Oeufs en Cocotte (Eggs in a Ramekin)

Some of you may already know that I'm a big fan of Julia Child, as well as amazing French foods. I don't cook enough French food, mainly because of the time and unhealthy aspects of butter and certain meats, but I've been trying to do more French cooking lately. I love this dish because it's simple, and you can make it as healthy and as fancy as you want.

Oeufs en Cocotte

• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon cream
• 1 tablespoon butter (I used parsley garlic butter)
• salt + pepper, to taste
• one ramekin

Preparation & Cooking Instructions

JC recommends heating about two inches of water in a skillet until just simmering, and then you add the buttered ramekin and fill it with one tablespoon of cream and butter. You let that heat through, then you crack your egg into the mix, cover it with another tablespoon of cream and butter, and let that begin to set. Then you're supposed to bake it in a 350 degree F oven for about 7 minutes, until the white is set and the eggs dance around a little in the ramekins. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve. JC says you can let the eggs rest in the water (out of the oven) for 15 minutes before serving. You can zest this up all sorts of ways by adding meat or veggies and using different types of butters. I made them like this the first time (with half the amount of cream and butter), and hubby and I ended up zapping ours in the microwave for a minute because they weren't as done as we preferred.

The second time I made this I poured in half a tablespoon of cream, half a tablespoon of parsley butter, and zapped it in the microwave for 20 seconds to melt everything. Then I cracked in two eggs, and topped with the additional half tablespoon of cream and butter. Then I actually put it right into my toaster oven that I had preheated to 375 and cooked it for about 10 minutes. It might have been too long that time because the egg was basically hard boiled, but the taste was amazing! I recommend either method; the second is less fussy and works well for one person, but I prefer the original way if you're cooking for more than one.

This hearty egg dish goes great alongside homemade cinnamon rolls!