Oeuf En Cocotte

I was playing around on the web looking at old PBS videos and came across a very cool technique. It was featured on an episode of "The French Chef" with Julia Child. The dish is called oeuf en cocotte. The word "oeuf" of course is French for "egg", but I had to look up the word "cocotte" in the French dictionary to satisfy my curiosity. Here is what I found:

Definitions of cocotte on the Web:

• prostitute: a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money

• a small casserole in which individual portions can be cooked and serve

I assume the second definition is what I was looking for. It is an egg along with various ingredients all cooked in a ramekin. The method is to cook the ramekin in a bain-marie. I received a nice set of Le Creuset mini-ramekins for Christmas that I have been itching to use. Here was my opportunity. There is something elegant and sensous about cooking food and serving it in the same individual dish. 

Last night, I had a guest over for dinner  who arrived too hungry to be able to wait for dinner, so I made the above pictured oeuf en cocotte as an impromptu appetizer while I cooked our dinner. Here's how I made it:

Ingredients for 1 serving:
-1 egg
-some butter
-2 mushrooms, finely chopped
-1 TBS Creme fraiche
-1 TBS grated cheese such a parmesan
-1 tsp chives, finely chopped
-1 tsp parsley, finely chopped
-salt & pepper

Direction:
-Preheat oven to 350
-boil enough water to fill an oven proof pan 1/2 way up the side of the ramekin
-In a saute pan, saute mushrooms in some butter. Season 
with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Set 
aside.
-fill the bain-marie pan with the boiling water
-butter the inside of a ramekin
-place sauteed mushrooms in the ramekin
-add the creme fraiche
-place ramekin in the pan
-allow a few minutes for the ramekin to warm
-break the egg in to the ramekin
-top with a sliver of butter
-season with salt & pepper
-add grated cheese
-place in oven and heat until the egg white sets and the yolk is the way you like it. You'll know by jiggling the pan. This should take 10-15 minutes.
-remove the ramekin with some tongs and allow to cool for a few minutes
-add the chives as garnish and serve.

This recipe can be varied in many ways with your imagination as the limit. You can use ham instead of the mushrooms, or sauteed vegetables, or salmon. The herbs can be whatever you prefer like basil, tarragon, or chervil. The cheese can be changed from parmesan to gruyere. You get the point. The choices are almost infinite because eggs are compatible with so many ingredients. It's an extremely simple and versatile method of presenting an egg that elevates it from the the every day pedestrian egg on a plate.