Easy Like Sunday Morning…

Renée has heard me say many times that I think eggs just may be the perfect food. For me, nothing satisfies my breakfast hunger like eggs. I love ‘em over easy, scrambled, in omelets, poached, soft boiled, hard boiled, in French toast, and any other way you can think to cook them. I could eat a dozen in one sitting. (Well, not anymore, but as a teenager, I can remember at least once my mom asking what had happened to the loaf of bread and dozen eggs she just bought. Answer: I had breakfast.)

I’m usually up before everyone else on Sunday mornings–usually to take Harley out and give him his breakfast–and since I’m already awake and the house is quiet, I like to use the time I have to myself to cook a thoughtful breakfast. That’s the best way I can describe it; I like to surprise the sleepyheads when they come down to find out what smells so good. This morning I made a sweet onion custard using the ramekins from the creme brulee set we received for Christmas from Ali’s sister, Elizabeth. This fast and easy dish is a tasty diversion from the eggs you might usually make for breakfast.

This dish uses steam to cook the egg mixture, which isn’t the cooking method that leaps to mind when you think “breakfast eggs”, but it’s fast and effective. I used one of those expandable steamers that look like a mini satellite dish. I’ve owned bamboo steamers in the past but always found they left a distinct flavor in the steamed food, plus they are hard to clean well. If you don’t have one of these metal steamers, you can use a metal colander that fits inside a large pot or even a pie plate on top of another upside down pie plate and sit the ramekins on top.

Here’s what else you’ll need:

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, stock, vinegar, salt and pepper until blended. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a sauté pan, then add the onions and cook, stirring constantly, until they are soft and brown. Divide the cooked onions into four ramekins. Then pour the egg mixture over the onions making sure to go short on the first pass so you can evenly distribute the eggs. Cover each ramekin tightly with plastic wrap then aluminum foil.

You don’t need a lot of water to cook effectively with steam; a cup or two will produce enough steam to do the job. Place the ramekins on top of the steamer, cover the pot and allow to cook at a low boil for 12 to 15 minutes. The custard should be set, but not firm. (It should still jiggle when shaken, but not be watery.) If you don’t want to eyeball it, you can test for doneness by inserting a thin knife halfway between the center and the outer rim. If the knife comes out clean, it’s done.

The sweetness of the onions really came through and the custard was light and creamy. If I’d have had some bacon on hand (I know, how could I NOT have bacon on hand!), I would have crumbled some crispy bacon bits on top. Add some fresh herbs, a little garlic, or some diced potatoes if you like.

As it was, this great change of pace for breakfast was easy and delicious!

Tagged as: custard, Egg, kosher salt, Onion, ramekin, Stock, vinegar, water