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Luncheon Cheese and Eggs
1 cup cream 6 eggs 2 tablespoons grated cheese Salt and pepper Put the cream into a frying-pan and let it heat to the boiling-point, then break in, carefully, the eggs. Lower the heat under the eggs and cook until they are set, as in poaching, spooning the cream over the top of the eggs while they are cooking. Put them on a hot platter. To the cream left in the frying-pan, add the grated cheese and seasonings. Stir until melted and pour the mixture over the eggs.
A simple dish of eggs poached in cream and finished with a quick cheese sauce. The whole thing depends on keeping the cream below a real boil once the eggs go in.
- Heat control is the hingeBring the cream just to the boiling point, then drop the heat to the lowest steady setting before the eggs go in. Cream held at a hard boil will break and the whites will toughen into rubber before the yolks set.
- Pan choiceUse a wide skillet with a lid or a shallow saute pan, ideally nonstick or well-seasoned, so the eggs release cleanly onto the platter. A 10-inch pan holds six eggs in one layer; anything smaller and they will run together.
- CreamThe recipe says only "cream." Heavy cream is the safer choice, as half-and-half and light cream are more prone to curdling when brought to the boiling point.
- TimingSix eggs basted with hot cream set in roughly 4 to 6 minutes for soft yolks. Pull them when the whites are opaque and the yolks still shiver; they carry over on the hot platter.
- The cheeseTwo tablespoons is a light seasoning rather than a proper cheese sauce. A dry grating cheese such as Parmesan or aged Gruyere dissolves smoothly; the recipe has you stir it into the cream left in the pan until melted, so keep the heat low or pull the pan aside so the cheese does not overheat.
- ReductionAfter the eggs come out there may be very little cream left. If the pan looks dry, add a spoonful or two of fresh cream before the cheese so you have something to pour.
- YieldSix eggs serve three at lunch, two if it is the only dish. Hot buttered toast catches the sauce, though the recipe calls only for a hot platter.