In the last two weeks some of the most amazing eggs have come through this house. First I managed to get hold of some from Laura of (not so) Urban Hennery, which were adorable, with improbably large orange yolks that looked like they wouldn’t even fit in the shells.

The following week, I managed to arrive at the farmer’s market early enough to buy eggs from the industrious small girl at the Frog’s Song Farm booth. She had gone to a great deal of trouble, arranging each dozen so it was an attractive mixture of blue, green and brown eggs, and ornamenting the top of each carton with an illustrated profile of a particular chicken. I chose the one featuring “Black Bird,” who apparently announces the arrival of her daily egg with a song.

With all these fabulous eggs in the house, I’ve been eating a lot of fried eggs on top of leftovers, scrambled egg sandwiches and egg fried rice. Yesterday I had one of the best soft boiled eggs of all time, which is saying something.

I also tried a new recipe, found in a madly compelling library book (everyone in the cataloging department kept swiping it to drool over the photos), for an eggy Dutch baby sort of pancake flavored with a large quantity of stinky cheese. That used up six eggs, right there.

The pancake was a success, but I think needs a little tweaking, at least to feed fewer than six to eight people. I made it in a large cast iron pan, and it fed four people easily with leftovers for two more, so for my purposes I think I’ll cut the recipe down a bit next time (I think it would poof better if there was less batter in the pan, as well). I used Brie, but a more assertive cheese like Gorgonzola would be really good, especially served with grapes or lots of fresh chopped herbs.

Brie Pancake

adapted from Chocolate for Breakfast by Barbara Passino

• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 ½  cups all-purpose flour
• 6 oz Brie, Camembert, Gorgonzola or other ripe cheese
• 6 eggs
• 1 ½ cups milk
• ½  tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Thinly slice the cheese and blend it with the flour and salt in a food processor. If your processor is safe for liquids (mine turned out to be not), add the eggs and milk and blend till smooth. If not, mix by hand in a bowl.

Melt the butter in a very large cast iron pan or eight individual ramekins (you can put them in the oven on a sheet to heat up). Pour the batter in and put directly back in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the edges are crisping up and turning brown. Don’t open the oven while it’s baking!

Take the pancake(s) out and serve immediately – it will begin to deflate right away, so seize the moment. Sprinkle with herbs, halved grapes (I particularly recommend the grapes if using an assertive cheese) or fresh strawberries.

I thought I was being so virtuous when I thought of doing a piece of fish and some braised cabbage for dinner on Sunday. Simple, low-carb, easing us off of the rich food bandwagon. Ha.

The trouble was, I had half a head of Savoy cabbage in the fridge, needing to be used up. And since the last time I made Molly Stevens’ recipe for braised Savoy cabbage with triple-cream cheese, I’m not sure I’ll be able to do much else with Savoy (I didn’t print the recipe last time, but I’m sure going to now). And as it turned out, the only suitable cheese we could find at the supermarket was Cambozola – wowie. A mite stinkier than the Delice de Bourgogne I used before, with the added exciting feature that the bits of blue mold in the cheese remained behind as the cheese melted, creating strange little blue growths in the cabbage. Sounds revolting, I know, but YUM.

You could, of course, leave the cheese out. The braised cabbage smells delightful even before the cheese goes in. But why would you deprive yourself of total deliciousness? I ask you.

Oh, the cod was good, too – I smeared it with stoneground mustard and stuck it in the oven when the cabbage came out. It went well with the cabbage and cheese, which was frankly the important thing. And we opened a Willow Crest viognier which worked nicely.

Braised Savoy Cabbage with Stinky Cheese (serves two)

adapted from All About Braising by Molly Stevens

• 1/2 head Savoy cabbage, shredded
• a few scallions, chopped
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup chicken stock (more or less – I didn’t measure)
• 1 1/2 ounces triple-cream stinky cheese, cut up into small pieces

Butter a small gratin or souffle dish. Preheat the oven to 350°.

Melt the butter in a cast iron pan and toss in the scallions and cabbage. Cook, stirring, until the cabbage is completely wilted and beginning to turn golden in places. Add the stock, bring to a boil and let cook a few minutes more.  Dump it all into the prepared dish, cover tightly with foil and pop it into the oven. Wait 45 minutes, then take off the foil and wait another 20 minutes.

Take out the gratin, crank up the oven to 375°, and dot the cheese around the top of the cabbage. Back in the oven for 10 minutes (you can cook a piece of fish at this point, or perhaps make some toast. Toast would be good). Take the gratin out when the cheese has completely melted down into the cabbage, creating a silky, sweet, luxurious gravy in the bottom of the dish. Be prepared to lick your plate.