Recipe: Baked Eggs with Poblano Pepper and Crab

Growing up, our refrigerator was always half empty.

It wasn't empty for lack of food, but rather for the lack of easily accessible prepared foods that could be eaten at a moment's notice. My siblings and I would help my mom unpack her latest haul from Costco, only to see it disappear into the freezer or pantry, hardly seeming to make a dent.

"I don't buy food, I buy ingredients," my mom would quip when we whined about the lack of junky snack options. Of course she was right - there was always plenty to eat, but finding it required creativity. For my mother, and subsequently, me, cooking from an "empty" refrigerator is a favorite game.

This past Saturday morning I played the game again, landing on a Poblano pepper, goat cheese, and some crab meat (left over from Jacob's birthday dinner) as the inspiration for an elegant brunch dish. If only I'd had the supplies for Mimosa's as well!

   

Baked Eggs with Poblano Pepper and Crab

2 Eggs
1 Poblano Pepper, washed, seeded, and halved lengthwise 
1/3 cup Yellow Onion, diced
1/2 cup Crab Meat
1.5 oz. Goat Cheese, crumbled
1/4 tsp. Chili Powder
1 Tbs. Mayonnaise 
Pinch of Herbs de Provence
Salt
Pepper

Set oven to Broil on "high", positioning a rack in the top third of the oven. Place the peppers on a baking sheet, cut-side down, and broil until skin is bubbly and seared, about 5 minutes. Remove peppers from oven and peel off any large spots of charred skin from peppers. 

Sauté the diced onion in a small skillet with a bit of butter, until onion is softened. In a bowl, stir together the onion, mayonnaise, chili powder, and herbs de Provence. Add the goat cheese and crab meat to the bowl, picking through the crab meat to remove any small pieces of shell that remain. Fold all ingredients together, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. 

To assemble: place one half of the roasted pepper, skin-side down, in a 4-inch ovenproof ramekin. Fill the ramekin with half of the crab mixture, using your thumb to form a slight well in the center of the crab meat. Crack an egg into the ramekin, ensuring not to break the yolk (the well in the crab will help to keep the egg centered). Sprinkle with additional goat cheese crumbles and any fresh herbs that catch your fancy (I used thyme). 

Repeat assembly process with the second ramekin. 

With the oven still set to Broil, bake the eggs for 5-7 minutes, until the top of the eggs are set and the cheese is golden-brown. Turn off the broiler and allow the eggs to set in the residual heat for another 2 minutes. (This step can be adjusted depending, on how runny you like your eggs). 

Serve warm with an english muffin, and a Mimosa! Serves 2. 



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