Shelly's Recipe

HAM AND SWISS BAKED EGG SOUFFLES

Category: Breakfast and Brunch

4 eggs, 1 reserved
1 tablespoon milk or half and half
1 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping if desired
1/4 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste (optional)
2 thick slices deli ham, diced (I used Honey Roasted. You could also use quartered Canadian Bacon slices)
2 tablespoons fresh minced red pepper, if desired
1 8-ounce tube crescent butter flake dough
Melted butter

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix 3 eggs, milk, and heavy cream in a large plastic or glass mixing jug until well combined. Egg yolks should be completely broken and mixed in. Add shredded Swiss cheese, parmesan, and salt and mix again until thoroughly distributed throughout the egg mixture.

Microwave the egg mixture in 30 second increments on high, stirring after each increment until you have a sort of solid, slightly runny scrambled egg mixture. In my 1000 watt microwave oven, this took 4 increments of 30 seconds.

This tightens the eggs enough so that the dough at the bottom will cook, and the dough at the sides and top will not fall into them. Add diced ham, black pepper and red pepper (if desired), stirring through the egg mixture so evenly mixed throughout. Set aside.

Sprinkle a clean surface with flour, and unroll the crescent dough. Do not separate the pairs of triangles. Instead, pinch with your fingers along the seam so that 2 triangles become 1 square of dough. You will only use 4 out of the 8 triangles included in the tube of dough. Set aside leftover dough, do not discard or pinch together.

Flour the square of dough on both sides, and a rolling pin. Roll out the dough, turning dough once clockwise after each roll. Always roll in the same direction, directly out from yourself, until you have a square that is approximately 6 x 6.

Melt about a tablespoon of butter in the microwave. Brush melted butter inside two 4 inch ramekins, and then carefully line each with the 6×6 square of dough, leaving excess hanging over the edge of the ramekin. Fill each ramekin and dough with equal amounts of egg mixture. Sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese, if desired. Fold dough over the egg mixture so it is no longer hanging over the sides of the ramekin.

Break and whisk the remaining egg, then brush over dough in each ramekin. This will give the dough a golden color and shine as it bakes. Place ramekins on the center of a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 15 minutes. While the souffles are baking, roll the remaining crescent dough to package specifications. After 15 minutes, remove tray from oven and place the spare rolled crescents onto the baking tray around the ramekins.

Return to oven and bake for 10-12 minutes more, until the souffles are golden brown and bubbly, and egg appears to be solidly cooked.

The remaining crescents may need a few extra minutes, so remove the ramekins from the tray and return the tray to the oven, if necessary.

Allow the souffles to cool for approximately 5 minutes. You may eat the souffles directly in the ramekins, or remove them and serve on a plate. They should remove easily since the ramekin was brushed with butter. Serves 2, easily doubles or triples