I learned to make this easy egg bake when I worked in Switzerland. Their local eggs with big orange yolks and fresh cheese made this an elegant brunch. Since work began at 7am -six days a week, we only cooked this on Sunday.
Remember Ovaltine? The Swiss in my small village serve their pastry, Birchermuesli, and egg dishes with Ovaltine. Norm prefers tea, Maralyn and Brenda love cappuccino or cafe au Lait. Ther Birchermuesli is featured in “Our Love Affairs with Food & Travel,” on page 23. This is a favorite of Norm, Maralyn and Maralyn’s daughter Lindsay.
For brunch or holidays there is always festive sparkling wine with a fruity twist, like a bellini or the melon bubbly (which will be posted on 12/9/09.
Baked Eggs:
Ingredients
Fresh farm eggs or organic
Swiss cheese–We use those Laughing Cow wedges-perfect portion
and rich, creamy flavor.
Method
Rub inside of ramekin with sweet butter and thyme.
Add one or two eggs to each ramekin depending on size. (Brenda adds salt and pepper to her egg dishes at some point. Maralyn adds pepper)
Bake in oven at about 375 for about 10 minutes or less (we like soft yolks) depending on your individual ramekin.
These are good as is, but we cheese fanatics add that wedge of Swiss at the last minute or so or until just melted.
Tip
Results are more consistent if you bake egg containers in a hot water bath.
Serving
Now you can have fun. Eat this bake with or on buttered toast as you would a poached egg. Or serve over hashbrowns, potato pancake or grits. You could also top a waffle with baked eggs, adding breakfast meat or sauteed spinach or asperagus, for a savory brunch idea.
Tip: when removing egg from buttered ramekin, loosen edges then turn upside down to serve without breaking egg. The melted cheese keeps it very hot.
Brenda C. Hill
International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association
Books By Hills Success Log Where & What in the World Blog
Finalist in the Writing and Publishing category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, “$uccess, Your Path to a Successful Book”
