Southern Eggs En Cocotte - cooking recipe

Ingredients

8 ounces pork sausage (I used a pound)
3 cups water
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup stone ground corn grits
4 ounces gruyere, grated
4 eggs
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Brown sausage in a pan. Drain on paper towel and reserve the grease.
While the sausage is browning, bring three cups of water and one cup of half and half to a boil.
Pour one cup of grits into a bowl of water and then simply tilt the bowl and pour the water and floating bits off into the sink. Scoop drained grits into the boiling milk/water mixture.
Whisk boiling grits for 5 minutes and then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, continue whisking. Season with salt if you'd like and a few cranks of the pepper mill.
In between whisks, use the rendered sausage fat to grease 4 large individual ramekins, (gratin dishes or individual cast iron pots work too) and arrange them on a rimmed sheet tray.
Divide creamy grits between the prepared baking dishes and top each with sausage and grated Gruyere. Make a divot in the mixture to nest the egg.
Crack an egg into a small bowl and slide into the divot you made. Repeat with remaining eggs.
Bake until the egg whites are almost, but not fully set, about 10 to 15 minutes. For more well-done eggs, bake until the whites are set.