Love for Food

I was awoken at four am by my mom. My mom said that she had to go to Paris, and that I could come too. The only caveat was that we had to leave right now. I rushed up to pack my things. While I was packing, I began day dreaming. I was dreaming of all the marvelous food I was about to eat. I was picturing myself in a sidewalk bistro, eating eggs and a croissant. The eggs were delicious and eccentric personalities walked by. It was a wonderful spot for people watching.
Than I woke up. Alas, it had just been a dream. Not only was I in my bed in New York City but it was six am and I had plans to go to the gym. Yuck! My dream must have been inspired by the book I just finished, My Life in France. My Life in France, is the memoir of Julia Child, written by her writer nephew and herself. My Life in France is a must read for any foodie. It's a bit drawn out because it's not a continuous story, but rather a collection of memories of Julia's time while living in France. It was a fun read. While reading it I felt that Julia was talking to me, and I got to know her personally. She came across as witty and fun. It was inspiring because Julia shared her trials and tribulations. Julia Child had a lot of ups and downs in the kitchen. Although many had doubted her, one of the things I admired about her most was when she was talking about a luncheon she cooked for. The dish did not come out as planned but she wrote to never apologies for your dish. There is no point in self criticising and you should always stand up for yourself/cooking. No matter what. All day long, eggs were on my mind. Eggs was what was going to be for breakfast the next day. My typical go to weekday egg dish, consisted of a diet English muffin with scrambled egg beaters. The egg beaters were topped with salsa. My diet McMuffin was OK but those wonderful French eggs resonated in my mind. I found a baked egg dish from Jamie Oliver. I had to try it. Not so much because of the dish but because I got to use my cute little ramekins again. Since Oliver is English, the dish was written in grams but I got the general idea. Cooked veggies are placed on the bottom of a greased ramekin and topped with a cracked egg. The ramekin is baked for about twelve minutes in the oven or until the white is just cooked.
There are two keys to this dish. First, whatever veggies are on the bottom need to be squeezed out of their water (or the dish will be soggy and wet). Second, a tiny splash (a tablespoon or so) of milk/cream needs to be placed on top of the egg. If the egg is not covered with some wet goodness the egg will come out dry. I was able to make this dish in the am before work which says a lot. It was fast and easy. I did overcook my egg a tad but I found it pretty good. Probably because of the veggies, the baked egg seemed to be a refreshing dish. It was not heavy, but I was nice and full after I ate. I had a piece of toast with it to soak up all yellow runny bits. Next time, I am going to try to add some cheese on top of the egg before baking. I also would add some parsley on top. (I didn't have any parsley so I sprinkled some of the dried stuff on.) Delish!

Ingredients: Serves One
1 large eggsome grated nutmeg
1/2 cup or so of spinach or other veggies (great use of last night's veggies)
cooking spray
salt/pepper1 tablespoon chopped parsley to garnish*1-2 tablespoons of grated cheese (optional)
Method:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Saute spinach in a pan until cooked. Squeeze out extra water. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
• Greese ramekin and place spinach on the bottom.
• Crack open an egg on top of spinach.
• Bake in the oven till white is set but yellow still jiggles. Mine took about 13 minutes.