Baked Eggs with an Attitude

                                            March 6- Back to Brunch at home, Yeaaa!

The last two weekends we have been MIA from home. One week we were driving back from our Mill Valley vacation and last weekend we went out to brunch with friends. Both of us agreed we like our own little brunches with appropriate portions better. I hate wasting food and certainly could not eat the huge portion served at the restaurant. I mean 2 cups of fried potatoes with Huevos Rancheros which were brimming with beans, cheese and 2 eggs on the tortillas. Overload!!!

Today is a dreary day with a forecast of rain that came true. I was vacillating between huevos revolutos or baked eggs. Last night I made a chicken and mushroom lasagna with tomato sauce and didn’t want the brunch dish to be too close to those flavors.

Once I started moving around the kitchen checking out stuff in the refrigerator, the baked eggs won. I have made them before and always do the vegetable base a little different. This is based on a recipe from Margaret Fox’s “Morning Food” cookbook that I love. She calls hers “Persian Eggs”. I call mine:


                                                       Baked Eggs with an Attitude
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
½ c. onion, chopped
¼ c. red bell pepper, chopped
¼ c. green bell pepper, chopped
1 small Serrano chile or ½ larger one, minced (if you like the heat go for a larger chile)
½ c. mushrooms, chopped ( wild mushrooms are the best if available)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large Roma tomato, diced
1 slice of ham, diced -totally optional as this is a great vegetable dish on it's own.
2 tsp. capers
1 Tbsp. juice from capers
½ tsp. oregano
½ tsp. gr. Cumin
¼ tsp. salt or to taste
¼ tsp. fresh gr. Pepper
2 large eggs
½ c. grated cheese that melts ( I used a combo Monterrey Jack and Cheddar)
2 Tbsp. grated dry cheese like Parmesan but I didn’t have any so used Feta Cheese
Chopped cilantro or parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 350*

This is the best part, get out a skillet, preferably a non stick one and melt the butter and oil together. Add all of the veges: onion, red and green pepper, chile, mushrooms, garlic and tomatoes to the skillet. Saute this up until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the  opt.ham, capers, juice, herbs and seasonings and continue to cook for a minute or two. If you are familiar with sofrito, that is what this looks like. Otherwise it is like a thick vegetable sauce.
Divide this mixture between two individual baking dishes placed on a baking sheet. Make a depression in the middle and carefully crack an egg in each dish. Sprinkle with the cheeses. Bake 12-15 min. Watch them closely as you don’t want to over bake the eggs. They are best when the yolks are runny. Serve with the cilantro or parsley sprinkled on top. You need toast or some such bready thing to sop up the remaining juices. This is sooo good with the egg melding into the flavorful vegetables and a little kick from the chile. It would be good for four people too, just leave it in the skillet and add two more eggs.

I served a bowl of cut up mangoes, kiwi fruit, blueberries, strawberries and pear that I tossed with Triple Sec and yogurt.

Bubbly of the day was from one of our local wineries:
 Laetitia’s Blanc de Blanc
Nothing going on today but to spend too much time on the computer. I did get my web cam hooked up and have just been waiting to try it out on someone. Hopefully my niece, Emily,will call me from snowy Rochester. 

Vege beds waiting for their eggs