Ham & shitake oeufs cocotte

Much as my husband complains that no matter how much he likes it, he never gets to eat a dish twice since I started my foodblog, there are a few treats which feature regularly on our menu. For pure indulgence, nothing beats an oeuf cocotte, or baked egg. A perfect treat for a Sunday morning, the sort of thing where I can easily forget the pains of getting up... yeah, you guessed it - to say that I am not a morning person would be an understatement, I am one of the grumpiest people around at the start of the day. And if I do make the effort to venture out of bed, the breakfast better be pretty darn good!

Ham & shitake oeufs cocotte
(makes 3)

6 shitake mushrooms
1 sprig thyme
1 tsp olive or groundnut oil
3 eggs
9 tbsp single or sour cream
70 g wafer-thin roast ham (eg Brunswick)
2 tbsp grated cheese (eg Comté or Gruyère)
crushed black pepper
3 ramekins (buttered)

Brush or wipe clean the shitake mushrooms and slice them roughly. Fry them in the oil with the leaves of half the thyme sprig. Slice the ham thinly. Spoon 1 tbsp of cream into each of the ramekin dishes, top with the mushrooms and some ham, add another spoonful each of the cream and some cheese, then carefully beak in the egg. Arrange the rest of the ham around the egg yolk, then pour over the remaining cream, taking care not to cover the yolk.
Put into the oven at 150 C for about 12 minutes until the egg whites have set, but the yolks are still runny. Sprinkle with pepper and decorate with a few of the remaining thyme leaves.
Serve immediately with come crisp toast on the side.

Comments

[yang]

looks really really good:) pity that whenever i break eggs the yolk and white just straight out form a mess.

[Angela]

hmmm....it looks delicious. I love dipping toast into runny yolks. I will have to give this a try.

[Catherine]

Where did you get those ramekins, the clear glass ones? Thank you, Catherine

P.S. Your eggs look wonderful.

[johanna]

Hi Catherine, I actually got those from some mousse au chocolat i bought at the supermarket years ago... they don't produce them like that anymore! I have bought some more recently to pass on to my Mum, but they can't stand the heat and crack in the oven... glass chips are not a nice addition to your breakfast!
You should be able to find them in any good kitchen ship, though... http://www.surlatable.com/common/products/product_details.cfm?dmode=browse&StartRow=1&CRPCGNBR=30&CGRFNBR=275&PRRFNBR=9925 is a good supplier in the US from what I can see, but there must be something n europe, too.
only piece of advice, go for ones that are made of one piece, stick closely to the picture in the link for reference, rather than mine, as the one pictured on my post is one of the "unreliable" ones... which btw are used for Gu puddings here in the UK.