{No Mayo} Pickled Beet Deviled Eggs.

Somewhere in between two and five I was such a brat. I was the kid who babysitters hated to be around. Whether it was me cutting off my hair, screaming about not wanting to go to bed, or, yes, throwing toys at them, I totally went there as a child. My mothers solution was to put me in to sports, all.the.time. Every sport you could possibly put a child in, I did it. And by the time I would come home, I was so tired, I would just pass out. It was brilliant in fact. And now, despite my lack of musical or dancing abilities, I am thankful for it.

So one day, somewhere in between basketball and soccer practice, my mom made me a turkey sandwich. I ate it with vengeance, and then it came right back up. Gross I know. It was the fault of an OVER mayonnaise-d sandwich. I know some people love mayo, and will not accept a sandwich without it, but I was and never be one of those people. I am not sure it is fair to blame it entirely on that sandwich, but it is definitely an event I remember. I know my friend, whose name starts with an S will agree with me on this.

That isn't to say that I don't use it every so often, and in fact I completely understand that not everyone has had the same experience that I have had, but I have steered clear of mayonnaise involved recipes, for example deviled eggs. But deviled eggs are so amazingly good you are thinking to yourself, and I happen to agree, now. But yet, still as much as I have tried them, I have time and time again, not loved the idea of mayonnaise filled egg cups.

With Easter around the corner, however, I have been thinking about dying eggs. So when I came across a tid-bit in a magazine recently that touted pickled beet deviled eggs, I could not resist concocting my own little recipe, because the idea is indeed brilliant.

Pickles Beet Deviled Eggs

2 cups distilled white vinegar

1 cup water

1 large red beet, peeled and sliced

6 hardboiled eggs, peeled

3TB creme fraise

1tsp fennel powder

salt and pepper to taste

chives or chervil garnish

Bring vinegar and water to a boil with the sliced beets, let is simmer for 10 minutes then turn off.

Put pickling liquid in tubberware and allow to cool to room temperature.

Place eggs in pickling mixture and allow to soak for 1-2hours in the fridge.

Slice eggs in half, and whip together egg yolks with remaining ingredients, and then assemble.

Garnish and enjoy.

Oeufs en Cocotte

Weekend mornings are such an amazing treat. I don't mean the mornings where you get up and get going, but the mornings where the sun shines through the windows and the air is crisp, and the plan on of the day is to have no plan at all. I think I get it from my mother. The first couple times Ry and I stayed at my mom's, he noticed the leisureliness to the morning rituals. Get up, make coffee, unload the dishwasher, grab the newspaper, go back up to bed with several cups of hot brew, and read the newspaper, and enjoy the company of the loved one sitting next to you.

For years, when we didn't get the paper delivered, I would run my tush to the corner store in my slippers with quarters in hand and buy the Sunday paper, and merrily come home to fresh brew, and Ry scurrying around the house, getting ready to start his day. He didn't get it, he didn't quite appreciate the ritual. It took him several years of molding to be able to understand the peace it brings in the morning. Last week, while Ry was still sleeping, I crawled out of bed, put the kettle on, ground the beans, emptied the dishwasher, filled the french press, ran outside to pick up our {now delivered} Sunday paper, came back in, crawled into bed with my Bodum in hand, and looked over at Ry as his eyes peeled open. As he stuffed a pillow behind his back and I handed him his cup of coffee, he looked over at me, smiled, and said "this is good". He finally got it.

This morning, after our leisurely ritual, we made breakfast. Not a breakfast of champions, but an ode to our garden so to speak. Oeufs en Cocotte, a very simple egg dish that is fairly flexible in ingredients, but this morning, with the garden brimming with kale, and some homemade ricotta lingering in the fridge, I kept it fairly simple.

Oeufs en Cocotte 

with kale and ricotta

1 large bunch of kale cleaned and destemmed

1/2 cup ricotta

4 large eggs

1 TB ghee (or your choice of cooking oil)

1-2TB butter for buttering the ramekins

salt and pepper to taste

Turn the oven to 350 and boil a pot of water in a kettle.

First you must cook the kale, so melt the ghee in a pan and saute the kale until wilted, then set aside until cooled.

While the kale is cooling, butter your four ramekins and place in another stoneware dish.

Divide the kale amongst the ramekins and also divide the ricotta into the ramekins as well. salt and pepper each, then break an egg into each vessel.

Pour the now boiling water from the kettle into the stoneware dish, creating a water bath that the ramekins are now sitting in, and then place that dish in the oven.

The eggs should be cooked in about 15 minutes, but use your best judgement. The whites should be cooked and the yolk should be firmly in tact but just barely cooked.

Remove and enjoy with toast.