If you consider a golden, creamy, runny egg yolk to be one of life’s great breakfast pleasures, then you will love this fast and simple recipe, which I’ve adapted from Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris cookbook.
Something about the simple goodness of baked eggs makes me picture sitting at my breakfast table 30 years from now, enjoying them with my husband as we sip coffee, read a newspaper, and quietly muse about our highly successful children, our delightful grandchildren, and our upcoming stay at our vacation home in the French countryside. (I realize there are a lot of big presumptions in that daydream…. the biggest of which is that there will still be newspapers in 30 years.)
Like nearly all simple recipes, this one is really easy to mess up. The tricky part is the cooking time, because if you do it right, the eggs will NOT look at all done when you pull them out. Watch them closely, and when the egg white has almost completely set, pull it. I assure you, if you wait until it looks ready, you’ll be smearing crumbly egg yolks on your toast sure as I’m standing here.
Individual gratin dishes are the ideal vessel for this recipe. A wide, shallow dish allows for quicker, more even cooking, and allows you to spread the herb mixture and brown it over a larger surface area. But use what you have – custard cups or other types of ramekins will work fine.
herbed baked eggs
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Author: The Queen Cooks (adapted from Ina Garten)
Recipe type: Brunch
Serves: 3
Ingredients
¼ teaspoon minced garlic
¼ teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon crushed rosemary
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
6 eggs
3 tablespoons half-and-half
1½ tablespoons butter or margarine
Salt and pepper
Sourdough bread – sliced, buttered and toasted
Instructions
Preheat your broiler for 5 minutes and move the oven rack to 6 inches below the heat source.
Combine the garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley, and Parmesan. Set aside.
Crack two eggs each into three small bowls, being careful not to break the yolks.
Place 3 individual-size gratin dishes on a baking sheet. Add 1 tablespoon of half-and-half and ½ tablespoon of butter or margarine to each dish. Put under broiler for 3-4 minutes, or until melted and starting to bubble.
Working quickly, remove from oven and pour two eggs into each gratin dish. Top each with ⅓ of the herb and Parmesan mixture, then top generously with salt and pepper.
Return to the broiler for 5-6 minutes, or until the egg white is almost set. Remove from oven and allow the eggs to set for a minute or two. Serve with toasted sourdough bread.
Few things make me happier than walking into my kitchen one morning and seeing a bunch of black, spotted, rotten bananas. Because you and I both know they’re not rotten at all; they’re just really, really ripe. And that means they’ve reached peak perfection for one of the banana’s most sublime applications: banana bread.
This morning I was greeted by a big ugly pile of newly blackened bananas, and I knew by the afternoon my house would be filled with the intoxicating aroma of fresh-baked banana bread.
Speaking of intoxicating, what could possibly make banana bread better?
How about bourbon? A little bourbon makes a lot of things better. And a lot of bourbon makes everything better.
I like using Maker’s Mark for this recipe because it’s smoother and sweeter than average. Woodford Reserve is also a very fine choice. Feel free to use your favorite, just keep it around 80-90 proof.
banana bread with bourbon glaze
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Author: The Queen Cooks
Recipe type: Breads
Serves: 12
Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
For the bourbon glaze
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
¾ cup bourbon, divided
½ cup water
12 oz. (about 3 cups) confectioners sugar
Instructions
Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
Cream the sugar and butter until smooth.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the mashed bananas, milk, and vanilla extract, then mix to combine.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, then slowly mix into wet ingredients until just incorporated.
Pour batter into a prepared loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, then turn out of pan and cool completely on a cooling rack.
To make the bourbon glaze, combine the brown and white sugars, ½ cup of bourbon, and the water to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a controlled boil and cook for 8-10 minutes, whisking frequently. Remove from heat and stir in ¼ cup bourbon. Allow the mixture to cool for about 20 minutes, then whisk in the confectioners sugar, one cup at a time, until the mixture reaches a thick, pourable consistency (you may need slightly more or less than 12 ounces).
When the banana bread is mostly cooled, top with the bourbon glaze. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing. It’s better if it sits overnight.
