Recipe of the week: ‘Breakfast heaven’: Soft-boiled eggs with caramel

Eggs get no respect, says Michel Roux, owner and chef of The Waterside Inn, a restaurant in Windsor, England that’s been awarded three Michelin stars. “In my view,” he says, “it is an undervalued food, invariably overshadowed by expensive, luxury ingredients.” To

bestow on the egg “the honor it deserves,” he has published

Eggs (John Wiley & Sons), a collection of more than

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130 egg-based recipes, some classic and others innovative.

For anyone with a sweet tooth, he says, this recipe “is breakfast

heaven.”

Recipe of the week

Soft-Cooked Eggs With

Vanilla Caramel and Brioche

4 medium eggs

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

4 slices of brioche bread

For the caramel sauce

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

A day in advance, put the raw eggs in an airtight container with the split vanilla bean, and refrigerate for 24 hours. The flavor of the vanilla will permeate the eggshells.

To make the caramel, put the sugar in a heavy, deep pan and dissolve over gentle heat, stirring constantly. As soon as it turns to a light caramel color, turn off the heat and pour in about 1/3 cup boiling water and the lemon juice. Take care as the caramel is liable to splutter

and spit. Stir the caramel with a small whisk and cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until it has a syrupy consistency. With the tip of a knife, scrape in a few seeds from the vanilla bean. Pour into a small pitcher and keep at room temperature.

Toast the brioche slice, and cut into soldiers; keep warm.

Soft-cook the eggs the way you like them, and put them into egg

cups. Eat with a teaspoon, letting everyone drizzle some caramel over their egg and dip their brioche soldiers into the soft yolks. Serves 4.