Saturday, February 9, 2013

{Saturday Breakfast: Baked Eggs}

A couple months back I tried baked eggs - or eggs en cocotte  as they are often called - for the first time.
They were so delicious. Simple, tasty and comforting.
I figured they couldn't be too hard to make, I was just missing the right bake ware (I didn't own one ramekin). 
After picking up a large shallow ramekin a couple weeks back I finally got around to making baked eggs for breakfast this morning.
And folks, they were so good and so easy to make I just had to share the recipe with you all!
The first thing to know is you can add anything you want into this dish - make it your own! A lot of the recipes I read called for bacon, but I don't eat pork, so I substituted some sliced smoked chicken breast instead. It tasted incredible! Many recipes also called for parsley, but I'm not a fan, so I used basil instead -- fantastic choice if I do say so myself. 
Below you'll find a recipe for my version of baked eggs - but you can modify it however you'd like.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 large leaf of kale, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
2 large leaves of fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup grated gruyere + a little more for topping
2 slices deli roasted chicken breast - diced into squares
6 eggs (we have quite a large "ramekin")
A dash of half and half
salt + pepper

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 375 F. Butter your ramekin(s)
2. Add chicken to each
3. Crack eggs into ramekins, being careful not to break the yolks
3. Mix together your chopped kale, green onions, basil and grated gruyere
4. Top the eggs with the mixture
5. Add a dash of half and half into the ramekin
6. Top with salt and pepper
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes (you'll know it's done when the center is still a little jiggly {pick it up and jiggle it}, and the outside is firm)
8. Top with a little extra gruyere 
9. Eat up with a piece of buttered whole grain toast - YUMMY!

Happy Saturday everyone!!