eggs à la paysanne

Œufs à la paysanne = farmer's fashion eggs.

Not only does the disagreement about how French farmers cook their eggs go back more than 120 years; it appears that they nefariously changed their ways over time just to confuse us.

The earliest reference similar to this recipe dates back to 1892.

Pic1: 100 ways of cooking eggs by Alexander Filippini (1892)

This is quite different from what the English-language internet shows under that name—no onions, and 12 eggs is an awful lot for 2 cups of cream—but at least the cream is there.
Strangely enough, none of the French-language internet seems to be familiar with this recipe. They all have something very different for this name, usually something with tomatoes and bacon.

Pic2: Eggs, and how to use them ... more than 500 different styles ... by Adolph Meyer (1898)

The recipe below is loosely based on the one shown at WikiHow, but I sauté the onions and garlic first for better flavor and I do like a lot more cream for this. I did borrow some of their pictures.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need for per serving:

1-2 eggs
1 cup of cream
2 tbsp. red onion, chopped small
1 garlic clove, crushed
olive oil
S&P to taste

Pic3: eggs à la paysanne
internet picture

Directions

Pic4: divide in ramekins
Pic5: add eggs, S&P
Pic6: bake

Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil.
That makes the dish more savory than just adding it raw to the cream.
Add the cream and heat through over LOW heat until the cream starts bubbling.
Remove immediately from the heat. Do not boil the cream.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220 ºF.
Divide the cream mixture in individual ramekins. (Pic4)
Drop one or two eggs in each ramekin. Add S&P, seasoning to taste. (Pic5)
The cream is not hot enough to fully coddle the eggs.
Place the ramekins in a warm water bath.
Bake at 220 ºF for 8-10 minutes au bain marie.
The cream should not boil.
Optional:
- switch to broiler for 2 minutes to cook the eggs more from above.
Remove when the eggs look slightly less done than desired.
The heat in the ramekins will continue to cook the eggs.
Serve immediately on an extra plate. Enjoy.
Warn your guests that the ramekins are hot.

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more and avemariasongs.org

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more
and avemariasongs.org