Cooking for One: Egg-straordinary

Erik and I have been trading off business trips. I was in NYC last week; he’s there this week and the next. I really struggle with cooking when he’s gone. I forget to eat at regular times, so then I’m STARVING and the only thing that will satisfy my furious stomach is pad thai or some other delivery treat. One order of anything delivered is at least two servings and, yep, I do. I eat the whole darn thing. Because it’s DELICIOUS. But then I feel gross. And waste money. And throw out a bunch of garbage. So my goal this week is to come up with a few things to cook at home that are delicious, filling, and easy.

Attempt number one: the egg. Pros: (1) nice single serving package; (2) minimal clean up. Negatives: sort of…eh? On it’s own it doesn’t really compare to a gooey sandwich from the place on the corner.

Hmmmm…half empty (half full??) jar of Bloody Mary mix in the refrigerator. Part of a loaf of bread on the counter. Done! What it lacks in glamor, it makes up for in tastiness.

Bloody Mary Egg

Serves 1

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Put one of the racks in the middle and put a baking sheet on top of the rack.
2. Rub the inside of a small (6-8 ounce) oven-proof ramekin with butter.
3. Pour the Bloody Mary mix into the ramekin.
4. Crack the egg into the 1/3-cup measure and use the cup to carefully nestle the egg into the Bloody Mary mix. Do this gently, so that the egg stays together.
5. Open the oven and carefully set the ramekin on top of the baking sheet, which will keep your oven clean and prevent tipping.
6. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the egg is just set. It’s hard to tell when this happens, because the egg hides under the juice, so give it a little poke to check. Err on the side of under-cooking, since it will continue to cook after you take it out of the oven.
7. Let it cool for a few minutes so that you don’t burn your tongue off, then dig in with a spoon and some bread.

P.S. That was lunch. I’m totally eating pad thai for dinner.