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A 20 Minute Menu
Oeufs à la Coque served with fruit salad
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Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes Total time: 20 minutes |
- 6 crisp apples (we like Honey Crisp or Pippin)
- 3 pears (we love Comice)
- 1 lemon, preferably organic
- 16 dates
- Mild honey
- 8 large eggs, preferably organic
- 1 big or 2 small loaves of great sliced bread
Shopping List
- Black pepper
- Sea salt
- Unsalted butter
Pantry Items
- Chef’s knife
- Large saucepan
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Paring knife
- Sheet pan
- Tongs
- Vegetable Peeler
- Wooden spoons
- Zester or Microplane
Tools
- Wine: A white Burgundy such as a Reuilly
- Dessert: A trio of cheeses (goat, blue, sharp cheddar), with bread or crackers
- Egg cups are handy for this meal – you’ll need 8 (if each person has 2 eggs)
Suggestions
- When you walk in the door
- Preheat the broiler, adjust the rack
- Get out Pantry Items
- Get out Tools
- Assemble the ingredients
- Open the wine and refrigerate it
- Prep
- Put the eggs in the large saucepan. Cover them by 2-inches with water.
- Remove the butter from the refrigerator so it can soften.
- Zest the lemon and mince the zest. Cover it with a bowl so its perfume doesn’t escape.
- Remove the pits from the dates, if necessary. Finely chop the dates.
- Put the dates, the lemon zest in a large bowl.
- Squeeze the lemon over everything and mix together, then drizzle with the honey and mix.
- Peel and core the apples. Finely chop.
- Peel and core the pears. Finely chop.
- Put the fruit in the bowl with the date mixture and toss gently.
- Put two-thirds of the bread on the sheet pan and put it under the broiler. Put the rest of the bread in a basket. It’s for the cheese.
- Set the table.
- Put the cheese on a plate and put it on the table along with the bread basket.
- Start Cooking
- Check the bread and if it’s golden, turn it.
- Put the pan with the eggs over high heat. When the water comes to a boil, set the timer for 3 minutes.
- If the bread is golden, remove it from the broiler. Turn off the broiler.
- Butter the toast. Cut the slices into 1/2-inch sticks. Put them in a basket or on a plate and keep them warm.
- When the eggs are cooked, remove them from the water and get them to the table. (If you want to eat soft boiled eggs, slice off the tops of the eggs immediately so they stop cooking.)
- The idea is to dip the toast sticks into the soft boiled eggs, then eat the white with a spoon when the yolk is all gone. Enjoy the eggs first, then follow with the fruit salad.
- Dinner is ready! Don’t forget the wine!
