Truffled Eggs En Cocotte - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 extra-large eggs
1 ounce fresh black truffle
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 ounce emmenthaler cheese, grated (or Comte or Gruyere)

Preparation

Put the eggs in an airtight container with the truffles and keep in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours or 48 hours if possible, to allow the aroma of the truffles to permeate the eggs.
Slice the truffles as thinly as possible (There are actually special tools for this but a vegetable peeler works just fine). Bring the cream just to a boil in a small pan, then immediately remove from heat and drop in the truffles,cover the pan and set aside until cool.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Brush the insides of 2 cocottes or ramekins, about 3 1/4 inches in diameter and 1 1/2 inches deep, with the softened butter and season with salt and pepper.
Coat the bottom and sides of the ramekins with the grated cheese, tipping any excess out of the ramekins (just as you would flour a buttered cake tin).
Strain the cooled cream-and-truffle mixture, reserve the truffles, and divide the infused cream between the cocottes.
Carefully crack the eggs in a bowl and tip it gently into each cocotte so the top of the yolk appears through the cream. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
Line a shallow roasting pan with waxed paper.
Put in the cocottes and gently pour boiling water around them until the water comes halfway up the sides.
Place in the oven and bake, checking after 10 minutes; the cream should be just set but the yolk should still be runny.
If you prefer your egg a little more cooked, bake for another 2 to 5 minutes.
Put a cocotte on each plate, garnish with the slices of the reserved truffles and serve.
Note: You can be generous and eat all the truffle with your breakfast companion, or you can save some and use it to garnish a salad or a dish of pasta--so wonderful!