Brunch doesn't have to be a meal that you only have out at restaurants. Invite some friends over and make this oeuf en cocotte from Vancouver's Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar, a baked dish with soft poached eggs, spinach, tomatoes, chorizo sausage and herbs.
Sachet
Put all contents into a sachet or in cheesecloth and tie the top.
Tomato sauce
In a heavy bottom pot, heat half the olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add all garlic, diced vegetables and chili, and sweat until translucent and softened.
In another heavy bottom pot, heat the remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Add roma tomatoes into pot, quickly and add salt, about 2 pinches.
Keep stirring on high heat for 3 minutes until excess juices are released. Strain off excess juices.
Add canned tomatoes to the pot of roma tomatoes and stir.
Add tomato mixture to the diced vegetables. Add sachet and stir.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. If there is still a lot of liquid, continue to cook until more liquid evaporates.
Remove sachet.
Transfer mixture to food processor and pulse a few times until chopped evenly. Do not purée.
Season to taste with celery salt, sugar, and Tabasco.
Remove from heat and cool. Reserve.
Spinach
In a heavy bottom pan heat a touch of olive oil on medium heat. Add garlic and spinach and saute until spinach is wilted.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cool in strainer.
Squeeze out excess liquid by hand.
Reserve.
Red onion rings
Preheat canola oil to 320 F.
In a bowl, lightly toss onion rings in cornstarch.
Fry rings in oil until lightly golden brown.
Dry on paper towel. Season with salt.
Reserve.
Eggs
If you have a circulator, set to 64.3 °C and cook eggs for 1 hour. Remove and set aside.
Or, if doing over stovetop, poach eggs in hot water with a cap full of vinegar until they are soft poached. Reserve.
Assembly
Prepare bread by heating griddle on medium-high heat.
Brush bread with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Lightly grill both sides.
Rub one side with raw garlic clove. Cut on the bias.
To assemble just before serving, preheat oven to 425 F.
Divide spinach equally between 4 oven-proof cast iron skillets or dishes and make wells for tomato sauce so sauce touches the bottom of the dishes.
Spoon tomato sauce in and around spinach.
Divide cherry tomatoes evenly between dishes and place around spinach in the edge of the dishes.
Divide chorizo slices between cherry tomatoes along edge.
Place eggs in middle "slots" of each dish, season with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle fontina on top.
Bake for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted, be careful not to over-cook the eggs!
Remove from oven and place 4 pieces of grilled sourdough along edge between cherry tomatoes.
Garnish with onion rings.
- Yield:
- 4 servings
