Easter is on the way, and I’ve been searching high and low for the ideal egg dish to kick off my Sunday morning. Lately I’ve grown rather tired of the high street obsession with the chocolate egg. This tradition originates in the pagan fertility festivals which were present before Christianity’s Easter celebrations replaced them. Even the name ‘Easter’ is supposed to stem from ‘Eostre’, the Old English name for a fertility goddess. While an egg may look hard and dead, new life always lurks within, making them representative of fertility and resurrection and a convenient symbol both for the Christian resurrection myth and pagan springtime celebrations. Nothing says ‘springtime’ quite like a fresh egg, and for me, a chocolate one just doesn’t quite say it loudly enough.
Like many of us, I used to start Easter Sunday with an enormous pile of chocolate eggs. Then I graduated to fresh ones, hard-boiled with onion skins to dye them mottled brown, and finally to the very peak of eggy perfection – the four-and-a-half-minute soft boil, with just a sprinkling of salt in the yolk. But was it true perfection? This year I wanted to find out. Not for me the soft-boiled egg of former years; I’m out for something new. And I think I might have found it.
Known in French as ‘oeufs en cocotte’, or ‘eggs in a pot’ this simple dish is an absolute winner for a luxury breakfast or lunch dish. In its basic form, an oeuf en cocotte is made simply by cracking an egg into a buttered ramekin or similar small dish, popping a knob of butter on top, and cooking it in a bain marie for around 15 minutes in a hot oven. Remove the bain marie from the equation and you’ve got a baked egg – a British version of the French classic.
As usual at PDKTC, I’m fascinated with the number of possible variations on this basic theme. You can replace the butter with milk or cream or even (I’m told) tomato ketchup! You can line the ramekin with anything from slices of ham, bacon or salmon to tomato ragu, pan-fried asparagus or cooked aubergine. The flavour variations are pretty much infinite – any combination of herbs or spices can be blended with the butter, milk or cream to seep their way into the egg as it cooks.
The recipe I’ve given below is an utterly luxurious smoked salmon and cream version which will go down a storm on Easter morning. Like all baked egg recipes, though, at its heart it’s ludicrously simple as well as infallibly impressive. Whether you’re showing off to your parents or getting in some brownie points with your other half, I thoroughly recommend an oeuf en cocotte this Eastertide! As usual, have fun and experiment. Who knows, maybe the chocolate eggs will have to wait until lunchtime this year...
Oeufs en cocotte with smoked salmon and cream
Ingredients
Per ramekin:
Butter
2 slices smoked salmon
1 egg
1 tablespoon double cream
A good sprinkling of parmesan
Salt and pepper
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
Butter the ramekin and line it with a layer of smoked salmon all over. Try to get it round about in line with the edges, but don’t worry too much if it overlaps slightly – the salmon shrinks a bit as it cooks.
Slightly season the salmon, then carefully crack in the egg. Try not to break the yolk, but don’t worry too much if you do!
Spoon over the cream until the egg is pretty much covered – it takes around a tablespoon for my ramekins, but it depends on the size you use. Sprinkle over a good amount of finely grated parmesan, and some more salt and pepper. Go a bit easy on the salt, because there’s a lot in the parmesan already.
Boil a kettle while you set out your ramekins in a high-sided baking tray or large saucepan. Pop it in the oven, and pour in the water until it reaches around halfway up the ramekin. Don’t overfill it, or bizarrely the egg will take a lot longer to cook!
Close up the oven and leave it to cook for 15-18 minutes, depending on how well-done you like your egg. The egg will look a bit wobbly even when it’s fully cooked because of the liquid cream. The cheese on top should be golden-brown and bubbly.
Serve with a slice of hot, buttery toast for breakfast, or some salad and crusty bread for a delicious light lunch.
Enjoy, and have a very, very Happy Easter!
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