Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche But They Do Eat Egg Cups (recipe)

It’s safe to assume that my egg cup recipes are actually little quiches made without flour, hence baking them in a muffin tin.

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Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche, by American Bruce Feirstein, is a bestselling tongue-in-cheek book satirizing stereotypes of masculinity, published in 1982 (ISBN 0-671-44831-5). It popularized the term quiche-eater, meaning a man who is a dilettante, a trend-chaser, an over-anxious conformist to fashionable forms of ‘lifestyle’, and socially correct behaviors and opinions, one who eschews (or merely lacks) the traditional masculine virtue of tough self-assurance. A ‘traditional’ male might enjoy egg-and-bacon pie if his wife served it to him; a quiche-eater, or Sensitive New Age Guy would make the dish himself, call it by its French name quiche, and serve it to his female life partner to demonstrate his empathy with the Women’s Movement. He would also wash up afterwards.

The book’s humor derives from the fears and confusion of contemporary middle-class men about how they ought to behave, after a decade of feminist critique on traditional male roles and beliefs.
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So, to call a spade a spade, here is a recipe for mini quiches that men will make, eat and serve to their life partners and then clean up afterwards.

Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche But They Do Eat Egg Cups

Preheat oven to 350F.

Crab egg cup

Ingredients

12 eggs
1/4 cup cream
1 can crab meat (I used chunky style), drained
1/2 cup loosely packed shredded cheese (I used gruyere)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
sea salt (pink Himalayan salt) to taste
ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup each chopped onion, green peppers and mushrooms sauteed in 2 tbsp butter
a large pinch of marjoram

Method

Whisk eggs and cream. Add dijon mustard, cheese, salt and pepper.
Add the contents of the strained crab meat, mix well.
Add sauteed onions, peppers and mushrooms.
Grease your muffin tin. Using a measuring cup (I use a 1/3 cup) pour egg mixture into each well.
Bake for 18 minutes, turn oven off and keep them in oven for another three minutes.

Eat!

It’s safe to say the egg cups are now my most favourite thing like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. They fit perfectly in those 8 oz snack sized containers from Ziplock and each one is one serving of egg.

Greek egg cups (recipe)

If you like olives, feta and sun-dried tomatoes, this’ll hit the spot.

Ingredients

12 eggs
1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup crumbled feta
6 sun-dried tomatoe halves, sliced into strips (sulphur free)
1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives
1 tsp Greek seasoning
muffin tin
cooking spray

Method

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix eggs, cream, feta, sliced up sun-dried tomatoes and Greek seasoning.
Spray the muffin tin well.
Divide the egg mixture into the 12 wells (I use a 1/3 cup measuring cup and it does the trick).
Bake for 15 minutes. Turn oven off and let the heat continue to cook the egg cups for 10 minutes. I found this produces a moist firm egg cup.

Option: serve with a chunk of feta.

Poached eggs (curry style) – recipe

Curry? With eggs? Interesting…

Give it a go, you never know.

Serves two.

Ingredients

4 eggs (*use the freshest you have,  more on why)

2 egg serving

1 1/2 tsp coriander
1 1/2 tsp curry powder (your choice of strength)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp salt (use pink sea salt aka Himalayan sea salt)
1/4 tsp ground  pepper
water

Method

Fill a medium saucepan with about 3 inches of water.
Add the spices and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to simmer.
Break the cold egg, one at a time into a small bowl (if yolk didn’t break, pour egg slowly into the simmering water.
Cook in the simmering water 3-5 minutes.
Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon. Rest the  spoon on a paper towel to remove some of the excess water and plate them.

*Use fresh eggs as they will keep they oval shape better.
Do not allow the eggs to boil, you’ll end up with a mushy mess.

Options: serve on a bed of steamed asparagus and cover in yogurt hollandaise sauce. OMG!

Or a bed of bacon braised spinach.

Just keep in mind that all of the nutritional values will increase as you add more delicious stuff to the eggs.

Did you know that 201mg is equal to 0.2g?

What’s for lunch today?

A slice of upside down spinach egg pie, a chuck of feta with a dollop of kalamata olive tapenade.

