Sous Vide Egg Souffle

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Bring your immersion circulator or sous vide supreme to 156 degrees F. Get your egg station arranged before you start beating, because the assembly goes faster if nothing is missing: 4 doubled sheets of clingfilm, each a little larger than a standard sheet of paper, an approximately 3" round cutter, a stand mixer or hand beaters, kitchen twine, and either a half pan for a sous vide supreme or a small, very heavy object to anchor the soufflés if you are using an immersion circulator. With the sous vide supreme, add enough water so that a half pan set inside the machine, where it should nestle in neatly, barely meets the surface.
2. Whip the egg whites with the salt until the peaks stand firm. Set the cutter on a level work surface, drape 1 sheet of clingfilm over it, and press the film down into the circle to make a hollow. Add beaten white to that hollow until it comes almost to the rim of the cutter.
3. Ease the egg yolk onto the white. Cover the yolk with only enough of the remaining white to hide it. Pull the clingfilm up around the egg like a tiny pouch, then cinch it snugly with twine right above the egg white. Move briskly through the same shaping and tying with the remaining eggs. If you are working with an immersion circulator, secure the pouches to the heavy objects so they stay under the water.
4. Lower the soufflés into the water bath. For a sous vide supreme, set the half pan over them so it holds the soufflés down, then pour water into the half pan to steady it. Set a timer for 24 minutes.
5. Switch the oven to broil. When the 24 minutes are finished, lift the pouches from the bath, untie them right away but gently, and transfer them, tie side up, to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Be careful not to tear the soufflé; a small rubber spatula is handy for nudging it free.
6. Slide the baking sheet onto the oven's middle rack under the broiler, and keep your eyes on it. As soon as the top of a soufflé starts to color, take them out; that may happen anywhere from 2-4 minutes. Pull them before they go too far, or the yolk will stop being runny. Serve immediately over vegetables, with truffles, by themselves, or however you like.