A few weeks ago, I got the oeufs en cocotte craving when I noticed that Elizabeth St. Café had stopped serving the French specialité. I know of no other place in Austin that serves them, heck, I never saw them on the menu in France, so I had no choice but to embark on the endeavor myself. But I didn't have the proper dish! So the search began. The traditional cocottes are simple ramekins. White. Ceramic. Boring. Picking up camp girl from a mall outing with friends, la mère et moi wandered into Williams Sonoma looking for the mundane white dishes when I saw a mini red cocotte. And then I saw a mini blue cocotte. And a yellow! I was smitten. Primary colors work for me, but Le Creuset offers them online in ten colors (!!!). Ok, so a little more expensive than the dull white bowls, but I believe that, along with quality, something that is fun to look at and use will frankly be used more often and yield better results from the inherent joy that comes from having fun while cooking. Colors make me happy. 'Nuff said.
The interim baking period of these eier is just enough to make a cappuccino while doing a little touch up cleaning. Again, the whole pretty dishes thing. Anthropologie really knows how to take my (mom's) money. But what's really great about our coffee station is the newest addition: the Nespresso milk frother! Set the Keurig to a strong 4 oz. with a little foam on top, it's kind of like a café crème.
The French are sparse with their spice. But that doesn't mean you have to be! This dish is just asking to be adapted! The BF likes to add Sriracha, it matches his favorite red cocotte, and it's brilliant. Reminds me of the Elizabeth St. version served with fresh mint, lemongrass, radish slices and other vietnamien herbs. I've been thinking of another version with ancho chiles, curry and basil, but you can really add whatever spices you like. Tomatoes, feta, and olives for a mediterranean flair? Holla!
Strasbourg had some pretty amazing traditional cookware, but there was just no way I could get it back to the states. Definitely on the agenda for next France trip. For now, I'm eyeing this nested baking set and this pie pan, or any of these dishes as my next pretty purchases.
oeufs en cocotte
It took me several times to get this one right. I like mine a little runny so they spread on the toast. The French have this thing about raw eggs on everything, but that's not everyone's thing. You might like them a little harder. My best advice is to know your tastes, know your oven, and adjust.
ingredients: eggs, heavy cream, herbs, love
-preheat oven to 375˚F
-butter the inside of the cocottes (I cheated and used cooking spray)
-add a dash of cream, like a tablespoon (or two?), to the cocotte (I like dealing with what I have on hand, and what I had on hand was half and half, sorta like heavy cream...)
-add two eggs to each cocotte, re: my rave egg guy, farm fresh eggs work best
-add some herbs, I added some thyme from the garden, but this is the creative part
-salt and pepper to taste
-put lid on and bake in oven for 12-15 minutes. This will vary by oven and is somewhat delicate! My right oven makes this dish perfect at 13 minutes, but the left oven is nowhere near done at 15 minutes. Experiment!
-some versions of these eggs using just ramekins want you to put them in a tray of water in the oven so it cooks more evenly and the top doesn't get hard like baked eggs are want to do. But my lids help prevent that. If you don't have lids, don't worry, try the water thing!
-serve with your favorite toast
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