Hollondaise sauce (using yogurt) – recipe

This is a great alternative to the regular hollondaise sauce. It makes 1 cup and will be enough to  top 8 poached eggs.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
3/4 cup plain (natural) yogurt (the full fat kind) 
2 tsp sugar (I use un pasteurized honey)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest (dry zest work just as well)

Method:

In top of double boiler, whisk together all sauce ingredients.
Cook over simmering water, stirring constantly until thickened, 10 to 12 minutes.

Eat!

*options: serve over vegetables, fish/seafood and of course eggs.

Spinach egg in hand (yes it’s green) – recipe

Here’s another egg recipe that can be made in so many different ways that it may never be the same way twice (that’s sounds like a song doesn’t it?).

Spinach egg in hand

Ingredients:

12 eggs (this recipe isn’t for chickens)
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (I used a paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup shredded cheese (or any combination -  I used shredded havarti, gruyere and shredded parmesan to make up 1 cup)
salt and pepper to taste
cooking spray, butter or olive oil
1 12 well muffin tin

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine all ingredients (except the last item) in a bowl and mix well.
Grease your muffin wells ( I made the mistake of using a dollar store pastry brush and ended up picking out the bristles, so I just started again by rubbing melted butter in the wells with a paper towel)
I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup to fill the wells and that worked very well.
Bake for 20 minutes in 350F oven (check at 15 minutes).

for 1 egg

Let cool slightly.

Eat!

*options: use feta cheese, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts (process them in a food processor), asparagus, add bacon chunks, sausage chucks, chopped peppers, tomatoes, olives, let your imagination run free (like the chickens)

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I took the picture of the spinach egg cups.

Egg in salmon cup – recipe

This recipe can be modified in so many ways that it may never be the same twice!

For this recipe;

Ingredients:

12 eggs
smoked salmon
shredded cheese, crumbled feta
salt & pepper to taste
herbs
cooking spray, or butter or olive oil

Method:

for 1 egg

Pre-heat oven to 400F
Grease your muffin tin (12)
place a slice of smoked salmon in each of the wells
crack an egg into each of the wells
add salt and pepper
top each with your choice of cheese (I used crumbled feta on 4, shredded gruyere on 4 and shredded swiss on the rest)
sprinkle your choice of herb (fresh or dried,  I used dried marjoram)
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes (or until egg sets)

Eat!

*options: use bacon (partially cooked), sliced smoked turkey, or roast beef, or any sliced meat (not the lean kind)
Use any combination of cheeses, herbs, olives, or caramelized onions, or sauteed peppers, mushrooms, just let your imagination run free.
You could make this everyday and have it never be the same.

Deviled eggs with Shrimp and Olives – recipe

This recipe can be modified to make egg salad

             Ingredients:

                                                                      12 hard boiled eggs, peeled

1 egg

1/4 cup mayo
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 can shrimp, drained (or use left over cooked shrimp, 1/2 cup)
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

olive slices for decorating final product

Method:

Scoop out egg yolks and place all ingredients in food processor and blend well.

Spoon mixture into egg white halves, top with olive slice.

**Optional: I added 2 heaping tbsp of olive tapenade to the mixture.

To make egg salad, combine all ingredients (including egg whites) into food processor and blend until pureed.

entire recipe

What’s for lunch today?

What’s on my plate for lunch today?

1 cup of the egg salad with crab meat, with a dab of tapenade
1/2 cup of mock crab meat
1 cup of peas with unsalted butter and some sea salt

Lunch of egg salad with crab meat and peas with mock crab meat

Egg salad with crab meat – recipe

This recipe can be modified to make deviled eggs.

Ingredients:

Entire recipe

12 eggs, hard boiled and peeled
4-5 tbsp mayo
1/4 cup chopped celery (or green pepper)
2 tsp dijon mustard (or use mustard seeds)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp oregano
1/8 to 1/4 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste (use sea salt)
1 can of crab meat, drained

Method:

Place all ingredients in food processor and blend, scrapping sides to ensure all ingredients are well blended.

I use 1 cup of the egg salad and have it with a bowl of brussel sprouts with garlic butter – yum!

*Optional: add the yolks only to the food processor and scoop pureed mixture into the egg white halves, garnish with little curls of celery, or little springs of parsley, or a slice of olive (green or black), or top off with a little dab of tapenade, or a curl of semi hard cheese.  The possibilities are endless.

1 egg