Sunday Brunch for a Crowd

With the holiday season, we often need to cook for lots of people. This calls for easy cooking method if we want to be able to deliver a delicious meal without stress. I guarantee you, making eggs in ramekins is the easy way to prepare your eggs. In French, we called it oeufs en cocotte. The beauty of this technique is that everyone will be served at the same time. It is not more complicated if you have 8 or 25 guests.

Recipe

The most basic recipe starts by greasing the ramekin with butter, break 1 egg and pour 1 tablespoon of warm 35% cream. Season and top with cut herbs, if you like.

You can add whatever you like to the egg to make them more special. I will share the recipe of my friend Yannick (see pictures). She made those for us a few weeks ago. It was delicious. Cook at low heat minced onions and tomatoes (or mushrooms) in a pan until they were soft. Lightly grease the ramekins. Put a slice of country ham on each ramekin. Put a tablespoon of the onions and tomatoes. Break one egg. Put some grated cheese. Season. When the eggs are cooked, garnish with parsley. I may have forgot an ingredient or two but it is basically it.

Two Cooking Methods

You bake the eggs in the oven until the egg white is set but the york is still runny. You will need to keep an eye on your eggs since the time may vary.

French method: You can only put the ramekins in a shallow baking pan and pour boiling water in the pan until they cover halfway of the ramekin sides. Cook at 350 degrees. Your eggs will be ready within 7 to 10 minutes.

No-fuss method: Put the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake between 10 to 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Fruit Jars as Tableware

Another good suggestion that Yannick did is to serve warm compote on fruit glass jars that she collected. It is a charming eco-friendly option instead of buying lots of bowls. I will recycle her idea. It is worth saving the small jam jars that I bought at the farmer’s market.