Baked Eggs: repost from Paris, 2010

A post from Paris, 2010

It's been almost two years since my summer in Paris with my daughter Isabella. I've been going through my blog from our trip and thought it would be nice to feature some of the posts. Hope you enjoy it.

This picture does not do the dishI had enough justice.

Baked eggs, have become an interest of mine in the recent past, but I have not had the opportunity to make them. I was pleased to see this traditional version offered on the menu across the plaza from Notre Dame, right next door to Shakespeare & Co bookshop. After all those steps, I really wanted to eat (not really that hard to climb, but any excuse for a big meal, I always say).

Isabella was going to order this, but decided on scrambled eggs with bacon as a safer bet. Probably good, this dish had cream, 6 eggs (no kidding) and maybe a half pound of bacon. I thought it was going to come in a small ramekin, but take a look at that pot!

Oh, I forgot to mention, it also had 3 to 4 good sized yellow potatoes sliced amongst the goodness. I ate almost the whole thing. It was so good.

When I get home, I will recreate this dish every now and then. Not too often, though, or I will have the cholesterol police knockin’ on my door.

I've found this Baked Eggs recipe on epicurious.com for you to try yourselves at home.

The Perfect Breakfast

I have found a breakfast that Ms Iz loves: the Egg Sandwich.

You'd think I would have tried this with her a long time ago, but it just occurred to me two weeks ago that she'd love just a plain omelet, cooked very thin, sandwiched between toasted white bread. She added ketchup (which she now says is good on everything, including sauteed mushrooms).

For me, I made a habanero chicken sausage alongside my eggs. No bread for me. I've been staying away from gluten (and a whole bunch of other stuff), so stick to proteins, greens, fruits and nuts these days.

Ms Iz has been hilarious about my new(ish) dietary restrictions, stating, that I basically don't eat anything anymore. She's onto something. The foods not-on-the-list any longer include: gluten, dairy, soy, alcohol, caffeine, red meat.

Let me be clear, all dairy except for Butter is off the list (yes, I meant to give butter an uppercase B, it's that important to me). I have not replaced any of the dairy or meat with substitutes, and since there is nothing that compares to real butter, I am still eating it.

Soy is present in so many things, it's next to impossible to eliminate it, especially with my love of all foods Asian. But, I try very hard not to eat too much of it.

I've been eating like this since October, 2011 (with a renewed commitment this past March) and it truly makes me feel better. I'm not anti any foods (except cilantro, blue cheese and lamb), but for me this new way of eating is working out. That's not to say I don't give in and eat the things I love when they are presented to me, I've just adjusted the way I cook on a day-to-day basis to exclude most of these ingredients.

And so, new types of recipes to follow, but let me tell you, they are all delicious and still quite decadent!

Back from Paris

It has been a good four months since I've posted, and I apologize for my absence. But, little Ms. Iz and I went to Paris for five wonderful weeks this summer which took a lot of prep beforehand and a bunch of reorientation afterward. And, so, now that back-to-school mania has calmed down, I am back.

I did chronicle our trip on a separate blog, which you can access here  at Summer Jet Setter. There are a few days missing on the end of the trip, but all of Paris is there in all it's glory.

To the left, you will see the most amazing Baked Egg dish I have ever experienced.  We managed a lot of eating in Paris, but this was the best for me. Half a dozen eggs, half a pound of bacon, some cream and lots of potatoes, and you have yourself a fabulous dish. The pan it was cooked in was brought to the table. I managed to eat almost the whole thing myself, but in hindsight, I wonder if this was meant for more than one person.

My good friend Fred went to Paris a few weeks after me. Before he left, he asked for explicit instructions on how to find the holy grail of baked eggs. I gave him the info, he missed the restaurant several times, finally found it, and sent me a lovely picture of his meal. Worth going half way around the world for these eggs, we both agreed.

Here is a recipe from Epicurious for baked eggs in ham crisps. I have not made it, but wanted to include at least a guide for how it's done.

Paris was extraordinary and I am very much prepared for the new school year and all that lay ahead!!