Last Monday I worked with Joy on a little feature, the Mornings Like These Guide to Mother’s Day. We photographed it in my home (yay) like any other #mondaybreakfastseries, but included some of our favorite gift ideas for mom! I just love how it turned out.

I’m recently fascinated with French cooking, thanks to Mimi Thorisson’s A Kitchen in France and Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. There’s a rustic, simple complexity to French cooking, and I just want to move there and learn everything I can from an old French woman (like Babette). Until then, I have my cookbooks and the internet, and I’ll teach myself what I can.

For our little Mother’s Day breakfast, I made my favorite rosemary lemon cakes (which you’ll get the recipe for next year, in an exciting new magazine) and also experimented with oeufs en cocotte (egg casserole). Throw in a few drinks, and you have a perfectly simple breakfast for the mama in your life.

I adapted a few recipes (thank you, Mimi Thorisson and The Kitchn) and came up with the following:

Eggs en Cocotte
make 2 servings


Ingredients
– 2 tbsp butter, plus some for coating ramekins
– 1 clove garlic, minced
– 1 bunch green onions, rinsed and chopped, using both green and white parts
– 1 pint shitaki mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
– 1/4 cup white wine
– 1/4 cup chicken stock
– 2 eggs
– 1/4 cup cream
– fresh thyme leaves for garnishing
– sliced & toasted baguette for dipping

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare two ramekins by coating with butter and minced garlic.

Sauté mushrooms and onions in butter over medium heat. After a few minutes, add wine and chicken stock and cook down for about 5-8 minutes. Divide mushroom mixture into two oven-safe ramekins. Break an egg into each dish. Then pour 1/8 cup of cream into each.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes*. I prefer my egg a tad more well done, so would probably bake for at least 15 minutes, but keep an eye on the eggs and remove from oven when your desired firmness is achieved. Carefully remove from oven with an oven mitt. Sprinkle with thyme. Let cool for 5 minutes before digging in. Enjoy with a baguette and some coffee and a blood orange bellini.

*Some recipes call for a hot water bath – line a baking dish with a towel, place ramekins on towel, fill with boiling water to come partway up the side of the ramekin. I did not use this method, but I hear it helps with cooking (but not overcooking) the egg.