frilly eggs, flamenco-style ::::
Ramekin. Commit that to memory. Ramekin.
I just spent the last 10 minutes trying to remember what that ovenproof dish was called. I started getting worried, gosh, I can’t remember the name of a dish. What next? My the name of my cat? My kids?? I am so sleep deprived. Still up with the snuggly baby every night. The three-year-old still talks in her sleep and whines for Mom or Dad at 3AM. After years of being a terrible sleeper, I now have two of my own to coax into, and keep in, bed.
All the more reason to try to dream a little, even with fragmented sleep. I often dream of food. At the start of the weekend, I awaken to recipes like tickertapes in my mind. Saturday mornings are when we try to have breakfast as a family, these recipes falling from my bleary sleep into the kitchen for creation. After my Grubby alarm clock awakens, thus awakening me, Peach, and Eat, we all rub our crusty eyes (except for Grub, who has sufficiently rubbed all crust and drool all over his face already), pad downstairs, and begin to cook. Or rather, I cook, Eat juggles the kids, then we switch, and it takes ten times longer to get anything done.
There are definitely favorites in our weekend breakfast repetoire: popovers (this post will come eventually), hearty oatmeal pancakes (another post, yet to come), or bacon and eggs. Then I discovered a new spin on eggs: Eggs Flamenco. They just sounded so, well, sexy. The flamenco garb dressing the eggs is the highlight: the ruffles of tomatoes, the spicy Spanish chorizo, the veil of Manchego cheese, and the smoky, sultry pimenton. These are not your normal brunch eggs. Sexy in the morning with morning breath and greasy hair? Who knew.
These are well suited for a brunch or even a nice dinner, the tomatoes not making it too heavy and the eggs making it hearty and satisfying. I felt the standard canned tomatoes I used not sweet enough. I’d use a teaspoon of sugar next time or delve into the beauty of the sweet San Marzano tomatoes. Additionally, the hills and valleys of the eggs’ tomato bed made an unlevel surface for my eggs and the yolks wandered over to the dish edges, looking like a pair of wandering yellow eyes and creating uneven cooking. I also felt the cheese was well balanced overall but a little disappointed that I only saw the egg yolks peeping out from the cheese rather than displaying their full yolk. I mean, this is supposed to be a little risque, and all that, right? Or did I forget something? Ramekin?
eggs flamenco
Author: story of a kitchen (adapted from anne burrell from the food network)
Recipe type: breakfast
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- Kosher salt
- 1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
- ½ cup (1/2-inch) diced Spanish chorizo
- ½ teaspoon pimenton (smoky paprika)
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped with their juice
- 4 eggs
- ⅓ cup finely grated aged manchego
- 1 tablespoon chopped green onions
- Special Equipment: 2 (6-inch wide) flat ovenproof dishes such as terra cotta cazuelas. I could not find cazuelas and used 10-ounce ramekins. I asked for cazuelas at a well-known kitchen store and they had NO idea what I was talking about! I suggest a Latin market visit would help track these down.
Instructions
- Coat a saucepan with olive oil, add the onions and bring to a medium heat. Season the onions with salt and sweat for 7 to 8 minutes or until the onions are soft.
- Add the garlic and cook for 2 to 3 more minutes. Add the chorizo and pimenton and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and season with salt. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust, if needed.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Oil the cazuelas or ramekins. Fill each dish about halfway with the tomato sauce.* Break 2 eggs into each dish and sprinkle with grated cheese. Place the cazuelas into the preheated oven and bake 8-14 minutes.**
- When the eggs are done, sprinkle with green onions and serve. Serves 2 (or 3), depending on the size of your dishes.
Notes
* Even though I half filled my dishes with tomato sauce, I still had enough for another. It was absolutely imperative that I make another serving with another two eggs and cheesiness. And eat it. Right. Then.
** Eight minutes will give you set egg whites with runny yolks. I baked mine for 14 minutes and ended up with solid but translucent yolks and well-set whites, except for the middle of the dish. My tomatoes created lots of hills and valleys in the dish with the coarse chop. You may want to dice your tomatoes more finely if you want a flatter canvas for the eggs to ensure a more even cook time.
