Eggs cocotte are perfect for every meal! That’s what I love about them. Perfect for brunch when served with a yogurt, a fruit salad and a croissant. Great with a salad or a soup as a light lunch or dinner. Egg cocotte is also a traditional entrée in many French restaurants.

It’s mushroom and ham version is called ‘oeuf cocotte à la parisienne’ (Parisian shirred egg) so I guess it’s been imagined in the City of Light. It’s incredibly tasty AND easy to make. Don’t be afraid to experiment around this recipe, baked eggs are fun to play with!

Next time try adding chives, chervil and tarragon along with the parsley. This herb mix is called ‘fines herbes’, it’s a nice twist on the Parisian shirred eggs original recipe. Don’t be afraid to try them with chicken or veggies, they taste great with a lot of different ingredients.

Preparation time: 10 minutes – Baking time: 6 to 8 minutes

Ingredients (for 1 serving)

1 egg
1 oz (30 g) of ham
2 portobello mushrooms
1 small garlic clove
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
2 teaspoons of creme fraiche
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 slice of bread
Butter
Salt & Pepper

Instructions

1/ Preheat oven to 500° F (260° C/Th 9).

2/ Peel and slice mushrooms. (You should never wash portobello mushrooms, they would get soaked with water and loose taste as a result. Just grate stalk if there is mud and slice off the end part. Then peel off the cap by grasping the white edge with a knife and pull to peel strips off the mushroom.)

3/ Rinse parsley and peel garlic clove. Chop both.

4/ Heat a frying pan oven medium high heat, add olive oil. When it’s hot, add garlic. Move it around the pan for about one minute so the oil gets a garlic flavor.

5/ Lower to medium heat and pour mushrooms into the pan. Add parsley and a pinch of salt. Leave for 5 minutes stirring from time to time.

6/ Grease 1 ramekin with butter or margarine.

7/ Chop ham scraps and dispose some of them in the ramekin. Alternate with a layer of mushrooms and 1 teaspoon of creme fraiche. Repeat operation once. Add salt.

8/ Break the egg into the ramekin and top with a pinch of pepper.

9/ Fill half of an ovenproof dish with boiling (or very hot water) and put ramekin on it. Bake in oven for 6 to 8 minutes. (It’s ready when white is done but yolk remains liquid.)

10/ Serve with toasted bread.

Looking for a salmon alternative for this baked eggs recipe? Click here.

It’s always great to receive an award, I feel like a movie star

I received it a few weeks ago from Steve at Oui, chef. Thanks Steve! It took me time to pass it on, but having people waiting isn’t what being a star is about?!

More seriously, it’s been a great honor to receive this award from a real Chef. If you don’t know his blog, I strongly recommend you check his awesome recipes (click here).

Getting back to the award, here are the rules:

A) List 10 honest things about yourself—and make them interesting, even if you have to dig deep!

B) Pass the award on to 7 bloggers who you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap and whose blogs you find brilliant in design or content.

Let’s do this! I’ll comply with the honesty rule, please be indulgent on the « make them interesting » part

1/ It totally sounds like a cliché but let me tell you I love frog legs and occasionally eat snails too!

2/ I love experimenting when it comes to cooking but… I’m not always the wisest when it comes to combining ingredients. I definitely went too far lately with an eggplant, caramelized onions and pear soup!!…

3/ My dream job would be foodie globe trotter for a TV show. Can you imagine getting paid to travel, eat and learn cooking techniques all around the world?!… These guys are my heroes!

4/ I recently quit my job to launch a business (nope, I’m not a foodie globe trotter yet )

5/ When I was 18, I spent a year in the USA being an au pair. As a result, I would learn a lot speaking English with the kids. Believe it or not, I spent the first 3 months (until someone nice corrected me…) saying « I’m going pottie » when going to the restroom!!!

6/ I can’t sing… I wish I could, but I can’t!

7/ I had my two seconds of fame a few years back saying « Car mechanics are not my thing » in a French car manufacturer TV ad… Two seconds of fame that led to two years hearing jokes about it!

8/ I’m an avid reader, always have been. I just finished Seeing by Jose Saramago, which I enjoyed reading a lot.

9/ I’m worst than a 5 years old kid when it comes to eating candies; I can’t explain why but I love them!

10/ I had to live in Amsterdam to meet the man of my life who is actually Spanish… Who said life isn’t full of surprises?!

It’s time to pass the award on to foodbloggers whose posts and recipes inspire me a lot… And the winners are…

Mardi from Eat, Live, Travel, Write

G. from Kiss My Spatula

Lindsey from Lost In Cheeseland

Jamie from Life is a feast

Chrystal & Amir  from The Duo Dishes

Michael from Herbivoracious

Gaelle from What are you feeding your kids these days

My French Classics section definitely lacked beef Bourguignon. It’s an easy to make recipe although it will require time. If you have a pressure cooker, you’ll be able to reduce the cooking time. If not, there is no way you’re going to get away with it! Only time gives this wine sauce its amazing flavor

The most common side dish to be served with beef Burgundy is steamed potatoes but you can also serve it with rice or pasta. Fresh tagliatelle will be perfect with boeuf Bourguignon.

Preparation time: 15 minutes – Cooking time: 4 h 30 to 5 hours – Marinating time: at least 5 hours

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

2.2 lbs (1 kg) of beef cut into 2 inches pieces (Rump roast, chuck roast, sirloin tip, top or bottom round…)
3.5 oz (100 g) of bacon
1 carrot
2 onions
6 portobello mushrooms
1 garlic clove
1 bouquet garni (2 bay leaves, 5 sprigs of parsley, 4 sprigs of thyme)
3 cups of red wine (Côtes du Rhone, Bourgogne…)
1 cup of beef stock
2 tablespoons of olive oil (click here to buy online)
1 tablespoon of flour
Salt & pepper

Side

2.2 lbs (1 kg) of potatoes
2 springs of parsley
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/  The night before (or at least 5 hours before preparing it), rinse and chop thyme and parsley. In a large dish, season meat with salt and combine it with the red wine and the bouquet garni. Cover and leave marinade in the fridge.

2/ Peel and slice carrots, mushrooms and onions.

3/ Dice bacon.

4/ Peel and crush garlic clove.

5/ Heat oil in a large casserole or stew pot over high heat. Add beef pieces moving them so all sides get cooked equally. Keep marinade aside.

6/ Add bacon, carrots, onions and mushrooms. Sprinkle ingredients with flour and stir until flour gets a golden color.

7/ Cover with red wine from the marinade and get to a boil stirring continuously.

8/ Add garlic clove, bouquet garni, beef stock, salt and pepper. Cover and leave over low heat for at least 4 h 30. (Try checking on it and stirring  every 30 to 40 minutes so ingredients don’t stick to the bottom of the stew pot. If your sauce keeps being too liquid, uncover for a while. If it’s not enough, you can still sprinkle a little more flour. Meat is ready when soft.)

9/ 40 minutes before serving, peel and steam side potatoes.

10/ Rinse and chop parsley.

11/ Serve beef Bourguignon with potatoes seasoned with parsley, salt and pepper.