Baked Eggs with Ham, Cheese & Herbs

These are EASY...
So easy. 
They even taste like you did something exotic and gourmet to them.

Baked eggs are sometimes called Shirred Eggs... but I don't think most people know what Shirred is, so I am going with Baked Eggs.  This was easy, but I did manage to overbake the eggs.  I get a bit grossed out of runny egg whites, so in my efforts to make sure that there were no icky whites, I did manage to over do the yolks too.  Just don't over do it... really, it's going to work out and you will impress your family, or whoever you are feeding this morning.

When these come out of the oven, they are HOT, so they will need to rest for about 4-5 minutes, and remember, they will be cooking the whole time they are resting too!  Use a shallow individual dish, and not a deep one like I show in my picture, because it was a bit tricky to eat them safely out of that cute little dish.
Of course, I did serve them when they were still molten hot at my house...
Why am I so impatient? 
Maybe just hungry... and eager... oh yeah, and impatient too.

Butter, softened
2 eggs per ramekin
2 thin slices of ham 
2 Tbsp cream,
2 Tbsp cheese- Parmesan, Asiago, Cheddar- whatever you like & have on hand
1-2 tsp of mixed, minced herbs- chives, thyme, basil, parsley

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter 4 ramekins with the butter.

Lay 1 slice of ham in each ramekin so that it sits flat on the bottom and comes up the sides.  Crack 2 eggs into each ramekin so that the eggs sit side by side on top of the ham slice. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Repeat with remaining eggs. Place the 4 filled ramekins onto a baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake until eggs are just beginning to set up and become opaque, 9 to 10 minutes

.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle the eggs with mixed herbs, then drizzle each ramekin with 1-2 tablespoons of the heavy cream and then sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of the cheese over the top of each. and then return to the oven.

Cook until eggs are just set up but yolks are still runny, 5-6 minutes, or just about to the desired degree of doneness. You could broil the tops to get the cheese to brown, if desired.  Let sit for about 5 minutes to cool slightly before serving.  They will continue to cook while they are cooling. Serve immediately with toast for dunking.