Baked Eggs

 

I've been wanting to attempt baked eggs for awhile now, but haven't had the proper ramekins, so this holiday season provided the perfect opportunity to try my hand at this dish.  Basically you crack eggs into ramekins, surround with a little milk or cream (to avoid burning), and bake for 15 minutes or so.  I of course wanted more than just eggs so I layered potatoes, cheese, bacon, onions, and mushrooms.  

Begin by cooking your bacon and once rendered remove to paper towels to drain.  Slice your potatoes (I used peeled fingerlings) and add them with some minced garlic to the bacon grease to cook.  

Once your potatoes are cooked to your liking, start assembling them in your ramekins.

Next up is cheese.

Followed by the bacon.

Meanwhile, saute some onions and mushrooms in the leftover bacon grease (add more butter if needed) and once softened add those to the dishes.  

Make room for your cracked eggs in the center of your mount of food.

Finally add a tablespoon of milk or cream atop the eggs.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes at 325 F. 

These ramekins were a little shallow for all the ingredients I tried to cram in them, otherwise the eggs might not have looked so separated from everything else, but it didn't diminish from the deliciousness.  Everyone had an individual serving of breakfast goodness all in one place and the baked eggs were an interesting consistency different than what you'd get from frying or poaching.  

Bacon Wrapped Goat Cheese Stuffed Baked Pears

I was recently gifted pears, which is interesting because I'm not so much a pear eater.  I consulted google to determine what I could do with these pears that would possibly appease my fruit-hating palate, and lo-and-behold....bacon was the answer!  Big surprise.  This recipe had the makings of all the things I love: bacon and goat cheese.  The pear became an afterthought, which was fine by me. 

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 F, halve your pears, and remove the pits, leaving a nice bowl for your cheese.  Place the pear halves on a cookie sheet, fill the scooped out insides with herbed goat cheese, and wrap with raw bacon.  So maybe the recipe calls for a single slice of bacon, but obviously that wasn't enough, so I went for two. 

Drizzle the pears with a little olive oil and salt and pepper and bake for about 30 minutes (more or less depending on pear size). 

Once done, serve over a bed of greens.  I used mesclun, but you can also use arugula or whatever you prefer.  We made a mild vinaigrette to drizzle over the lettuce before we topped with the pears and drizzled with a little honey.  The juices from the pears, the fat from the bacon, and the sweetness of the honey actually combined pretty well with the greens and cheese and made for a surprisingly delicious pear salad...though that could be all the bacon's doing. 

I had some leftovers so I reheated the pears in the toaster oven to re-crisp the bacon, and one morning I served this for breakfast over a fried egg.  Not bad for a fruit. 

Spice Rubbed Pork Chops

Pork chops often frighten people because of how dry they can end up.  I discussed this before in a previous post describing stuffed porkchops and how to combat the leather effect.  This time I used a dry rub to season the chops and ensured juiciness by purchasing thicker bone-in chops.  If you get too thin of chops, chances are they end up dry and unappealing. 

Again, the dry rub is a flavoring technique that doesn't involve as much pre-prep as the marinade because it doesn't necessarily require an overnight chill.  Choose your favorite spices, mix and apply to the chop, but don't go overboard because it will have a very strong flavor even with minimal spice rub.  I combined cayenne pepper, paprika, oregano, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper, and a dash of cinnamon.  

Apply the spice rub to both sides and let sit for a few minutes to get an opportunity to adhere and flavor the chops.

Heat a little olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat, and when the pan is nice and hot add your chops.  Cook for about 5 minutes per side.  You will see nice caramelization of the chops/spices.  This is a good thing, and the sear allows for the juices to remain inside the chops rather than seep out. 

To ensure a cooked-through pork chop, you can then place a lid over the pan or transfer the pan to the oven.  I mentioned this before, but trichinosis (the disease you get from eating undercooked pork) is killed at 145 degrees fahrenheit, which is actually a medium rare chop.  People are too afraid of eating pink pork that they always overcook pork to the point of it being way overdone.  I like to aim for a medium steak with pork.  Most of the pink is gone, but the meat hasn't turned gray and hard from overcooking.


Finally I served these chops with a side of basmati rice I prepared with corn and spinach.  The spice rub had a kick to it, so the rice helped cool it down.  I drizzled with a tiny bit of olive oil at the end for flavor.