Egg and Sausage Polenta Cups

It's actually kind of tricky finding new and interesting things to do with eggs, so I went back to someone I trust to provide me something tasty to create -- The Muffin Tin Chef.  YAY!  This was another one that looked really good for either breakfast or breakfast for dinner and since I'm feeling too lazy to come up with my own version, I'll just share this one more of his recipes with you.

Seriously, if you haven't purchased this cookbook yet, run, don't walk to the nearest computer and do so RIGHT NOW.  You will not be sorry.  I heart TMTC!

Egg and Sausage Polenta Cups
The Muffin Tin Chef, page 20

3/4 cup low-fat milk
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup corn grits (polenta)
2/3 cup shredded Asiago, Swiss, or fontina cheese (about 3 ounces)
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp grapeseed or canola oil
3 ounces uncooked turkey sausage, casing removed, and chopped*
6 small eggs
watercress or arugula, for garnish

* or for those who like a good time-saving shortcut, you can use Jimmy Dean Fully Cooked Hearty Turkey Sausage Crumbles :)  Three ounces worth of the crumbles comes to about 3/4 cup or 1 very scant cup.

Bring the milk and water to a slight simmer in a  medium pot over medium heat.

Slowly whisk in the corn grits, and continue whisking until it begins to thicken and resemble creamy oatmeal, 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese, rosemary, and salt.  Let cool.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Cook the sausage until lightly browned and no longer pink, about 3 minutes.  Or if you're short-cutting, open the bag of JFCCH Turkey Sausage Crumbles.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Line 6 medium muffin cups with paper liners.  Divide the polenta among the prepared muffin cups.

Using your fingers, form a deep well in each one by pushing the polenta up the sides of the muffns cups.  Crack an egg into each polenta cup and scatter the sausage on top.

Place the muffin tin on a baking sheet to catch any egg overflow.  Bake until the egg whites are firm but the yolks are still slightly runny, about 20 minutes.  I would check them after 10 minutes, then again at 15, my yolks were almost completely cooked through at 20 minutes.

Let cool for several minutes before unmolding.  Garnish with the watercress or arugula and additional shredded cheese, if desired.

NOTES

I didn't have any of the recommended cheeses, but had some shredded Parmesan on hand which makes a good substitute.

I also used my larger-than-regular muffin tin because I only had extra large eggs on hand and didn't feel like running to the store for small ones just to do the recipe.  I also used my floral cupcake holders (from Michaels Arts & Crafts store).  I like the floral cups a lot because the tall petals make it really easy to remove the goodies from the pan.

I did not desire to garnish my polenta cups with any greenery which is why you don't see any in the photo.  The rosemary is strong in this one (much like the Force in Luke) so if you are not a big fan of rosemary, I would suggest cutting it back to 3-4 tsp instead. 

EGG EXPO Follow Up

Had a question from a reader about blue eggs and speckled eggs and wondering what's the what with them.  Again, all eggs are created equal -- shot out the back end of a chicken -- and there is no nutritional difference.  But color-wise, man-oh-man, never realized such an amazing spectrum of color shades existed, all of which depend on the breed of chicken.  Found this cool egg color chart for you to check out at BackYardChickens.com.