Friday, July 11, 2014

Rosie Prepares Oeufs Mollet À La Florentine.

 
 I love a good breakfast and I've come across a terrific one.
Mr. Hawthorne and I were watching Jacques Pepin the other day
and Pepin was preparing Oeufs Mollet À La Florentine.
That would be soft eggs and spinach to you and me.

I'm making this for Sunday breakfast.

 In addition to the spinach, 
I threw in some sautéed baby bella mushrooms
and topped it all with a lovely Mornay sauce and grated Parmesan.
And I have it ready for you to prepare this weekend
so you can enjoy a nice, leisurely exceptional breakfast.

 What a way to start the day!
This is a power breakfast.

 For two people,
I used a half a pound of spinach, 4 eggs,
4 baby bella mushrooms, and a Mornay sauce.
 I had Mornay sauce leftover.
And that's a very good thing.
I'm thinking about Mornay Moreovers in the form of a soufflé.

 Spinach
1/2 pound spinach
2 TB unsalted butter
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Bring a couple of inches of salted water to a boil.
Drop spinach in boiling water.
Boil, covered, 1 minute, until wilted.
Drain in colander and refresh under cold water
to stop the cooking and keep the green.
Drain, squeezing out as much water as you can.
Coarsely chop the spinach

Melt the butter over medium high heat.
When melted, add the spinach, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Mix well, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Arrange the spinach in a buttered ovenproof dish.

Mushrooms
4 baby bellas, sliced
1 TB unsalted butter
Melt butter over medium high heat.
Add mushrooms, tossing until nicely seared.
Spread over top of spinach.

    Oeufs Mollet AKA Soft Eggs
In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil.
With a pushpin, prick a small hole
 in the larger end of each egg.
This keeps them from cracking while cooking.
You want the eggs to keep their figures.
Gently lower the eggs into the boiling water,
and let the water come up to a simmer.
Cook about 6 minutes for extra large eggs,
less for smaller eggs.
Pour water out and shake the pan to crack the shells.
Cool completely.
Gently shell the eggs under cold running water.
Place eggs on top of mushrooms.

 Mornay Sauce
1 TB unsalted butter
1 TB flour
1/4 cup skim milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 TB grated Gruyère cheese
1 large egg yolk
2 TB freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in small saucepan.  
Stir in flour and cook, whisking, until smooth,
for about a minute or so, until mixture gets frothy.
Slowly add in the milk and cream, whisking constantly,
until mixture thickens.
Stir in the salt and pepper and Gruyère cheese
and continue cooking another minute.
Add in the yolk, whisking hard and fast.
Remove from heat.

  Ladle some of the Mornay sauce over the eggs.
Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

You will have leftover Mornay sauce.
I had 2/3 cup left.
And just wait to see what I did with it!

 Place dishes under a hot broiler
for 5-6 minutes, or until sauce and cheese is lightly browned.

 Both Mr. Hawthorne and I loved this.
We will want this again!
 Cheesy, gooey, yolky.
Doesn't get much better than this!
A keeper!

ETA:  I just discovered how to take this up a notch.
I made it again for Saturday morning breakfast
and I had some clementines.
Slice and juice over top of the sauce.
It's a whole new ballgame!

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