Oeufs en cocotte

Oeuf en cocotte with toasted soldiers

Oeufs en cocotte.  Now this translates to eggs in pots basically, but I prefer to think of it as posh eggs and soldiers.

This is so quick and easy and can be a real treat for a light meal.

You will need:

150g creme fraiche
salt and pepper
nutmeg
2 eggs
1 tomato, chopped into small cubes (optional)

(Serves 2)

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas4.
2. Season the creme fraiche with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg to taste.
3. Place a heaped tablespoon of creme fraiche at the bottom of each ramekin, followed by a layer of the chopped up tomato (if using).
4. Crack an egg on top, and then finish with one more table spoon of the creme fraiche.
5. Place the ramekins in a deep baking dish and pour enough warm water into the dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, before carefully removing from the oven and serving with some sliced bread.

I love this recipe because it is so easy to adapt to your own tastes, bechamel can be used in place of the creme fraiche, and instead of tomato, you could use pieces of ham, mushroom or even smoked salmon and spinach for a real treat.  If you do not like nutmeg you could also replace this with tobasco for a spicy twist, or use some fresh herbs.  There is something for everyone.

There really is something satisfying about dipping bread into eggs – yummy!

What to do with a Brussel Sprout?!

Brussels with chicken, bacon, leek and a cheesy mustard sauce

Brussel the sprout gets a bad time of it really, he only comes out once a year and even when he’s popular no one really likes him, or knows what to do with him!

Well Brussel sprouts are amazingly good for you, low in GI, excellent Vitamin C, ani-oxidants to protect from cancers and they are also high in Iron.  A mighty punch of goodness from a small little veggie, have a check here if you want to read more.

So apart from boiling them to taste like mush what can you do with them?  How about:

Chicken, bacon, brussels and leeks in a cheesy mustard sauce!

This is something I made up from various other recipes but is lovely because it softens the flavour of the brussels to complement the other ingredients – so you can put loads in!

What you need: (serves 6)

3 Chicken breasts
packet of Brussel sprouts
1 leek
4 rashers of streaky bacon
milk
creme fraiche
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 handfuls of grated cheddar
knob of butter
2 tbsp of plain flour

(Serves 3 as a main)

1. Chop up the chicken into strips and lightly brown off in a frying pan with a little oil.
2. Chop up the bacon into small strips and also fry off until lightly brown.
3. Cut the hard ends of the brussels and put into a large roasting tray, chop up the leek into 1cm sized chunks and put into the tray along with the chicken and bacon.
4. For the sauce, on a low heat, melt a knob of butter into a saucepan and then mix in the flour to form a paste.
5. Pour in 300ml of milk and stir until the paste dissolves, do not let it boil.
6. Stir in 3tbsp of creme fraiche, the mustard and the grated cheese and stir until it is smooth and has thickened slightly.
7. Pour the sauce all over the roasting tray, season.  If it doesn’t cover it all then add a cup of hot water (it will not make it too runny) and place in the oven on a middle shelf for 30mins at 200C.

The result should be a nice brussel sprout bake.

Brussel Bake

Tiny pasta with mint, peas and bacon

Mint, pea and bacon conchigliette

Conchigliette!! = Teeny tiny pasta shells which are by far the cutest pasta I have ever seen!

To be honest I just fancied a change from my usual tomato based sauces for pasta, and other than carbonara, which is hugely calorific, I was lacking inspiration.  Jamie Oliver gave me a hand with suggesting this in his Ministry of Food book.

Simples, you need:

200g of conchigliette pasta
medium bunch of mint
75g grated parmesan
4 slices of smoked bacon
150g of frozen peas
2 tbsp creme fraiche
2 tbsp lemon juice

1. Boil up the pasta for about 10 mins or until it is cooked.
2. In a large frying pan add the bacon (chopped into thin slices) until lightly golden, then add the chopped mint, frozen peas and creme fraiche.  Add the lemon juice, 2 tbsp of the water from your pasta and let it cook for a few minutes until the peas soften.
3. Drain the pasta and add to the pan, stirring everything in together.
4. Add the grated parmesan and serve!

This makes enough for 2 pasta fest dinners or 4 civillised ones if you have it with salad.

Easy ‘pea’sy! haha