Eggs en cocotte: the perfect Valentine’s breakfast

There’s something inherently romantic about eggs: whether you’re preparing them for another person, or being served them, they always strike me as a little act of love. Maybe it’s that they suggest breakfast in bed. Breakfast in bed is not about flirting or seduction, it’s more than that. You don’t make breakfast in bed for someone in whom you’re uninterested. Breakfast in bed is not a collaboration, it’s a gift from one person to the other, reserved for those you wish to impress, or to whom you wish to signal your love.

That said, while in theory I like the idea, in practice I can feel a little allergic to breakfast in bed: the prospect of crumbs dropped and discovered the following evening is about the least romantic thing I can imagine. A blob of jam on the sheets, sticky and staining is not my idea of fun. But eggs en cocotte don’t present such a problem, as they’re self-contained. Although of course, eggs aren’t just for Valentine’s day (or bed, or breakfast for that matter): eggs en cocotte make a surprisingly impressive and extremely easy breakfast for house guests, and like all the best egg dishes, a brilliant no fuss supper.

Eggs en cocotte are simply baked eggs, which are cooked and served in individual ramekins, on a bed of cream or crème fraîche. Shirred eggs are similar but unlike eggs in cocotte, don’t use the water bath that is required for eggs en cocotte, which produces a gentler cook, and makes it less likely you’ll accidentally end up with a rock-hard yolk. They are cooked on a bed of thick cream or crème fraîche, with all kinds of additions, until the white is set but the yolk runny.

I’ve suggested smoked salmon as the addition to these eggs, but really, you can pop in whatever you heart desires: sautéed mushrooms, browned in a dry pan, are excellent, as are onions roasted low and slow then broken up and folded through the crème fraîche, or leeks, steamed.