Omelet Frittata with Artichoke, Cheese and Bacon

Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
4 marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
8 eggs
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup breadcrumbs
3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
¼ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 teaspoon paprika powder

Description:
Italian open-faced omelets, delicious to share with a freshly cut salad. Try to cook it in a cast iron pan when possible for best results.

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a skillet, sauté onion in butter until transparent; add artichokes, cook for 2 minutes. In a bowl, lightly beat eggs; add cheese, breadcrumbs, artichoke mixture, and bacon.

Mix together and place in a greased 9-inch quiche pan. Bake the omelet frittata for 25 minutes, until set. Sprinkle frittata with jack cheese, if desired, and bake for 5 more minutes.
Serve with sour cream and large slices of French toasted bread!

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Oeufs en Meurette - Poached Eggs with Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients:
Meurette sauce:
1 carrot, peeled and cubed
2 shallots, minced
2 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 sprig of fresh rosemary or tarragon
2 cups full-bodied red wine, like Shiraz
1 cup veal stock
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
Eggs:
8 slices French bread, ½ inch thick slices, 3-inch rounds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
8 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Description:
The origin of the egg "meurette" is linked to that of Burgundian beef, with this sauce being made of a piece of beef meat. The Burgundian beef was often the principal meal for lunch. When there was no beef remaining, the juice that was left was used to poach the eggs for dinner which took on a nice violet color.

Preparation:
Make the sauce: In a medium-size non-reactive saucepan, combine the carrot, shallots, bay leaves, minced garlic, rosemary, and wine over high heat. Boil until reduced by half, for about 10 minutes. Add the veal stock and reduce by a third. Discard the herbs.
Complete the red wine sauce on a plate, mash the butter and flour together to form a well-blended paste (beurre manie). In a small non-reactive saucepan, bring the reduced wine to a simmer. Carefully whisk in the butter and flour paste, a little at a time, until the
sauce is lightly thickened and glossy. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste, remove from the heat and keep warm.
Preheat the broiler. Toast the bread on both sides until golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately rub on both sides with a cut garlic clove.
Poach the eggs: Bring 3 inches of water and the red wine vinegar to a boil in 2 shallow 10-inch saucepans. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and immediately break 4 eggs directly into the water in each pan, carefully opening the shells close to the water's surface, so the eggs slip into the water in one piece. Allow the eggs to cook for three minutes before lifting the eggs. The eggs are ready when the whites are opaque and the yolks are covered with a thin, translucent layer of white.
While the eggs cook, place 2 pieves of toast on each of 4 warmed plates using a flat, slotted spoon, carefully lift the eggs from the water, drain well and place on top of the croutons. Spoon the wine sauce all around and serve immediately, with additional toasted bread, if desired.
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Montrachet Goat Cheese and Walnut Soufflés with Watercress and Frisée Salad

Ingredients:
Soufflés:
¾ cup walnuts, toasted lightly, cooled, and finely chopped
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
4 large eggs, separated, the whites at room temperature
1 ½ cups crumbled Montrachet goat cheese (about 6 ounces)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
A pinch of cornstarch

Salad: 
3 tablespoons Jerez vinegar
¾ teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
4 tablespoons walnut oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 bunches of watercress, rinsed, spun dry, and stems discarded
5 cups torn frisée salad, rinsed and spun dry

Description:
A delicious soufflé made of fresh goat cheese. If you cannot find Montrachet, use your favorite fresh goat cheese; it will work just fine.

Preparation:
Make the soufflés: Butter and flour the bottom and side of each ½-cup ramekin, 8 in total. Add about 1 tablespoon of walnuts and arrange the ramekins on a baking tray. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over moderately low heat, whisk in the flour, and cook the roux, whisking, for 3 minutes. Add the milk in a stream, whisking, and boil the mixture over moderate heat, whisking, for 2 minutes, or until it is thick and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool slightly. Whisk in the yolks, 1 at a time, the goat cheese, the thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk the mixture until it is combined well. In another bowl, beat the whites with a pinch of salt until they are frothy. Then, add the cream of tartar, and beat the whites just until they hold stiff peaks. Whisk one third of the whites into the cheese mixture and fold in the remaining whites gently but thoroughly. Divide the soufflé mixture among the ramekins, sprinkle each soufflé with about 1 ½ teaspoons of the remaining walnuts, and bake the soufflés in the upper third of a preheated 400°F oven for 20 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden. Transfer a ramekin to each plate and serve the soufflés immediately.
Make the salad while the soufflés are baking: In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, the mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the oils in a stream, whisking, and whisk the dressing until it is emulsified. In a bowl, toss the watercress and the frisée with the dressing and divide the salad among 8 plates.
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French Mushrooms Omelet

Ingredients:
3 free range eggs
2 tablespoons cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
½ tablespoon butter
½ cup sliced sautéed mushrooms persillade

Description:
Don't be intimidated by omelettes. After you make a couple of these, you will be a pro and will create some interesting fillings of your own.

