“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals.” -George Orwell, brilliant English dystopian writer and socio-political critic

I debated wasting time on this post from the moment I saw the photos.  I wasn’t sure this random Jackson Pollock-esque plating style was working for me at all (It doesn’t.  At all.).  I wasn’t sure about the colors and if they looked appetizing (they’ve grown on me a whole lot).  There were problems with the results cooking-wise that I want to improve upon at some later date…..these sorts of things.  For every three or so recipes I post on this site, there’s one I didn’t.  And this poor post, well it almost became the nerd that didn’t make the dodgeball team.  But then, I decided to admit that even when eggs are involved I am still only human, that things don’t always turn out the way they happened in between my ears, and that there is always, as my ultimate hero Carl Sagan once said, “much to be learned.”

I’ll tell you what I would have done differently, looking back.  I would’ve began with the “baked eggs” part of the dish having been done in more of a traditional oeufs en cocotte style, where the eggs are simply soft-set in a higher, rather than wider, mold (like a ramekin, primarily), with more cream and butter than I used.  (I know, I know, I’m sorry!  But where “things that taste really super good” are concerned, you just can’t run away from cream and butter.  They’ve been around forever for a reason, guys.)  I would’ve baked the ramekins in a water bath, too.  The egg whites were fine for my taste (I liked the golden-brown top), but my problem was the yolks.  They weren’t that sexy, thick, oozy yolk that signifies your arrival in Egg Heaven.  They were hard as rocks.  Not really very appetizing.  I made them, and then I ate around them.  Not a good sign, and so back to the drawing board I go.

And then there’s the plating…..ohhhhh, the plating.  It was clearly a fumble, and it looks pretty weird and half-assed to me.  What was happening in my head was that I wanted the two components took look good together somehow.  I didn’t want a separate little bowl of sauce next to the eggs, because it wouldn’t visually relate in one photograph that they work together.  Somehow, to me, for your mouth to imagine what it tastes like, you had to see it all as “one thing.”  I should have used a pastry bag or a squeeze bottle to make a better “drawing” with the sauce.  That is what I should have done.

I would try to blanch the sorrel leaves in salted, boiling water for a few seconds, and then immediately shock them in ice water, to help preserve the green color a bit more than I was able to here.

I couldn’t just toss this entry out, though.  The inspiration came from a little potted sorrel plant in my backyard; one that I bought at the Union Square Greenmarket on the first remotely summer-like Saturday this season.  It was a baby when I brought it home, but I’ve taken good care of the little guy and watched him explode with leaves the past few weeks.  I’ve also been tending to a chive plant, a parsley plant, a thyme plant, and a dill plant, among other little lab experiments.  All my plant babies needed a haircut, and I needed breakfast.  My garden and I became appropriately symbiotic, and this was my creation.

And there you have it, folks.  A recipe is born. (From plants I grew in my garden, no less!)

Flavor-wise, this was really good, so long as you eat around the yolk rocks like I did.  The creamy sorrel sauce was super duper good (Bright, citrus-y sorrel is somehow the perfect companion to eggs).  The little touch of nutmeg and parmesan also really added some extra complexity to the creamier parts of the dish, the golden-brown little baked crusty bits on top were super yummy (I’d even be curious to go one step further and get breadcrumbs or panko involved), and the chopped herb mix added so many extra “mmmmm’s”.

The recipe below is as honest of a recollection as possible of exactly what I did in my kitchen.  You’ll want to, erm, take what I’ve said above to heart, perhaps.

Ingredients:

For the sorrel sauce:

1/2 tbsp. neutrally-flavored oil, such as vegetable or canola

1/2 tbsp. butter

1 medium shallot, washed, peeled, and diced into pieces roughly 1/4″ in size

Roughly 2 packed cups of sorrel leaves, washed and dried very well, entire center stem removed from each leaf

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. flour

Approximately 1 1/2 cups milk, added gradually

Small pinch cayenne pepper

Kosher salt

For the baked eggs:

3 large eggs

1 tbsp. heavy cream

1/2 tbsp. butter, in little pieces

Pinch ground nutmeg (freshly ground if possible)

1 1/2 tbsp. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 tbsp. chopped fresh herbs, washed and dried very well (NOTE:  You can use seriously anything you’ve got in your refrigerator.  I used flat-leaf parsley, chives, dill, and thyme.  You can use dried herbs too, just cut the amount in half.)

Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

For the sorrel sauce:

1.  In a small skillet, heat the oil and the butter together over medium flame until butter is just melted.  Add the diced shallot and stir quickly to coat with the oil and butter.  Allow to sweat gently over medium-ish heat, allowing the shallots to become very fragrant, and translucent but not brown, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the sorrel leaves, and stir gently until all of the leaves are wilted and turn sort of a sad, deep olive green color.  Remove from heat and allow to cool until happy warm, not burn warm.  Transfer the shallots and sorrel leaves to a food processor or blender.  Add water (or vegetable or chicken stock) one tablespoon at a time, whirring in between each addition, until you get a “pourable” purée.  Pour through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing all the last bits of purée out with a rubber spatula, and reserve the strained purée in a bowl.

2.  In a small saucepan, melt the 1 tbsp. of butter over medium heat.  When butter is just melted, add the flour and whisk together to incorporate.  Cook for approximately 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add the sorrel purée and whisk together to incorporate.  Slowly begin to add the milk, 1/4 – 1/2 cup at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition.  After 1 cup has been added, allow the sauce to come to a boil.  Immediately turn the heat down to a gentle, bubbly simmer, and check consistency.  Is the sauce too thick?  Add a little bit more milk.  Is the sauce too thin?  Raise the heat a bit and allow it to reduce and thicken some more.  When you like the consistency, add the pinch of cayenne, and season to taste with kosher salt.  Keep warm, adding more milk (and checking seasoning) if necessary, to maintain consistency.

For the baked eggs:

1.  Preheat oven to 350ºF, making sure the rack is toward the top of the oven, a slot or two below the broiler.

2.  Crack the 3 eggs into a ceramic baking mold.  (NOTE:  I used a wide, shallow bowl, which was a mistake.  An individual ramekin situation would have worked better.)  Drizzle the heavy cream evenly around the eggs, and evenly distribute the pieces of butter over the eggs as well.  Sprinkle eggs with the nutmeg, the Parmigiano-Reggiano, and the chopped herbs, and season with salt & pepper.  Place in the oven until the egg whites are set and the top begins to turn golden-brown, about 10 minutes.  (NOTE:  This will result in hard yolks.  You have been warned.)

3.  Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly, and serve with the sorrel sauce.

Yield: What you see in the photo.  Plus extra sauce for attempt #2.