baked eggs with spinach and bacon

Bravo, Michelle. Bravo.

I know you don't want to hear about how my internet was down for the last couple of weeks and shaky when up, how my phone accommodates Instagramming much better than it does blogging or how the weather has been so bipolar that when it's not pouring, it's beautiful and begs to be enjoyed in the park with a blanket and friend.  So I'll refrain from all that.  I promise.

here's some proof that I do cook without beets or eggs

You must have noticed by now that when I don't update for ages, I tend to work with the same ingredient  two times in a row.  The truth is, I had a lentil salad recipe (pictured above) in May all ready to go - recipe, pictures, sneak peak on the Facebook page, the whole shabang...but with each day the recipe seemed less perfect, the writing less genuine.  And eventually, somewhere around May 28, sentences about Memorial Day picnics stopped sounding relevant.

What is relevant, and always will be, is how great the eating is in New York.  Between its food trucks and farmers' markets and food fairs and hole-in-the-walls and Michelin-starred establishments I plan to frequent once I take over the world, sometimes I don't even know where to start.  Really, one can live here for a lifetime and still discover every day.  And not the $1 slice of pizza kind of discover (although there is a time and place for that).  You can try what I did for three months and eat out almost every day in the name of "research," but when you haven't taken over the world just yet, this gets expensive.  Fast.

Who needs dining tables and chairs when you have coffee tables and couches?

So in the meantime, you improvise.  You study menus, even and especially the items you don't order, scrutinize plates and solve mysteries within each bite to make sure no dollar goes wasted.  Then you go home with semi-stolen ideas and make dinner for free.  I mean, eight dollars.  Which in New York is essentially the same thing.

This baked egg dish is effortless but impressive.  Mine is made with bacon, spinach, garlic, caramelized onions and tomatoes - reliable and consistent team players - but it's completely adaptable to your own tastes.  Kale, chard, or any other dark leafy green would work great in place of spinach, and a little cheese (goat?) never hurt.  It's great for casual entertaining because everything can be arranged in the pan in advance before heading into the oven for a mere five minutes, handles the whole breakfast-for-dinner transition very well, if you're into that, and gives you plenty of rich, runny, golden excuses to spread onto garlic crostini.



Try finding a dinner like this for $2 in this city.  You just try.

Baked Eggs with Spinach
Serves 4

If you have an oven safe skillet, like a cast-iron one, everything can be cooked in the same pan from stovetop to oven.  If your cast-iron skillet is 3000 miles away from your kitchen, you can precook vegetables and bacon separately, then arrange everything in a baking dish (or even individual ramekins!).  For reference, the 9x9in. brownie pan I used was a little on the large side for this recipe, but still worked perfectly.

3 slices thick-cut applewood smoked bacon, diced
1 medium-sized sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
3 packed cups of spinach
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
7-8 eggs
dash of cream, optional
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Fill a small pot with water, bring to a boil, salt generously, and add the spinach.  When wilted (around or less than 30 seconds), drain the water, remove the spinach, squeeze it of excess moisture, and set aside.

Heat a little oil in medium sauté pan (or your oven-safe skillet, you lucky dog); add your bacon and cook until most of the fat has rendered and the bacon is crispy.  Carefully drain and reserve excess fat on the side if there is too much in the pan.  Remove bacon and set aside.  Return any reserved bacon fat to the pan, then add your onions.  Toss to evenly coat with fat, and add more oil if necessary.  Season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Once they have softened and started to darken, lower the heat and keep cooking for another twenty minutes or until deep brown in color.  Stir occasionally and make sure there is enough fat in the pan to keep them from burning.  When the onions are almost done, add the garlic and stir; cook for 1 minute.  Add the drained spinach and tomatoes and cook for 1 more minute.  Season generously with salt and pepper.  Take pan off heat.

At this point, either make four wells with the bacon/vegetable mixture inside the same pan, or transfer it to your baking dish and make the wells in there.  I use the number four loosely; you basically want enough "containers" for your eggs to fit in comfortably, so this could vary with the size/shape of your baking vessel.  Here's how I did it in my 9x9 pan, with four wells in each corner and three eggs in between those wells (the middle row):

Crack in your eggs, carefully pour a little cream over the eggs (optional), sprinkle with salt and pepper, and pop into your heated oven for 4-7 minutes (make your first check at 5 minutes or less).  Eggs are done when the whites are set and the yolk jiggles a little when gently shaken.