Cloud Souffle for Breakfast

Narrative by Liz & Mel
Recipes by JoAnn

For a born-and-bred hostess like Sookie, if you happen to have a warm-blooded guest sleep over, cooking a nice breakfast is a must. Served with toast and fresh fruit, this egg dish looks like it came straight out of a magazine, but it’s a breeze to whip up, taking the focus off your bedhead.

A recurring thread throughout the novels is Sookie’s ingrained sense of hospitality. Even when unwelcome and uninvited, she is compelled to offer her guests refreshments and feels badly if circumstances – say, the need to recover from an attempt on her life – causes her to neglect that courtesy.

Serves 1

Ingredients:
2 eggs, separated
Sea salt
cream (2 fl oz)
grated Gruyere cheese (1 1 /2 oz)
Freshly ground black pepper
(1/2 oz) unsalted butter

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter an individual ramekin per person. Beat the egg whites. When they start to become stiff, add salt to taste. Continue beating until they hold their peaks well.

2. Spoon the egg whites into the ramekin. With the back of a soup spoon, make a well in the middle of the egg whites, pushing the egg whites up the sides of the ramekin. Carefully drop the 2 egg yolks into the well.

3. Then add the cream and Gruyere. Grind over some black pepper and add the knob of butter. Smooth the egg whites back over the hole.

4. Bake in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes. The top should be lightly golden, and when you break the crust, the yolks and cream should be soft and hot.

Serve with crusty bread to dip into the yolks and cream.