Egg en Cocotte
Recipe for 6
This dish is special because it is centered on eggs which are inexpensive, yet it has rich flavor thanks to use of a sauce infused with flavor from lobster bodies (but not lobster meat); the best of two worlds and an ideal cold weather dish.
In France, this basic method of baked eggs is called oeufs en cocotte. You can bake eggs nestled in other foods such as rice, vegetables or sauces. These foods should be heated before the eggs are added for faster and even cooking.
The possibilities are endless. This one we are going to do uses sauteed spinach, tomato confit, wild mushrooms (Black Trumpet if in season) and a creamy brandied lobster sauce.
Ingredients:
Needed for the sauce:
- 2 lbs of lobster bodies
- 5 oz sliced shallots
- 2 large carrots peel and sliced
- 1 oz olive oil
- 1 bunch of tarragon
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 fresh bay leave or 1/3 dried one
- 3 oven dried tomatoes (See recipe below)
- ½ cup tomato paste
- 2 pints of cream
- 2 pints lobster stock . Follow a stock recipe (Can use water if desire)
- 1 cup brandy
- Heat up a stock pot or large sauce pan. Add oil. Put in your lobster bodies, get them nicely red.
- Turn heat down and add shallots and carrots. Sweat them for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and tomato confit. Cook for 5 minutes. Add brandy and the herbs. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add lobster stock and the cream. Cook for 45 minutes to an hour at a soft simmer. Check consistency and strain crushing the lobsters to extract all the flavors.
- Keep the sauce warm.
- 6 eggs room temperature
- 1 lb of wild mushrooms
- 1 /8 of a teaspoon fresh thyme
- 1 finely chopped shallot
- 1 Tsp butter
- 2 bunches of fresh clean spinach
- 6 pcs of tomato confit. Make them at the same time than the one for the sauce
- Sautee the spinach and drain.
- Sautee the mushrooms on high heat. Add shallots and thyme with a dash of butter when they are ready.
- Place some sauce on the bottom of your heat resistant jar. Add the spinach, tomato and mushrooms in the jar. Make sure all can be seen. Crack the egg in and bake the dish in a bain marie at 325 F for 9 minutes or until the egg is cooked the way you desire.
- Serve with some baguette toast points.
About David Bastide:
As Chef de Cuisine of Left Bank at Santana Row, David Bastide is responsible for managing the kitchen at our award-winning brasserie.
He plans and executes the seasonally changing menu under the direction of Chief Culinary Officer and Co-Propriétaire, Roland Passot. David was born and raised in the south of France, learning to cook quite literally at his Grandma's knee.
He moved to the United States when he was 17 years old and began working at L'Occitan, a French restaurant in Maine, where he was promoted to Chef de Cuisine after only 6 months.
David moved West and took on various projects, sharpening his skills in different cuisines and expanding his repertoire with Italian and Asian food. For over a decade, David was the Chef de Cuisine for Perdix, responsible for multiple properties including Venticello's and le Bistrot.
David joined the Left Bank family in October 2003, opening the San Mateo location with Chef Steve Tevere. In January, 2004, he was promoted to Chef de Cuisine at the Left Bank in Menlo Park and in 2005, he became the Executive Chef of Left Bank at Santana Row.
