Totally Baked: Eggs

Eggs may be the single most perfect food. Scrambled, poached, hard-boiled, fried with bright runny yellows, as far as I'm concerned, it's aaaaall good. When I was in Paris six years ago (cough-yeah, I'm name dropping PARIS-cough cough), I had the most amazing eggs in this cafe my dad and I blearily stumbled into after spending our entire first day sleeping off jet lag. And despite my exhaustion, I still think about those eggs SIX years later. Their version came baked with buttery mushrooms folded into a soft eggy embrace. My version is a simple variation that will fancy up breakfast-for-dinner anytime you're feelin it. 

Warning: You will need ramekins!! Or some other 1-cup capacity oven-proof vessels to cook these things in. But trust me, it will be worth the (small) investment. 

Baked Eggs

4 large eggs
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh thyme, minced
4 Tbsp milk
butter for greasing

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease four 1-cup ramekins with butter. Pluck thyme leaves from thyme branches, discard naked thyme sticks. Mince thyme leaves and sprinkle inside greased ramekins. Divide minced garlic among the ramekins while you're at it. Gently crack 1 egg into each ramekin, keeping yolk intact. Drizzle 1 Tbsp milk over each egg. Season with salt and pepper. Bake eggs in oven (or toaster oven! if you don't want to heat up your whole kitchen) until whites are just set but yolks are still runny, 14-16 minutes. And remember! Eggs continue to cook once you take them off the heat, so be careful you don't overcook these bad boys.

Serve with toast for dipping in those sweet hot yolks! 
Also consider adding cooked crumbled bacon or buttery sauteed mushrooms or wilted spinach to the eggs pre-bake. The possibilities are almost endless!


- Cathleen 

Totally Baked: Coconut Banana Bread

After weeks of pining for some hot cooking action, I popped an agreeable Graham in his swing, set him up in the kitchen, and totally baked Coconut Banana Bread last week. I found this recipe on Popsugar by way of Pinterest and modified it somewhat, cutting back on the brown sugar, nixing the milk altogether, and replacing all-purpose flour with whole wheat. What resulted was a pretty dense, delicious, and even healthier version of this healthy recipe. One slice'll satisfy you all morning. Guaranteed. 

Coconut Banana Bread

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 egg whites

1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sweetened flaked coconut

spray of non-stick cooking oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a small mixing bowl. In another large mixing bowl, mash bananas, then mix in brown sugar, vanilla, egg whites, and oil until smooth. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until thoroughly combined. Then mix in yogurt, orange juice, and 1/2 cup coconut. Pour batter into oil-sprayed loaf pan and sprinkle with the remaining 2 Tbsp of coconut. Bake for 60 minutes until golden brown and toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Makes 16 slices at approx. 115 calories each. 

- Cathleen