Sunday, November 11, 2007

Cheesy Baked Puffed Eggs


There's something about lazy Sunday mornings that makes me want to whip up an egg breakfast. This week's recipe comes from the archives of Gourmet Magazine, September 2006. Gourmet calls for Cantal cheese (also known as Cantal de Salers and Fourme du Cantal), which is a semi-firm cow's milk cheese made in the Auvergne region of France.

I wasn't thinking ahead to make this recipe, so I didn't shop for Cantal; however, even if I had, I hardly ever splurge on nice cheese when I'm cooking for just little ol' me anyway. If you are looking to use Cantal but can't find it, The Food Substitution Bible offers the following stand-ins: Laguiole (sharper), Cheshire, Lancashire, or Cheddar(my note: a sharp, white Cheddar would probably be best). Seeing as I had not one of these on hand, I used some Tillamook Swiss I had leftover in the fridge (though next time I think I'd like something sharper, such as Jarlsberg). In addition to using a different cheese, I also modified the recipe to make one serving (just me!) instead of six and to fit a 12oz ramekin instead of the recipe's 8oz.

Cheesy Baked Puffed Eggs
Adapted from Gourmet's "Baked Eggs with Cantal Cheese"

2 eggs
salt, pinch
pepper, pinch
nutmeg, freshly grated, pinch
cream of tartar, pinch
1/2 c grated Swiss cheese
12 oz ramekin, buttered

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack placed in the middle position.

Separate the eggs, placing the egg whites in a mixing bowl and reserving one egg yolk in a bowl of cold water. To the egg whites, add the pinches of salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cream of tartar and with an electric mixer, beat until it forms stiff peaks. Gently fold in the Swiss cheese, reserving a tablespoon. Pour egg whites into buttered ramekin, smoothing out the top then creating a well in the center using a spoon.

Bake the egg whites for 5-6 minutes, then take out of oven and place the egg yolk(remove from water using your fingers) in the indentation you made and sprinkle top with reserved cheese. (Note: this step ensures that your egg yolk will not cook through. If you like less runny yolk, you can skip this step and fully assemble and bake for 13-16 minutes). Place back in oven and cook additional 8-10 minutes until whites are puffed and golden, and the egg yolk is still jiggly. Serve immediately.



Related content: Last Sunday's Herbed Baked Eggs

3 comments:

Just Between You and Me said...

No, this doesn't look like my cup of tea but it sure is pretty! But of course, you make everything look good enough to eat!

Jamie said...

Oh, my goodness. That is a meal of beauty.

Angela Noelle said...

That looks absolutely delicious!