I read both "My Life in France" by Julia Child and "Julie and Julia" by Julie Powell on my last plane trip. Read these books in that order--better than Iron Chef on the Food Network! Anyhow, after I flew into PWM, I ran to Borders to get these recipes and it was SOO worth it. I like adding chopped, fresh herbs to my "ouefs."
Oeufs en Cocotte
Per serving:
* 1/2 teaspoon butter
* 1 ramekin 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter and about 1 1/2 inches high
* 2 tablespoons whipping cream
* A pan containing 3/4 inch of simmering water
* 1 or 2 eggs
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter ramekin, saving a dot for later. Add 1 tablespoon of cream and set the ramekin in the simmering water over moderate heat. When the cream is hot, break 1 or 2 eggs. Pour in the remaining spoonful of cream over the egg and top with a dot of butter.
2. Place in middle level of preheated oven and bake for 7 to 10 minutes. The eggs are done when they are just set but still tremble slightly in the ramekins. They will set a little more when the ramekins are removed, so they should not be overcooked.
3. Season with salt and pepper and serve. The ramekins may remain in the hot water, out of the oven, for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. To prevent overcooking, remove eggs from oven when slightly underdone.
***
Sauce au Cari
You can half this for 4 servings of eggs and still have leftover. I warmed up leftover, thinly sliced steak in my remaining curry sauce.
* 1/2 cup finely minced white or yellow onions
* 4 tablespoons butter
* An 8-cup enameled saucepan
* 2 to 3 tablespoons curry powder
* 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 2 cups boiling milk
* 4 to 6 tablespoons whipping cream
* Salt and pepper
* Lemon juice
* 1 to 2 tablespoons softened butter
To use this sauce in Oeufs en Cocotte, substitute 2 tablespoons sauce for the whipping cream. Leftover sauce can be used atop chicken, vegetables, fish or lamb. (Or, as I did, put a dollop of the sauce on top of the eggs rather than substituting for the cream.)
1. Cook onions and butter on low heat for 10 minutes without allowing onions to color.
2. Stir in curry powder and cook slowly for 2 minutes. Add flour and stir over low heat for 3 minutes.
3. Off heat, blend in boiling milk. Return to heat and simmer slowly for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The stir in 4 to 6 tablespoons cream by tablespoons, until sauce has thinned to consistency you wish. Check seasoning, and add lemon juice to taste. Off heat, and just before using, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons butter and if using, parsley.
Source: "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck (Knopf, 1961)
2 comments:
Wow, I know this post is ten years old now which is funny because that's the last time I cooked this recipe! It was so divine! Luxurious and decadent.
But I lost my copies of MTAOFC vol 1 & 2! And then it dawned on me that I may be able to Google it, and this was the first page that popped up so kudos to you.
Just a couple of questions though.
I don't remember lemon juice in the curry sauce, was that in her recipe or something you added?
Also, I'm pretty sure the answer to this is no because there's cream involved, but do you think it's possible to freeze the sauce?
The recipe makes a massive batch and like you I used it to cover my eggs in ramekins (which I served with a side of beautiful asparagus also draped with about a tablespoon of the sauce) and had so much left over! I made the dish over at my mother's house because she was feeling down about a bad breakup and we had both just finished reading Julie and Julia.
She absolutely adored it, which is high praise because just like Julia she is a self-taught MASTER French Chef (Though Julia did go through culinary school) my mother is an outstanding chef. Everyone says that about their mom, but it isn't until people come over for brunch or dinner that they REALLY get it.
Anyway, after breakfast we could not stop talking about all the things that sauce would be great with... And we just didn't stop because it would be good on pretty much everything! You said steak, I bet that was amazing and it was top of our list. I've always really wanted to try it on a salmon fillet, I think it would be heavenly.
But my guy is such a huge fan of steak, I may just surprise him in a huge way and pull this sauce out next time I get steaks.
Thank you for posting these recipes together!!! I am so happy I'll be able to make this again!!
It's such an impressive breakfast with not *too* much effort :)
And now I am responding 2 years later but that is straight from her cookbook.
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