Ham and Eggs en Cocotte

We are quite familiar with the drill: meteorologists hype the storm for days, everyone heads out to the store for bread and milk, all is quiet during the storm, and then the cleanup begins. What's our favorite part? The quiet. We are encouraged to stay home. We are specifically asked not to be on the roads. You don't have to ask us twice. We are all too happy to cook, eat, binge-watch, repeat. Let it snow! 

We started with Saturday brunch. The air smelled of snow, but there wasn't a flake in sight...yet. No matter. We planned to be in for the day. We took some leftover ham, potatoes and asparagus and transformed them into a beautiful brunch plate Ham and Eggs en Cocotte with homefries and asparagus.

Eggs en Cocotte are named after the individual serving dish in which they are made. We make ours in ramekins, although those gorgeous little Le Creuset and Staub versions are definitely on our wish list. And Eggs en Ramekins just doesn't sound as nice, does it?

It's not the ingredients that matter here, rather, it's the technique. The possibilities are endless. Place your choice of ingredients at the bottom of the cocotte dish, making a little nest for your eggs, which you gently lay on top. Top with cheese or herbs if you like, and bake for 15-18 minutes at 325F, until the egg whites are set but the yolks are runny (bake longer if you like a harder yolk). Make sure to serve them with something to dip into them - toast is a good choice, but so is asparagus spears.

Ham and Eggs en Cocotte

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup diced cooked ham

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 onion, diced

4 eggs

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Divide the ham between two cocotte dishes/ramekins, then set them aside. In a small skillet, heat the butter and cook the onions until translucent and slightly caramelized (5-7 minutes). Divide the cooked onions between the two dishes. Gently break two eggs into each dish on top of the ham and onions. Top with cheese and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 325 for 15-18 minutes, until the whites are set, then serve.

(Personal) Best of 2013: Best Recipe

Our final Best of 2013 post goes to the recipe we thought was our personal best of the year. It had to come entirely from us - not a Secret Recipe Club post, or a French Fridays with Dorie post, or an adapted recipe, but one we came up with ourselves. We had many this year, and most of them we created in the first half of the year. This isn't surprising, as we were away most of the summer and this fall has been pretty crazy busy. 

Anyway, we narrowed it down to a few. The Pork and Chipotle Pozole was a warm and hearty dish we really enjoyed back in February. April's Yellow Curry Shrimp was excellent but we didn't make the sauce from scratch, so we didn't think it should take first place. Our Potato, Leek and Celeriac Gratin was decadent indeed, but, alas, not quite as good as our Best Recipe of 2013. 

That honor goes to our incredible New Orleans-inspired brunch dish, Bacon, Egg and Cheese Bread Pudding. We could devour that daily. 

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Bread Pudding

We created this amazing brunch concoction over Christmas break, when we had lots of time to rest, relax and enjoy time in the kitchen. Its inspiration, in fact, was a Christmas gift from Amy's bestie Karen - a piece of  "Temp-tations" cookware. Isn't it gorgeous? Not only is it non-stick, but it can go straight from the  fridge to the oven to the table. We especially love the pretty glass trivet (also serves as a lid!) and the iron rack that come with it, making it so very table-ready. 

Since Karen is in New Orleans, we wanted to make something inspired by the Big Easy. After plenty of consideration and exchanging various ideas, the two of us finally came up with this: Bacon, Egg and Cheese Bread Pudding, a play on the ubiquitous sandwich. This savory bread pudding is fluffy and custardy, with salty and smoky bites of bacon and tangy cheese. Loved it, and it was perfect for our new cookware! Perhaps we'll make it again today, since we have a SNOW DAY! 

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 large eggs

4 slices bacon

1 shallot, minced

5 cups cubed day-old French bread

4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated

1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley

kosher salt and ground white pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 and spray the baking dish with cooking spray. Whisk together milk, cream, eggs, salt and white pepper in a large bowl; set aside. Cook bacon until crisp, remove from pan and drain on paper towels, then chop into bite-sized pieces. Cook shallot in bacon fat over medium heat until golden, only about one minute. Add bacon, bread, cheese, cooked shallots and dried parsley into custard mixture so that all bread is covered; allow to soak for about 1/2 hour. Transfer mixture into baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake for additional 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Goose Egg Oven Pancake

Last spring, to celebrate their 40th birthdays, Amy and her bestie Karen went on a girls' weekend to Bennington, Vermont. They stayed at a quaint and charming bed and breakfast called the Eddington House Inn. The proprietor, a very hospitable lady named Patti, made the most amazing breakfasts and afternoon treats that we were stuffed the whole weekend. Thank goodness there was plenty of shopping to be done in town, so we had a few chances to walk it off!

