Happy Wednesday Friends!
This week has been a rough one. I threw out my back at the start of the week so I have been pretty much useless. One thing that will always cheer me up? Brunch! And not just brunch…brunch in french!
First, let’s talk about a french cooking staple: Crème fraîche
Not only is it easy to make, it adds a lot of luxury to a dish. It’s similar to a sour cream. Here’s how you make it!
This absolutely fabulous recipe is from the cookbook “Dinner in French” but makes the most perfect brunch addition. It looks hard but its just as easy as it is fancy. The recipe in the book calls for a Tarragon cream but I was unable to find it so I substituted with basil. I also cut down the recipe from four to two.
“French Baked Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Basil Cream”
what you need:
what you do:
Heat the oven to 400 degrees and brush two ramekins with butter and place them on a baking sheet.
Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Stir in leeks and 1/4 tsp salt and cook until very soft, around 15 minutes, reduce the heat if need be. Don’t let them brown just become golden.
Stir in three tbsp of cream, the crème fraîche, basil, and lemon zest, and remove from heat. Then, divide mixture among the ramekins.
Crack two eggs into each ramekin and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Float one tbsp of remaining cream on top of each one and bake until yolks are still runny, about 17 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Top each ramekin with salmon and if you’d like capers but I left those out. Serve with bread or toast.
I was so excited to make this dish when I saw it that I only made it to page 16 in this fabulous cookbook. Brunch isn’t brunch without smoked salmon, right?
