Chef Juliette
Eggs on the Dish
Œufs sur le plat teach the whole art of egg cookery in minutes: hot butter below, a light baste above, and the nerve to pull milky whites before the soft yolks set.
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Hard-boiled Eggs Chimay
Created by Chef Juliette
Hard-cooked eggs become Œufs Chimay when their yolks meet dry mushroom duxelle, return to the whites, and disappear under Mornay and Gruyère before a fierce glaze turns the top butter-gold.
Appetizers & Snacks
French
Dinner Party
Easter
Make Ahead
20 min
Active Time
15 min cook•50 min total
Yield4 servings (8 stuffed halves)
Œufs Chimay (hard-boiled eggs filled with yolk and mushrooms, covered in cheese sauce, and glazed) teach a compact truth: a stuffing stays delicate only when its moisture is controlled. The original ratio is exact, cooked yolk matched by an equal quantity of dry duxelle. If the mushrooms carry water, the filling slumps beneath the sauce; dryness here is structure, not fuss.
The original recipe assumed a saucier on staff, a stock never off the fire, and a salamander ready for glazing. At home, the stockpot is scaffolding because this dish calls for no stock, the saucier’s work becomes finished Mornay kept warm and pourable, and the salamander becomes a fully heated broiler. We scale the dish to four eggs in one shallow gratin dish. The separate hands can go; the equal filling ratio, the Mornay mask, and the fierce final glaze are the dish, and they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it is right, each egg holds a savory, mushroom-dark center beneath ivory sauce, with a Gruyère crust blistered gold and a buttery edge still bubbling. Before you begin, remember the step that decides everything: weigh the cooked yolks, then match them gram for gram with duxelle that is genuinely dry.
Œufs Chimay belong to the codified Parisian grand-kitchen repertoire, although Chimay lies in Belgium and the name came through its princely title rather than a French egg-producing region. The dish is classical French in its grammar: a modest hard-cooked egg is rebuilt with duxelle, masked with Mornay, and finished by glazing. Its familiar ingredients and compact gratin allowed it to travel easily from the grand kitchen to the bourgeois dining room without losing its formal composition.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large eggs
Quantity
4
Ordinary or Dry Duxelle
Quantity
about 1/3 cup (80 ml / 70 g) Ordinary or Dry Duxelle (No. 223), weighed to equal the cooked yolks
unsalted butter
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g)
softened, for the gratin dish
Mornay sauce
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 250 g)
warm and pourable
whole milk (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g)
for loosening the Mornay sauce
Gruyère
Quantity
1/4 cup (60 ml / 25 g)
finely grated
unsalted butter
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 10 g)
melted
Gratins
Quantity
1 application of Gratins (No. 268), glazing form
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large eggs | 4 |
| Ordinary or Dry Duxelle | about 1/3 cup (80 ml / 70 g) Ordinary or Dry Duxelle (No. 223), weighed to equal the cooked yolks |
| unsalted buttersoftened, for the gratin dish | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g) |
| Mornay saucewarm and pourable | 1 cup (240 ml / 250 g) |
| whole milk (optional)for loosening the Mornay sauce | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) |
| Gruyèrefinely grated | 1/4 cup (60 ml / 25 g) |
| unsalted buttermelted | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 10 g) |
| Gratins | 1 application of Gratins (No. 268), glazing form |
Equipment Needed
- •Medium saucepan with lid
- •Digital kitchen scale
- •Fork or small pestle for pounding the yolks
- •1-quart shallow broiler-safe gratin dish
- •Small whisk
Instructions
- 1
Cook the eggs gently
Place the eggs in a saucepan in one layer and cover them with cool water by 1 inch. Bring just to a boil over medium heat, cover the pan, remove it from the heat, and leave the eggs for 11 minutes. Transfer them directly to ice water for at least 5 minutes, then peel. If a shell clings, peel beneath a thin stream of cool water; if a white tears, keep it and turn the damaged edge inward in the gratin dish. The Mornay will cover an honest repair. Ça se rattrape.
A rolling boil knocks the eggs together and toughens the outer white. Gentle heat gives you firm yolks without the grey-green ring that comes from prolonged cooking. - 2
Match yolk and duxelle
Cut the eggs lengthwise and lift out the yolks without splitting the whites. Weigh the yolks, then pound or mash them into a smooth paste. Fold in exactly the same weight of Ordinary or Dry Duxelle (No. 223), about 70 g for four large eggs, until the mixture is even and holds together when pressed. If it feels loose, chill it for 10 minutes; do not stiffen it with breadcrumbs, which would change the filling rather than rescue it.
- 3
Refill the whites
Butter a shallow broiler-safe gratin dish. Divide the filling among the eight whites, pressing it into each cavity and mounding the surface with two teaspoons. Arrange the halves snugly in the dish, filled side up, so they support one another when the sauce is poured over them.
- 4
Mask with Mornay
Warm the Mornay over low heat until it coats a spoon but still pours in a broad ribbon. If it has tightened while waiting, whisk in the milk a teaspoon at a time; if it is too thin, hold it at the gentlest simmer until it recovers its body. Ça se rattrape. Spoon the sauce over every egg, letting it settle between the halves without burying their shape completely.
- 5
Glaze under fierce heat
Heat the broiler fully and set a rack about 6 inches beneath it. Sprinkle the Gruyère evenly over the Mornay and dot the surface with the melted butter. Apply the glazing form of Gratins (No. 268): broil for 2 to 4 minutes, rotating the dish once if needed, until the sauce bubbles at the rim and the top blisters butter-gold. Do not walk away. If one patch colors too quickly, lower the dish or rotate it at once; prolonged heat only toughens eggs that are already cooked.
- 6
Settle and serve
Let the gratin stand for 3 minutes so the sauce settles around the eggs without losing its gloss. Serve two halves per person while the Gruyère crown is still bronzed and the filling remains tender. Cooking well is not cooking fancy. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The clock begins with finished Ordinary or Dry Duxelle (No. 223) and Mornay ready, because the source treats them as prepared components rather than rebuilding them inside this entry.
- •Use the scale for the filling. Four cooked yolks usually weigh close to 70 g, but eggs vary; the source’s equal ratio matters more than a convenient spoon measure.
- •The duxelle must be dry enough to mound. If liquid gathers when it is pressed, return to its own preparation and correct it before mixing; wet mushroom filling cannot support the Mornay.
- •Choose a shallow dish that can face the broiler without complaint. A deep casserole shields the eggs from the fierce top heat and turns a quick glaze into prolonged baking.
- •Serve with a dry sparkling wine or a brisk, mineral white. The acidity clears the butter and cheese while leaving the mushroom filling in command.
Advance Preparation
- •Cook and peel the eggs up to one day ahead. Keep them covered and chilled, then halve and fill them when you are ready to assemble the dish.
- •The stuffed egg halves can be arranged in the buttered dish, covered, and chilled for up to one day. Keep the Mornay separate and press its covering directly against the surface so it does not form a skin.
- •For a dinner party, mask the eggs with Mornay and add the cheese up to 4 hours ahead. Refrigerate them, then warm at 375°F (190°C) for 10 to 12 minutes before adding the melted butter and completing the Gratins (No. 268) glaze under the broiler.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 140g)
Calories
255 calories
Total Fat
20 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
220 mg
Sodium
390 mg
Total Carbohydrates
6 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
12 g
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