BAKED SAVORY CUSTARD WITH CHEESE

Baked Savory Custard With Cheese image

Provided by Mark Bittman

Categories dinner, easy, appetizer, side dish

Time 45m

Yield 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 8

Ingredients

2 cups cream, half-and-half or milk
1 sprig thyme, optional
1 clove garlic, optional
3 eggs plus 2 yolks
Pinch cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated semihard cheese, like Gruyère, Comté or Emmenthal
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Steps:

Put cream in a small pot with thyme and garlic, if you're using them. Cook just until it begins to steam. Heat oven to 300 degrees and set a kettle of water to boil.
Put eggs, cayenne and salt in a medium bowl and whisk or beat until blended; stir in the cheese. Remove thyme and garlic from cream, then add cream gradually to egg mixture, whisking constantly. Pour mixture into a 1-quart dish or into 4 ramekins or custard cups.
Put dish or ramekins in a deep baking pan and pour boiling water in, to within about 1 inch of top of dish or ramekins. Bake until mixture is not quite set; it should jiggle a bit in middle. This will take about 30 minutes for ramekins and longer for baking dish; also, cream sets faster than milk. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold within a few hours of baking.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 581, UnsaturatedFat 19 grams, Carbohydrate 4 grams, Fat 56 grams, Fiber 0 grams, Protein 16 grams, SaturatedFat 34 grams, Sodium 423 milligrams, Sugar 4 grams, TransFat 0 grams