Da Incredible, Edible Egg

An egg is proof that animals and their embryos were meant to be eaten. Fact: did you know that the pleats in a chef's toque (50) signifies that the person wearing the toque knows how to cook an egg 50 ways? You can thank me later for this useless trivia.

Back to the star. Cooking with eggs requires nothing more than a heat source and an idea. One of my favorite ways to cook them is en cocotte. Which is French for "in the bathtub with a bottle of wine". It is a very simple way of cooking. Butter the inside of a ramekin, maybe sprinkle in some bread crumbs, crack an egg in the ramekin (do not whisk, just leave it be), top with some cream, and bake at high temperature for little more than10 minutes.

This simple presentation lends itself to thousands of variations (use left over red gravy and top with parmesan, ham and bechamel, etc...). For this version, the explosion of flavors from Huevos serve as the guidepost. But all of them, when cooked properly, turn out firm whites with gooey yolks that are perfect for scooping up with some toasted bread. Or serve it alongside a nice salad for a different midweek lunch.

Eggs en Cocotte with Green Tomato Salsa and Mozzarella

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees.

Butter the inside of a ramekin. Crack an egg and place inside ramekin. On top of the egg carefully spoon a layer of your favorite green salsa. Then place on top some torn fresh mozzarella. Finally sprinkle some oregano on top and a healthy pour of olive oil.

Bake at 400 degrees for around 12 minutes. Digging in with your fork, you get this delicious, herbaceous cheese layer, then the spicy salsa, and finally a perfectly cooked runny egg.

Enjoy. And we will see you around the bend. Have a good Easter.