Oeufs cocotte can be simple, refined, original, creative, or whatever you want them to be. No one can resist the charm of those more contemporary “oeufs cocotte“. The traditional oeufs cocotte were more sober and simple, but we have reinvented them with new ingredients. There so many ways to prepare those unctuous little eggs, this is one version among so many others. They make great appetizers when you have some guests who most of the time enjoy their little individual pot, they’re fun to make, to serve and to eat. So the fun is tripled.

Oeufs cocotte are very easy to prepare, you can prepare the ingredients in advance and assemble them at the last minute. The most difficult trick is the perfect cooking of the eggs. Some rules will allow you to master the technique of a perfect oeuf cocotte. Prepare a double boiler (bain marie) in a pre-heated oven so that when you place the eggs, the water will be slightly boiling. The cooking time of oeufs cocotte can vary, depending on the oven and the size of the eggs. Don’t wait to remove the eggs until the whites are cooked, remove them when they’re still runny. If you take them out when they’re just perfect, they will harden after being served.

In French cocotte means “hen“in slang, and is sometimes used as a endearing word for kids, allez ma cocotte viens voir mamie.

The cream of zucchini and artichokes combine two great textures and flavors together, the sundried tomatoes give it a pleasant Italian twist. Don’t forget the “mouillettes” with your oeuf cocotte, mouillettes are little sticks of bread to dip in the yolk! You cannot have oeuf cocotte sans mouillettes!

Ingredients for 4

• 4 zucchini, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 tbs fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• about 16-20 baby artichokes
• 4 eggs
• 4 sundried tomatoes, diced
• 2 tbs white wine
• juice of one lemon
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Pre-heat oven at 375F. Place a double boiler (bain-marie) in the oven and let the water slightly boil.

In a pan, heat olive oil, add onions, let them brown. Add zucchini and thyme. Cover with lid and cook at medium heat until tender, add salt and pepper. Let it cool and blend in a mixer to obtain a purée. Set aside.

Start trimming artichokes. Remove the hard leaves outside, then trim to top with a knife cutting the green and hard part of the leaves. Fill a large bowl with water and lemon juice and place artichokes in it. The lemon juice will prevent artichokes from darkening.

In a pan, heat olive oil, add garlic and let it cook for a few seconds stirring. Drain artichokes and add to the pan, stir a one minute or so, then add white wine. Cover and cook at low heat until artichokes are tender, adjust with salt and pepper.

In a small ramequin, add cream of zucchini, then artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and top with an egg. Add fresh ground pepper.

Place the ramequins in the double boiler (bain-marie) and cook until the eggs whites are slightly runny, you will have to check occasionnally. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with parsley and serve with mouillettes (country bread taosted and cut in sticks). As an appetizer, it’s perfect with a small salad on the side.

After a little trip to New Orleans, I have to admit I was really looking forward to coming back to San Francisco, and I think I had legitimate reasons.

First of all the weather, it was incredibly hot and humid, then the food, it was even more incredibly greasy, very unhealthy (almost no vegetables) or the few ones served in restaurants were fried. “Fried” is the magic word in New Orleans. Actually I knew many Southern food dishes were fried but I was was not expecting it to such an extent. You can find dishes such as shrimp or crawfish étouffée but the poor seafood is swimming in the heavy brownish sauce and you end up not tasting the delicate flavor of seafood at all.  I certainly did not spend enough time to appreciate the great things about New Orleans or try the “other” cuisine, but I have to still talk about my experience, and unfortunately that was it.

Overall, it was quite an interesting experience and as any experience it enables you to really appreciate things better, you never know how much you like and miss something until you no longer have it.

One thing I appreciated so much was the hospitality of the people, everyone was just unbelievably charming, helpful and so polite. Quite a change from California.

As soon as I came back home, I had some pasta and seafood cravings, so to indulge myself, I made this delicious and flavorful pasta dish. Shrimps and fava beans mix beautifully together and the wholesomeness of the pasta combined with the other ingredients makes it a perfect lunch.

Ingredients for 2

• 5.3 ounces (150 g) whole wheat fettucine
• 1/2 shrimps
• 1/2 lb fava beans
• 2 tbs sundried tomatoes
• 2 tbs plain bread crumbs
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 pinch hot chili powder
• 1 tbs parsley, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Peel the shrimps and devein. Remove fava beans from pods and cook in boiling water for about 3 minutes, depending on the size of the beans ( if the beans are big, would need a little more cooking time). Drain the beans and remove the skin. Set aside.

Cook fettucine in boiling water for about 7 minutes or until al dente, do not over cook pasta.

Heat olive oil, add shrimps and cook for a few minutes, then add sundried tomatoes, salt and pepper. Stir well and add garlic, chili powder and bread crumbs. Cook until the bread crumbs turn brown.

Add cooked fettucine to the shrimps and fava bean mixture. Mix well all the ingredients and add parsley. Mix again fettucine and serve hot.