As we (sadly) packed up to leave, Patti very kindly offered to send us some of her breakfast recipes, and somehow, we have never gotten around to making any of them. Now Meatless Monday has approached, and with it, four fist-sized goose eggs from Amy's generous friend M. As we were running through our egg-dish repertoire, suddenly Amy thought about Patti's "oven pancake." A perfect Meatless Monday breakfast-for-dinner choice!

This simple yet delicious pancake can be made in about 15 minutes and is big enough for two to share. Topped with chopped fruit, maple syrup, yogurt, or some simple berry jam mixed with a little water (as we did), it is a delightfully different dish suitable for breakfast, brunch, or dinner.

Special thanks to Patti for sharing this fantastic recipe!

Note: The only change we made was to substitute one goose egg for Patti's 2 large eggs.

Goose Egg Oven Pancake

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1 goose egg

1/4 cup raspberry jam, thinned with water

confectionary sugar for sprinkling on top

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in an ovenproof (we used cast iron) pan. While the butter is melting, whisk together the flour and the milk. Add the goose egg and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into the melted butter and place pan in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until fluffy. Carefully remove from pan and place on a platter. Drizzle with thinned jam and sprinkle with confectionary sugar (or other toppings of choice).

Pecan-Studded Waffles with Bourbon Vanilla Sorghum Syrup

It's true that we enjoy a bit of over-indulgence now and again. In fact, we're kind of known for it. But when the long weekend coincided with the arrival of cooler weather, and Amy had that autumnal craving for pecan pie, even the two of us knew that pecan pie for two wasn't going to be good for anybody. So we bring you our compromise. We took our recipe for Golden Goose Egg Waffles, added a cup of chopped pecans, served them with Bourbon Vanilla Sorghum Syrup, and indulged in some we-deserved-a-day-off brunchy-brunch. Go ahead and try to eat just one.

New Orleans Part One

We are livin' the good life in New Orleans and thought we should share some photos of our culinary adventures so far.

Day One:

Lunch at Mandina's

Seafood Gumbo

Crab Fingers in White Wine Sauce

Fried Oyster Po'Boy

Afternoon Snack at Williams Plum St. Snoballs

Pineapple with Coconut Cream and Dreamsicle

Appetizers at Dockside

Chargrilled Oysters

Dinner at Huckleberry's

Shrimp Etouffee

Trilogy (fish, oysters, shrimp) Po'Boy

White Beans with Grilled Shrimp

Day Two:

Lunch at Pascal's Manale

Loaf of French Bread

Shrimp and Andouille Ravioli

The Original Barbeque Shrimp

Sazerac

Dinner at Impastato's (Chef Joe's Dinner Special, sadly no photos!)



Day Three:

Brunch made from leftovers

Pasta Frittata, Veal Hash, White Beans-and-Rice Arancini, Filet Mignon, Mimosas



That's all for now! We are heading to the French Quarter for a couple of days, and we will update soon!

Cheesy Pancetta Hash Brown Bites

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, we were sent two coupons to try Simply Potatoes brand products for free. When we saw their Shredded Hash Browns in the refrigerator section, we knew we would look no further. Those shredded potatoes were headed straight to our muffin tin where they would soon become our "Cheesy Pancetta Hash Brown Bites."

What's yummier than potatoes mixed with pancetta and cheese? Not much other than not having to share! This recipe made two dozen individually-sized "bites" which were both easy to make and to serve. Having the potatoes already shredded was a huge time-saver. Browning nicely in the muffin tin, they have that crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside texture that everyone adores. These are the perfect accompaniment to any meal, and are particularly delicious as a "bed" for a fried egg. Since the recipe makes so many, they'd be great for entertaining, or can be frozen and reheated for another time. 

Mix together shredded potatoes, shredded cheese and diced pancetta...

Place mixture in muffin tins...

Add half-n-half, and bake.

Go ahead and give them a try. And experiment a little! Try a different cheese, throw in some sauteed onions and peppers. Let us know how you like 'em!

Coming out of the oven, nicely browned and crispy!

Cheesy Pancetta Hash Brown Bites

Ingredients:

1 package Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns

4 ounces diced pancetta

1/2 pound gouda cheese, shredded

2 1/2 cups half-n-half

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the potatoes, pancetta and cheese. Fill the cups of two muffin tins with this mixture. Place a pinch of both salt and pepper into each cup. Then pour 1 1/2 tablespoons of half-n-half into each cup. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes, or until nicely browned. Allow to cool for five minutes before removing from pan. Serve hot.