cream – Oven Love

Baked Eggs with Spinach and Bacon

Natalie — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:28:41 +0000

We like eggs.

You might already know that. (The backyard chickens are a dead giveaway, no?)

Since we’re moving, we said our goodbyes to the chickies a few weeks ago and they moved in with our friends across town. We no longer have eggs 24/7, which feels really weird. And it means I have to BUY eggs, just like everyone else. Not only do I have to buy them, but I have to buy them in flats (2 1/2 doz) instead of dozens because we can seriously tear. up. some. eggs.

Sometimes I get two flats at a time. And they disappear. Because we really like eggs.

My personal preference is a runny yolk, but not too runny. I like it where it just oozes slowly down your plate and you can dip stuff into it. YUM. Baked eggs are a perfect way to get my fix in this department (although I cooked them just a bit harder than I like in the ones pictured).

You can’t see it too well in the photos, but there’s spinach and bacon hiding underneath those eggs. An awesome surprise to find at the bottom of your breakfast dish. Or lunch or dinner.. or brunch, or midnight snack.

Eggs for President!

One of these dishes was filling enough for one person, but if you’re serving it alongside something else, I’d suggest splitting it up into 4 smaller ramekins. Add some toast/fruit/yogurt/salad and you can spread that meal a little further.

And let’s not forget to mention the cheese. I used raw cheddar, but I think fontina, havarti (GAPS-friendly), parmesan or gruyere would all be excellent choices. You can also skip the cheese entirely, if that’s your thing. The eggs can hold their own.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Baked Eggs with Spinach and Bacon

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

4 slices of bacon
4 cups fresh spinach
1 cup of shredded cheese (I chose raw cheddar)
4 eggs
¼ cup heavy cream or coconut milk (optional)
chopped fresh parsley, for serving

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and butter 2-4 small oven-safe dishes.
In a hot skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Set aside. In the same skillet, wilt the fresh spinach.
Fill the dishes with the spinach, then top with the bacon (I suggest crumbling the bacon a bit- I left mine in small strips and I would have rather had it crumbled or chopped). Add a bit of the cheese (reserving some to top the eggs), then add the eggs on top of that. Pour a bit of cream on top of the eggs, then add the remaining cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on how set you like your egg yolks. I would check them around 10 minutes (especially if you like your eggs runny).
Top with the parsley and serve immediately.

Cauliflower and Roasted Garlic Soup

Natalie — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:18:00 +0000

[This post has been updated from the Oven Love archives.]

This soup is exceptional.

Exceptional!

It’s so good that every fall for the last four years, we’ve remembered it and had to have it again. You know how rare it is for me to make a recipe twice.. so I think this is going to be a Herr family favorite.

There is nothing more satisfying than a creamy soup on a cool night, am I right? The roasted garlic in this thing is no joke- so, so good- do not skip that step! If it weren’t for the garlic breath, I would eat a head of roasted garlic every. single. day. (TMI?)

The soup is filling as a meal all it’s own, but makes a great starter for a holiday spread as well. And I just love the roasted cauliflower florets on top with their cheesy, herbaceous flavor. Great presentation for company, but also a perfect supper to share with your family.

Cauliflower and Roasted Garlic Soup

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

via Martha Stewart Recipes serves 10-12 This recipe is for a crowd (think holidays)- but can be easily halved and it’s freezable, too.

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Soup

Serves: 12

Ingredients

3 heads garlic
salt and pepper
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
3 white onions, peeled and thinly sliced
4 heads cauliflower, 3 cored and thinly sliced and 1 broken into florets
8 sprigs thyme, tied with twine, plus one tablespoon chopped (you can sub. 1T dried thyme)
1 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken stock, plus more to thin, if desired
2 cups heavy cream, plus more to thin, if desired
2½ cups plus 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut off the tops of garlic heads. Place each on a piece of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap tightly in foil, and bake until garlic is very soft, about an hour. Let cool. Squeeze garlic from peel; set aside. Increase oven to 350 degrees.
Heat ¼ cup olive oil in a large pot over medium low heat. Add onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until soft but not browned. Stir in sliced cauliflower, thyme and wine. Simmer until wine is reduced by half. Add stock, bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove cover and simmer until cauliflower is soft, about 15 minutes more. Remove from the heat.
Remove thyme bundle and stir in cream and 2½ cups Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in garlic. Puree with a stick blender or in batches until smooth. Thin with more stock or cream, if desired. Return to pot; keep warm on low heat.
Heat remaining ¼ cup olive oil over high heat in a saute pan until almost smoking. Add cauliflower florets, stirring until browned. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer pan to oven and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in thyme, parsley and remaining 3 tablespoons Parmesan. To serve; ladle soup into bowls and garnish with cauliflower florets.

