Breakfast for Dinner: Baked Eggs & Buttermilk Biscuits

I love to cook, no question about it.  But don’t you ever have nights where you just. don’t. feel. like. it???

Buttermilk Biscuits – easy & scrumptious

Tonight was one of those nights.  But I was hungry, and we had bits and pieces of this & that left over in the fridge from previous dinners and snacks.  We need to make way for a new round of better stuff, so rather than waste it, I decided to try a new (to me) dish:  Baked Eggs.  If you google “baked eggs”, you’ll find hundreds of different recipes.  So the basic ingredient is an egg; you need an oven; and you need some kind of extra ingredients to pop in there to add flavor and interest.  The prep time is short, the oven time is 15 minutes, and you’ll be loving it.  Feel free to change up the meat, the vegetables or the types of cheese in here.

I made these in individual ramekins, and since we were having them as a main course, planned for two each.  You could easily make this in one large, shallow, casserole dish to save yourself the extra dishes, and then scoop out individual servings from there.  The individual ramekins are quite charming, though!

Eggs….makes me want to raise a few chickens to get fresh organic ones on tap.  But who’s doing that in an apartment?  And then there’s the small detail of working full time… I need to find a local farmer for a ready supply!  Anybody here in Helsinki fit that description?

Are any of you out there raising chickens of your own, and how do you like it?

Apologies in advance for the short post, but it’s been a long (but good!) day –  so, let’s get on to baking those eggs, shall we?

Baked Eggs with Shredded Beef, Spinach, Avocado & Cheddar
Preheat oven to 180°C/

Dinner!

Butter for buttering the ramekins
1/2 cup/ 1dl shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Butter each ramekin, sprinkle a bit of cheese on the bottom of each and set aside.  You won’t use all the cheese here; save half for sprinkling on the top.

In a pan, heat up
2 tablespoons olive oil


Add
1 shallot, diced

Cook until the shallot is soft and slightly translucent and add:
3/4 cup / 75g frozen spinach (thawed) or 1.5c / 2-3 big handfuls fresh spinach
70 g or 3/4 c shredded cooked beef (mine was Mexican flavor left over from beef tortillas)
1/4 teaspoon salt (you may need more or less depending on how your meat is seasoned, so taste first)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons of light cream

Cook over medium heat until all ingredients are heated through and the mixture is nice and fragrant, and on the dry side.  (Note:  if you are using fresh spinach, add 1/4 (1/2 dl) water to help steam it).

Divide the spinach mixture into four parts and into each of the four ramekins.  Top with:
1/2 diced avocado
4 eggs:  1 per ramekin
the remainder of the cheese
A drizzle of light cream

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until yolk is done to your liking.  If you like a slightly runny yolk, cook it between 10 – 12 minutes. I don’t recommend cooking the yolk until it’s hard – it kind of ruins the whole idea of a baked egg in my opinion, so watch your oven and make sure the yolk is still a bit soft.

Serves four as a side dish or two as a main course.

Serve with:


Easy Buttermilk Biscuits
the recipe is a combination of many different ones – variations are slight between them!

Makes 16 small biscuits

Buttermilk Biscuits with Kumquat Marmalade

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
3/4 cup buttermilk, chilled, plus additional for brushing

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk and stir until the dough comes together in a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, gather the dough into a bowl and knead gently 6 times. Pat dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough in half lengthwise and crosswise, and then cut each quarter to create a total of 16 pieces.  Separate the pieces slightly on the pan to give them space to expand.

Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Serve with soup, marmalade, jam, honey, butter….they are extremely versatile.  They also freeze really well if you make too many and want to save some for later.

I served mine with a Kumquat Marmalade, but any jam, jelly or marmalade will work nicely.