Preparation:
Combine the eggs with the cream, pepper, and salt, and beat lightly. In your favorite omelet pan, melt the butter. Pour the eggs into the pan. Scatter your mushrooms fillings on the eggs, in the center. As the eggs set on the outer edges of the pan, use a fork (or a wooden spatula if you are using a non stick pan) and draw them toward the center of the pan. Repeat and shake the pan to allow the uncooked liquid to set and cook. Repeat until the egg almost forms a large pancake. With a spatula, lift up and fold. When the omelet sets, slide it onto a serving dish; fold a second time and roll the omelet on the serving plate. Serve immediately.
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Eggs en Cocotte with Morel Cream Sauce

Ingredients:
1 ounce butter
3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
½ oz dried morels, reconstitute and cut into ¼ inch pieces
1 medium Portobello mushroom, dark-gilled removed and diced
A few grates of nutmeg
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
½ cup dry white wine
1/ 4 cup Crème fraîche or whipping cream
4 large, very fresh eggs

Description:
For this recipe you will need six ramekins with a base diameter of 3 inches, well buttered, and a baking tin measuring 11 x 8 x 1.5 inches deep.

Preparation:
Start by soaking the morels about 20 minutes ahead of time. Place them in a bowl with ½ cup boiling water and leave them aside to soak. After that, strain them in a sieve and squeeze them to get rid of any surplus water and reserve the soaking water.
Heat the butter in a small saucepan. When it starts to foam, add the chopped shallots, morels, Portobello, salt, pepper and nutmeg and sweat on low heat. Let cook very gently, without a lid, for 3 to 6 minutes stirring with a wooden spoon. Deglaze white wine and morel water drain through a fine sieve and reduce liquid by half. Add the cream and reduce by half again or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
All this can be prepared in advance, but when you're ready to cook the eggs, start by pre-heating the oven to 350 F and boil a kettle. Break an egg into individual buttered ramekins, place the ramekins in the baking tin, pop the tin on the centre shelf of the oven and add enough boiling water to the tin to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Now let the eggs bake for 10 minutes if you like them soft and runny or until the white become fully cooked and yolks runny. Taste the morel cream and rectify the seasoning if necessary. Ladle 1 ounce of sauce on each egg and serve immediately. These are lovely served with slices of baguette bread and butter.
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Eggs Cocotte of Normandy with Tomato Fondue

Ingredients:
For the eggs cocotte:
16 eggs
2 tablespoons of butter
8 tablespoons of cream
½ cup of grated Gruyere
1 cup of baby shrimp
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Tomato fondue:
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 diced tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Description:
A classic recipe of this region, I personally prefer to substitute the mussels with baby shrimp.

Preparation:
Make the tomato fondue: Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until onion is very soft, about 4 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, until liquid is almost completely reduced. Add chopped parsley and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
For the eggs cocotte: Butter the inside of 8 ramekins. Break an egg into each ramekin, add a tablespoon of cream, season with salt and pepper and beat it with a fork. Add shrimp on top and sprinkle with grated cheese.
Cook in Bain Marie in hot oven at 450°F for about 8 minutes.
Serve immediately with fresh bread and a tablespoon of tomato fondue on the top.
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Eggs Aunt Jeannette

Ingredients:
6 hard-boiled eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter

Description:
This unusual, inexpensive country style dish shows how good and versatile something as simple as a hard-boiled egg can be. In Eggs Aunt Jeannette, the yolks are seasoned with garlic and parsley.

Preparation:
Cut the eggs in half crosswise at the widest point. Remove the yolks and push them through a food mill fitted with the small screen. Mix the sieved egg yolks with the milk, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. The mixture should be moist and hold together. Stuff the whites with the yolk mixture, reserving approximately 2 tablespoons for the sauce.
Heat the oil and butter in a skillet, preferably the nonstick type. When the oil and butter are hot and foaming, place the egg halves, stuffed side down, in the skillet. Fry on medium heat for about 2 minutes. They will brown beautifully on the stuffed side (egg whites do not brown well and get tough if cooked in the hot fat). Remove the eggs from the skillet and arrange them over the sauce in a platter or gratin dish.
Serve immediately with a French baguette.
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