Many recipes evolve across the years. Eggs Beauregard is a recipe that has changed. According to Wikipedia, it historically was hard boiled eggs in a cream sauce, while it now is generally a dish containing biscuits with gravy, fried eggs, and sausage. However, the recipe for Eggs Beauregard that I found in a hundred-year-old cookbook is made by putting spinach in a cream sauce, adding eggs, and then topping it with cheese.
I don’t know why the old recipe I found is different from the Wikipedia descriptions of both the old and modern versions of Eggs Beauregard, but I’m glad I made this recipe. It’s a keeper. It’s tasty, and makes a beautiful breakfast or brunch dish.
My husband said that I should make Eggs Beauregard again, which is a high compliment from him.
Here’s the original recipe:
When I made this recipe, I assumed that it called for 2 cups of cooked spinach. A 9-ounce bag of fresh spinach makes about 2 cups of cooked spinach. (Frozen or canned spinach could also be used.) It is important to heat whichever type of spinach is used; otherwise, this dish would need to be baked for more than 20 minutes.
The recipe doesn’t call for salt and pepper, but I sprinkled a little on the eggs since eggs are often topped with salt and pepper.
I did not want the eggs to spread out over the spinach, so for each egg, I pushed the spinach aside to make a hole. I used canning jar rings to keep the hole open until I put the egg in it. Once I placed the eggs in the holes, I removed the rings.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Eggs Beauregard
2 cups cooked spinach, chopped (A 9-ounce bag of spinach makes about 2 cups when cooked. Frozen or canned spinach could also be used.)
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
4 eggs
salt and pepper
1/2 cup grated cheese
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Step 2. If using fresh spinach, wash and chop; then put in a pan with the water that is clinging to the spinach. Using medium heat, cook until the spinach wilts. (If using frozen or canned spinach, heat the spinach.) Remove from heat; and, if needed, drain to remove excess liquid.
Step 3. In the meantime, in another pan, using medium heat, melt butter, then stir in the flour. Gradually, add the milk while stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the white sauce begins to thicken.
Step 4. Stir the white sauce into the spinach.
Step 5. Put the spinach mixture in a flat baking dish. (A 9 inch by 9 inch works well.)
Step 6. Make four holes in the spinach where the eggs can be placed, then put an egg in each hole. (I used canning jar rings to keep the holes open. Once the eggs were placed in the holes, I removed the rings.) Sprinkle salt and pepper on each egg.
Step 7. Sprinkle with grated cheese, then bake in the oven until the egg whites are opaque and set (about 20 minutes). Remove from oven and serve.
That looks great. I always do a double take though, when I see American recipes calling for ‘biscuits’. As you probably know, ‘biscuits’ to us are ‘cookies’ to you. I’m never very sure what your ‘biscuits’ are!
That looks like a tasty recipe. I think it could be a light dinner dish. also.
Went to the wrong person.
👍
What I was going to tell you is that I did my practice teaching in England in 1978. We stayed at a college. The girls in the house greeted us and said they were getting tea and biscuits. We were very impressed that they were going to bake biscuits (there was a little kitchen). We soon realized that biscuits were cookies. We also asked where the bathroom was, and they showed us a room with a bathtub. The girls saw the look on our faces and figured out we wanted the loo. Same language with different words and meanings. We learned a lot during our stay.
Oh yes! It still tickles Brits that Americans ask for the bathroom in the middle of a day when they look perfectly well washed and not at all in need of a long soak. Two nations divided by a common language ….
It continues to amaze me how many words in our common language differ across the two sides of the Atlantic.
I know! Me too!
What a fun story!
In the U.S., biscuits are typically round rolls made with flour and baking powder. They are flakey and denser than dinner rolls. Here’s a New York Times recipe for them:
All Purpose Biscuits Recipe
Thank you! Interesting. These are in many ways similar to, though not the same as our scones, which are strictly a tea time treat with jam and preferably cream too. Are they a ‘thing’ in America?
Scones are also popular here, though I tend to think of them as being fancier than biscuits. Biscuits are sometimes eaten with gravy here (especially in the South), rather than with jam or butter.
I gathered that. Thye look interesting and I must give them a try. They’d soak up a good gravy nicely!
That recipe looks like a delicious take on eggs Florentine. I like your idea for preventing the eggs from spreading.
Now that you mention it, this recipe is similar to Eggs Florentine.
What a strange coincidence that I just cooked and ate a green version of a Shakshuka that looks very much like the is dish.
Leek, zucchini as spinach it’s main ingredients.
I just looked that up and it look delicious!!!
Another one hubby would not touch… but I bet I could make up the base and bake off I egg at a time. Or just warm it up and top with an overeasy egg each morning!!
That looks like a tasty recipe and could be a light dinner dish.
It would make a nice light dinner dish.
This looks really delicious Sheryl! Definitely a keeper, and I LOVE your canning jar trick. I’m using it the next time I make shakshouka!
I wasn’t familiar with shakshouka, so I just did an online search and found a recipe for it. It looks wonderful!. I’m going to have to make it sometime soon.
It’s my favorite Sunday brunch! I have a recipe on my site. It’s also referred to. As eggs in purgatory.
I found your recipe and plan to make it very soon. In case others would like the recipe, here’s the link:
Eggs in Purgatory (Shakshouka)
Let me know how you like it!
Will do.
#1. Oh I like how that looks. Never going to get hubby to try it.
#2. Aren’t canning rings the handy things to have in a kitchen! I use them to make a double boiler type of thing in 2 pots. Also to use as a small quick cooking rack in a funny shape pan.
Great suggestion to use canning jar rings to make a double boiler type pan.
This does look good!!
It’s tasty.
So healthy in a million ways!
It’s very nutritious. It probably says something about my age, but whenever I eat spinach I always think of Popeye the Sailor, and how spinach made him strong.
This looks like a lovely dish for a warm summer evening!
It would make a nice supper on a warm summer evening.
That looks good. Very healthy dish too.
It’s tasty, and as you noted, very healthy.
Oh yes, I would love this dish… More cheese please!
Almost any dish is better with a little extra cheese. 🙂
Hahaha… Yes, I agree! 😂
I love the old recipes. My favorite cookbook is the 1955 Betty Crocker. It’s falling apart, but that’s alright.
My Betty Crocker cookbook is a few years newer than yours, but it’s also falling apart. It’s definitely been well used.
I’m going to try this. It sounds delicious and looks amazing. Thanks for modernizing the recipe.
I think that you’ll like this recipe.