Oeuf Cocotte

This type of recipe is difficult to review since it isn't - and never was intended to be - the same thing twice.

As a means of using up leftovers languishing in your refrigerator, Oeuf Cocotte is way classier than Grandma's Soup. Don't get me wrong, I adore my Grandma's soup to the point of recreating it because - darn her hide! - she did not leave a recipe behind.

However, Oeuf Cocotte has a versatility that Grandma's Soup never will; it can be presented at any meal, perhaps supplemented with a salad and a slice of bread worth the eating. And since we don't do things by halves around here - white wine served in a tumbler. Grandma's soup could never pull THAT off.

You can never have too many use-what-you-have recipes. Plus, "oeuf cocotte" brings them to the table the way "baked eggs" never would. I'll have to remember that the next time I make Potage de Grandmere.