Oeufs Cocotte

I decided to make French Baked Eggs or Oeufs Cocottes for Easter simply for the reason that I wanted to use the new lavendar Le Creuset Signature Petite Cocottes that I had found for a steal at Home Goods a couple of months ago. I already own the cocottes in navy blue, green and brown so when I stumbled upon three of the lavendar beauties for 2/3 the price, I snapped them up.

The recipe could not be more simple and is easily doubled or tripled.

Oeufs Cocotte (French Baked Eggs)

• Unsalted butter, room temperature for buttering ramekins 
• 2 thin smoked salmon slices 
• 2 heirloom tomato slices
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 ounce grated Gruyere
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons fresh minced herbs (thyme, chives, dill, etc.)
• 4 or more slices toasted baguette 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Generously butter two ramekins or individual casserole dishes. Line each with a smoked salmon slice and a tomato slice. Crack two eggs into each. Next, pour 1 tablespoon of the cream over each and divide the freshly grated cheese and salt and pepper between the two dishes. Then cover the ramekins with foil or casserole dishes with the lids.

To an oven-safe dish, such as a Pyrex, add about an inch of boiling water, creating a bain-marie, and then place the ramekins into the water.

Bake the eggs in the oven for 18 minutes (10 minutes covered, 8 minutes uncovered) for soft-boiled eggs or 22 minutes (14 covered, 8 uncovered) for hard-boiled.

Remove the oven-baked eggs from the oven and top with your fresh herbs, then serve with the toasted baguette slices.

Serves 2