My friend Jenn was a domestic goddess back before being a domestic goddess was cool. During our days at UNC-Chapel Hill, while the rest of the student body was doing keg stands and pulling all-nighters at the undergrad library, she was roasting turkeys and baking blueberry muffins. Needless to say, her bubbly personality wasn’t the only reason I thoroughly enjoyed our friendship.
Since she was such an outstanding cook, I knew any recipes she shared with me would be money. This one, for example, is a hit every time. It’s a creamy blend of cheeses, sausage, and vegetables, baked in a buttery crust. It’s an obvious choice for brunch, but I’ve also served them as hors d’oeuvres for parties and showers, always to rave reviews.
Cheesy Sausage Bites
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You’ll notice there’s quite a lot of grating in this recipe. A food processor makes short work of it.
Serves: 8
Ingredients
1 pound breakfast sausage
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 medium yellow onion, grated
8 oz. fresh white mushrooms, grated
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 (8 oz.) cans crescent roll dough
12 oz. extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
In a medium large pan, brown the sausage over medium-high heat, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. When there’s no pink left, transfer the sausage to a mesh strainer to drain the fat. Return the sausage to the pan. Add the zucchini, onion, mushrooms, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid from the mushrooms and zucchini has evaporated. Stir in the salt and pepper, then set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Remove the crescent roll dough from the can and lay it out in one big rectangle, pressing the seams together to seal. Cut it into 1- to 1½-inch squares, depending on the size of your mini muffin tins.
Lay a square of dough into each muffin tin, then lightly press the dough onto the bottom and sides to make a little cup. The corners of the square should be at or above the top of the tin.
In a large bowl, combine the sausage mixture with the cheddar and cream cheeses. Mix well (clean hands are the best tool for the job). Add about a tablespoon of the sausage mixture to each cup (a #70 cookie dough scoop is the perfect tool for this).
Bake at 350° for 9 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before lifting each bite gently from the pan with a spoon.
My husband used to attend an annual conference in December in Williamsburg, Virginia, so for several years I had the pleasure of tagging along for a mini-vacation. (Christmas in Williamsburg – highly recommended.) So I was strolling around Colonial Williamsburg one day, when I walked into what I thought was a kitchen store. But this was no store – it was A Chef’s Kitchen, which is a fantastic kitchen studio where Chef John Gonzales and an assistant whip up your dinner right in front of you. They prepare it, then you eat it while you watch them work on the next course. Mr Gonzales happened to be there that day, and I had a very enjoyable chat with him for about 5 minutes before I realized he was the author of a cookbook called Holiday Fare: Favorite Williamsburg Recipes, which I had bought at a gift shop just an hour or so before. A year later, I attended a dinner class with my mother. It was divine. If you ever find yourself within driving distance of Williamsburg, you should make it a point to go.
Holiday Fare quickly became one of my favorite cookbooks. It’s fun to browse because it incorporates the history of colonial cooking into its narrative; many of the recipes are actually adapted from these centuries-old dishes. This recipe for Gingered Pumpkin Muffins, for example, is accompanied by a short history of the development of quick breads in colonial America, and the origin of the muffin pan.
See? I told you I’m a food geek.
Gingered Pumpkin Muffins
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These muffins are perfect when the weather is cold. Moist and tender on the inside, with a crunchy sugar crust on top. They’ll warm you from the inside out. Adapted from John R. Gonzales
Serves: 16
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoon (1½ sticks) butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1½ cups milk
2 tablespoons oatmeal
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450°. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick baking spray.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Increase speed to high and mix for 1-2 minutes. Scrape down the sides as needed. Add the pumpkin and milk and continue blending on low speed for 1-2 minutes.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, then pour in the pumpkin mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. Do not over mix – stop as soon as you don’t see any more flour.
Spoon the muffin mixture into the muffin pan. Fill the tins almost to the top.
Mix together the oatmeal, walnuts (if desired), and brown sugar. Sprinkle a little on top of each of the muffins.
Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375° and bake for 12 minutes longer, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