Maple Syrup Scones

Natalie — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:58:00 +0000

I have two sweet treats to end up our month of brunching- Maple Sugar Scones today and Cinnamon Sugar Baked Doughnuts tomorrow. Perfect brunch fare, and both inspired by Heidi at 101 Cookbooks. She and I are totally on the same wavelength!

I’ve made maple pecan scones before, which were great, but I was looking for something a little healthier this time. The original scones were made with white flour, white sugar and maple extract. These are made with whole wheat pastry flour and pure maple syrup as the only sweetener.

Honestly, I didn’t miss the white flour or the white sugar. I loved the taste of the real maple sugar and the crunch of that natural turbinado sugar on top. These are perfect with a little sweet cream butter spread on top while they’re still warm. These would work for a nice ladies’ lunch, snack or tea time, too. Yum, yum, yum.

These went very quickly in our house. If you have more than two people, I would suggest doubling the recipe. You can also make an extra batch, shape them, freeze them (before you add the egg wash and sugar) and then pop them in the oven straight from the freezer if you really want scones in a hurry.

So good!

Maple Syrup Scones

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

35 mins

only slightly adapted from 101 Cookbooks- http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/maple-syrup-scones-recipe.html

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Breakfast

Serves: 9

Ingredients

¼ cup real, good quality maple syrup
6 tablespoons milk or cream (I used half milk and half cream)
2¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour (sub all-purpose or half white/half wheat if you can’t find it)
½ cup rolled oats
1½ tablespoons baking powder
½ teaspoon fine grain salt
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 egg, lightly beaten
large-grain sugar (for example: turbinado) for sprinkling

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees, rack in the top ⅓. Line one baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together the maple syrup and milk in a small cup, and set aside. Combine the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Using a food processor, cut the butter into the flour mixture, pulsing until it resembles little pebbles in a beach of sandy flour (about 20 quick pulses). You can also cut the butter into the flour using a knife and fork, or smushing it through your thumb and fingertips. Now add the maple syrup milk. Pulse (or mix) until the dough just comes together – don’t over mix. If the batter is too dry add more cream a bit at a time -you want it to hold together w/o being crumbly.
Turn out onto a floured surface, kneed once or twice, just enough to bring the dough together. Now arrange the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Trim the edges and slice the dough into nine equal-sized squares. Arrange the scones next to one another on the prepared baking sheet – ¼-inch distance between each of them. Brush generously with the egg wash and sprinkle with the large-grain sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden along the bottom and tops.

Sweet & Savory French Toast BLT

Natalie — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:57:00 +0000

I have a dream.

That dream is to one day work for Everyday Food. How do they come up with great ideas like a French Toast BLT? It’s like they’re reading my mind.

Please, someone from Everyday Food, hire me! I will work for free (food).

How genius is a French Toast BLT? I used to think BLTs were the worst menu choice of all time (mayo, ugh), but I have since changed my tune. We actually eat a lot of BLTs around here, thanks to the grass-fed half hog we have in the freezer. Eating good bacon is a full-time job, people (until I work for EDF).

So you’d think that the french toast is the sweet and the bacon is the savory, right? Wrong. It’s a trick! The french toast has a savory coating with fresh parsley and that glossy bacon you’re drooling at is candied with brown sugar. This BLT will blow your mind, I’m sure of it.

