Like every other person in their mid- twenties, I have several blogs I hit up each day as a sort of morning routine. The first one I go to after checking my email is http://www.foodpress.com. I’m a big fan and get a lot of recipe ideas from all the different posts. So naturally, when I read about baked eggs last week I immediately became obsessed.
This is a concept I had never wrapped my head around. It never even occurred to me to bake eggs. And with that, I didn’t give a single thought to why I may have steered clear in the past.
There were two recipes I was dying to try. Both of which were features on foodpress’s website. So yesterday morning, I woke up happily hungover and trudged into the kitchen to get to work. This was a full on breakfast featuring baked eggs. The base was sauteed leeks and spinach with garlic and some spices. Spinach being my absolute favorite thing to pair with eggs besides cheese, I was in. You throw that in an oven safe bowl and crack two eggs on top. I was just really excited by the idea of making a cute little bowl of food to put in the oven. In the past, I would have absolutely made the same dish, but replacing baked eggs with poached.
It looks so appetizing right now!
Mmm... Eggs lounging on a pile of spinach and leeks.
The recipe claimed to bake these suckers for about 6 minutes, but I think my oven is a little on the retarded side. Every recipe I use, I usually need to triple the amount of oven time. So, every five minutes my timer went off I excitedly opened the oven to peer in and see raw eggs laughing at my growling stomach. I eventually got to my end result and when I pulled out my masterpiece, I was a little disappointed. There was this tough film over the top of the eggs. When I touched it, it didn’t budge. My skepticism began. I kept muttering to myself things about poached eggs, clearly the superior, as I poked at my breakfast. “Poached eggs would break open with the spear of my fork. But these baked eggs just sit there all hard and gross looking.” I began comparing them to microwaved eggs, that so many bagel shops around here use for their breakfast sandwiches. (I know, it’s disgusting.) And I realized it’s more or less the same concept. The consistency was very unappealing and with a roaring hangover, found my stomach already on the brink of queazy and couldn’t even finish.
Ruh Roh... look at that bubble. Gross. That is a full on indestructible film.
Let's take a closer look. Even worse.
This put me into such an emotional anguish that I pushed my breakfast aside, crawled to my couch and covered myself in blankets in front of the TV. I had been talking to anyone who would listen about these baked eggs and how excited I was. And I was angry with myself for not realizing that this was something I probably wouldn’t like. So much built up, just to fall short of my expectations.
As the day progressed, I eventually got my lazy behind off the couch and started to plan my food for the week. This is my Sunday, always. Looking through recipes, making long lists. The goal is to not have to go to the grocery store at all during the week. Big shopping one day. I started compiling all the dishes I would be making during the work week and the list began. I needed a breakfast treat though. I have been relying on frozen waffles for a few weeks, which work really well, but wanted a change. Cue second baked eggs recipe!
Another foodpress goodie that looked adorable and delicious: Scrambled Egg Muffins. This is a little embarrassing, but it’s my blog so I’m going to admit it. I didn’t even realize this was another baked eggs recipe. Yes, I had read the recipe days earlier. But all I saw were ingredients and once my brain gets moving there’s no backtracking. There was also that hangover fog that doesn’t make everything crystal right away.
So hours later, I’m chopping, whisking, preheating the oven. This recipe used cheese, so I immediately knew I would enjoy it regardless. It’s a very simple one.
You whisk together 6 eggs (1 egg per muffin).
Add 6 teaspoons of parmesan cheese.
Add 1 tablespoon of parsley
1/3 c of milk
salt and pepper.
The original recipe had you sprinkle bacon on top, but I stepped this up a notch. I bought some morning star breakfast sausage. Stop judging! I know this is a meatless meat, which is odd for me because eating animals is one of my favorite things in life. The truth is I LOVE this stuff. I think it’s awesome and seeing that I would be eating these muffins all week, why not choose a healthier option. It’s a hell of a lot tastier than turkey bacon. So I chopped up four sausage patties and added them straight into the egg mixture. Err… I added 3 because I ate one while all the chopping was going on.
Next you line a cupcake tray with 6 cups and pour your scramble in. Throw that beast into the oven (preheated at 400 degrees) and let it cook for 15 minutes. For those of us with inbred ovens, 25- 30 minutes.
You would think that I would have realized I was putting my eggs in danger of being once again disgusting when I preheated my oven. Wrong. To be fair, I was working on three different recipes at once and was in that go- go phase of just doing without thinking. So I took my broiled chicken out, switched the oven to bake and just continued on. It was as I was pouring the egg mixture into the cupcake tray that I stopped for a moment and made a sad face, finally making the connection that I may hate these little muffins I’d been so excited about. I’d come too far to turn back, so I popped them in the oven and said a Hail Mary.
Success!
A party of egg muffins!
To my surprise, they looked good coming out. The tops were a little hard, but I felt good about it because of the milk and cheese. This morning I brought one to work and popped it in the microwave, ready to face facts. I found the muffin rather delightful. The sausage definitely helped, but despite the tops being a little hard, underneath was a spongy breakfast surprise. This absolutely put me back into a love affair with baked eggs. Well, maybe not a love affair, but this good impression was enough for me not to hate on them forever. And these muffins were so simple, with so many variations that I will absolutely make them again.
Roaring Tiger 