Baked Eggs and Ebelskiver in Hood River

Pretty much my favorite thing about visiting a new town or city is the eating. For vacations (back in the day), I would research where to eat and drink months in advance. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. My daughter recently went to Iceland and she and her friend had dinner reservations booked for every night long before they went. Priorities. Come to think of it, when she was studying abroad in Italy during college, she made a video depicting her food journey. That’s my girl! A couple weeks ago I was lucky enough to enjoy a girls weekend with my three sisters, my daughter and niece. Coming from five different cities in Oregon and Washington, we chose to meet in Hood River. I have only been to Hood River once before, which is hard to believe since I grew up in the Northwest. Anyhow, my favorite meal while I was there was brunch at Broder Øst, a Scandinavian spot adjacent to the historic hip Hood River Hotel. The egg dishes are served baked in cute individual-sized cast iron skillets. I ordered the “Seasonal Fritters” (which happened to be pear), served with baked eggs, chicken apple sausage, ricotta and maple syrup – perfect solution for someone like me who can never decide between a sweet or savory breakfast.

My breakfast. Savory eggs alongside sweet pear fritters. Divine.

First let me say that our waiter, Quincy, was awesome. I love it when the waitstaff engages in conversation and makes the meal a fun experience. Along with our coffee and tea drinks, we started with the Aebleskiver (or Ebelskiver), which are puffy Danish buttermilk pancakes that resemble doughnut holes. But so much better. Ours were served with lemon curd, jam and maple syrup. There were six of us and seven pancakes. I have no idea whatsoever who ate the seventh one.

Ebelskiver/Aebleskiver/Danish pancakes. Whatever you call them, they are so very yummy.

Two foodies in the group ordered the Lefse Breakfast, which included Norwegian style pototo crepes stuffed with chevre and topped with salad and baked eggs. This was the most visually appealing meal in my opinion.

After I got home, I was still thinking about this breakfast experience and decided to break out my Hearth & Hand mini cast iron skillets from Target that I’ve talked about before and make a similar breakfast.

Here's what you’ll need for two people:

Baked eggs:

• 4 pasture-raised eggs (I use Vital Farms)

• 1-2 Tbs butter

• 1 Tbsp heavy cream

• Salt and pepper

• Small handful of Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

• Fresh herbs of choice (basil, parsley, cilantro or chives)

Sweet Potato Patties:

• 1 cup or more of mashed sweet potatoes

• 2 slices of prosciutto

• ¼ cup onion, chopped

• Salt & pepper

To make :

• Remove prepared mashed sweet potatoes (you know, the ones you had for dinner the night before) from fridge and let sit on counter. You don’t really want the extra step of cooking your potatoes in the morning since they’ll need to cool a bit before forming patties. However, it’s as easy as cutting up 1 large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes in equal pieces, boiling them until soft, mashing with a bit of salt and a pat of butter. I often use my hand mixer to get them into a nice puree.  

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 

• Tear up 2 sheets of prosciutto and spread out on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake for up to 8 minutes. Remove and let cool. This can be done in advance as well.

• Lower oven temperature to 375 degrees.

• Next, in a small skillet, melt a tablespoon or so of butter and saute about a ¼ cup of onion until nice and brown. Place the cold mashed potatoes in a bowl and add the slightly caramelized onions and chopped up crispy prosciutto, giving everything a good dose of sea salt and black pepper. 

• Form the potato mixture into two patties about the size of the palm of your hand. Preheat skillet (or use the one you cooked onions in), brown the potato patties and flip to brown the other side. I like to get them going before popping the eggs in the oven as they can sit in the pan and stay warm. 

• Back to the eggs. Place each individual-sized skillet over your burner and let get hot for about a minute. Melt a spoonful of butter in each skillet and with a pastry brush spread around the pan and up the sides.

• Carefully break 2 eggs into each skillet. Add salt and pepper. Drizzle each skillet with about ½ Tbs. of cream and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

• Place in oven and bake for 8 minutes. Be careful not to touch the hot handles.

• Watch the eggs. Baked eggs always look like they aren’t done but try not to be tempted to leave them in the oven too long or the yolks will get too hard. It’s better to take them out before you think the whites are completely set as they’ll continue cooking a bit and are almost always set. 

• Sprinkle herbs on top – I used basil because that’s what I had but chives or parsley would be nice.

I served the eggs and potatoes with sliced fresh pears on the side. Dang I was wishing I had a warm fritter … or that seventh ebelskiver. But as we ate, my husband and I both said multiple times, “Oh this is good, this is good.”

Baked eggs with basil and sweet potato patty with crispy prosciutto and onion.

Notes on equipment:

Mini cast iron pans: Now may be the time for you to invest in a few mini cast iron pans for mornings when you’re craving baked eggs. You’ve heard me talk before about these 6” cast iron skillets from Joanna Gaines’ line at Target. I only have two but think I need to go buy a few more. Dang I see they aren’t available for shipping anymore, so check your local Target shelves. I also found these Lodge skillets that come in a 5” square size and are less expensive. Of course, you can always use ramekins or crack four eggs in a larger skillet. I won’t tell.

Ebelskiver pan: Upon eating my first Danish pancake, I declared that I was walking immediately across the street to this kitchen store and buying me an ebelskiver pan! My practical, frugal sister shut me down and said that’s the kind of item I could find at the Goodwill. I’m gonna let her do the hunting for that while I find the perfect recipe. I may start with this recipe or this one. If you need an aebleskiver/ebelskiver pan now, the tried-and-true cast iron Lodge pan gets good reviews.

Of course, if you give a kitchenista an aebleskiver pan, she’s going to want a cute little potholder sleeve for the skillet handle. If you sew, great. Here’s a tutorial. You can also find different prints on Etsy. I like the felt one from Graf Lantz, and silicone sleeves are aplenty on Amazon. I feel like this is an item that companies should give away in their trade show booths with their logos printed on them. Reminds me of the jar opener I picked up at an electronics trade show when I worked at Motorola many moons ago. But I digress.

The best things about baked eggs and ebelskiver? From now on, they’ll always remind me of the close circle of strong women in my life and our fun weekend in Hood River.

Here we are! My nIece Courtney, my daughter Morganne, sisters Joanie, Michelle and Tami, and me.