I have about a million more brunch ideas but so little time to squeeze them in! I told hubs today that we will be eating a brunch dish for every meal for the next week, and since he’s the best husband in the world, he has no qualms. And FYI- I am determined to make donuts before the month is out, so buckle up, lovies. More brunch on the way!

Sweet & Savory French Toast BLT

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

30 mins

inspired by Everyday Food (May 2010)

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch

Serves: 4

Ingredients

8 slices thick cut bacon
¼ cup brown sugar or maple syrup (you might not use it all)
4 slices thick cut crusty bread (have an extra slice or two on hand if you want to soak up the extra)
4 eggs, lightly beaten
¾ cup cream
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
salt, pepper and fresh nutmeg to taste
1-2 tablespoons butter
4 large lettuce leaves (or however much lettuce you’re into)
8 tomato slices

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375. Place bacon on a rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with brown sugar. Cook until golden, about 15 minutes, rotating half-way through.
Meanwhile, in a large, shallow baking dish, whisk eggs, cream and parsley. Add salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg to taste. Lay bread in a single layer in the egg mixture and soak 3-5 minutes, flipping the slices to fully coat.
Heat a large skillet over medium and add butter. When butter begins to sizzle, add bread and cook until golden and crisp at the edges, about 3 minutes per side.
To serve, layer lettuce, tomato and bacon on each slice of toast and sprinkle with extra parsley.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Natalie — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:59:00 +0000

Remember Monday? When I couldn’t deliver my Valentine’s Day gift to you?

So lame. You deserve better.

You deserve strawberry ice cream.

Can we still be valentines?

Good. Moving on.

You know what’s even better than making this ice cream for your sweetheart on VDay? Making it for them a week later. Then, not only do they know you love them, but they know you still love them, a week later! Excellent logic.

If you’ve ever made ice cream at home, this will be simple for you. If you haven’t, come to my house and I’ll teach you. You’ll need an ice cream maker and some gumption.

It’s a basic vanilla base, with strawberry puree added in just before processing. The hardest part is making sure you don’t curdle the eggs- correct tempering takes care of that. Tempering means slowly adding a hot liquid to a cooler one, to bring them to the same ‘temper’-ature. Get it?

This would be such a sweet treat to enjoy on a beautiful day like today.

Sweet, strawberry goodness.

Tell your sweetheart you love them again. It never gets old.

(Then come to my house and eat strawberry ice cream.)

Strawberry Ice Cream

Prep time

12 hours

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

12 hours 30 mins

adapted from Tyler Florence- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/vanilla-bean-ice-cream-base-recipe/index.html

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2½ cups heavy cream
1¼ cups whole milk
pinch salt
¾ cup sugar
½ vanilla bean
6 large egg yolks
1 cup strawberry puree, cold*

Instructions

Combine the cream, milk, salt, and ½ cup of the sugar in a large pot. Split the ½ vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a paring knife; add them to the pot and toss in the pods for added flavor. Place the cream mixture over medium heat, and bring up to a simmer; stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Ideally, the temperature should reach 175 degrees F (just below scalding) for a smooth-textured ice cream; this should take about 15 minutes. Shut off the heat, cover the pot, and allow the cream mixture to steep for 15 minutes to further infuse the vanilla flavor.
In the meantime, combine the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and blend lightly with a wire whisk. Gradually add the remaining sugar and continue to whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the eggs are thick and pale yellow; about 5 minutes.
Using a large ladle or measuring cup, temper the eggs by gradually whisking in half of the hot cream mixture. Return this back to the rest of the cream in the saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir constantly until the custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon when you run your finger across it, about 10 to 12 minutes. Do not let it boil.
Pour the custard through a fine strainer into a bowl and chill completely in an ice bath or in the fridge. Ideally, let the ice cream base “age” overnight in the refrigerator before churning in an ice cream maker, but just make sure the base is cold. Before processing, stir in the cold strawberry puree. Process in an ice cream maker and enjoy.
*To make strawberry puree using frozen strawberries: Put frozen strawberries in a strainer over a bowl to thaw, letting the liquids drain. Process in a blender or food processor and strain again. Let chill before adding to the ice cream base. (You can do the same with fresh strawberries, there’s just no draining involved.)