramekin in a 9 x 12 (or other appropriately sized) baking dish. Once the water is boiling gently pour the water into the baking dish until the water is at the level of the egg mixture inside the ramekin.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the whites are set and yolks are thick. Remove, sprinkle bacon on top, remove ramekin from bath and enjoy!
