Oeufs en Cocotte (baked eggs)

Morning, have you had breakfast yet? Here is a fun one if you eat eggs. I know it as a French dish, oeufs en cocotte but it’s aka shirred eggs. Basically it’s eggs baked in cream with cheese and some additions. I added asparagus and goat cheese.

There is a story behind the dish. Oeufs en cocotte is a French dish named after the dish it is cooked in. A cocotte is a flat individual baking dish with two handle extensions on each side. It’s much like  an individual gratin dish and I use it often for baking individual gratins. You can make this in less traditional dishes such as deeper ramekins (small soufflé type dishes) or in small bowls as I do here. The French cocotte police is unlikely to visit your kitchen and I promise not to tell. The French dictionary tells me that cocotte is also what they call a courtesan so here is something for you to talk about at breakfast when you serve these soft, silky, warm eggs. Who knows, maybe a soft and satisfying courtesan once inspired a chef to invent this dish.
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To make pour cream to cover the bottom of the dish and add salt and pepper. Break an egg into each dish and arrange vertically halved asparagus spears around. Crumble goat cheese over, a touch more cream and bake at 400F until the eggs are done to you liking. Keep checking it, don’t walk away.
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Serve with toasted bread.

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