Eggs lesson 2: Scrambled eggs

This should be easy right? I mean, how hard is it to scramble an egg?

Reasons your scrambled eggs are tough and rubbery: you are cooking them too long at too high a temperature. Eggs are mainly protein and proteins like to be handled gently.

So, how do you make creamy scrambled eggs?

1. Lightly scramble your eggs in a bowl with a fork (whisks incorporate too much air).

2. Heat your NON-STICK (it’s just easier in a non-stick) pan over low to medium-low heat. Got that? Keep the temp relatively LOW.

3. This is optional but you can add some butter to the pan. Like a teaspoon or two. It sorta prevents the eggs from sticking… Let it foam up and then…

4. Put eggs in pan and scramble with your spatula or what have you. Want big curds? Scramble less often. Small curds? Mix it up more often.

5. Want them even more creamy? Yep – add butter, milk or cream to the pan. You could to this in step 1 as well.

6. This is the key – turn the heat off when the eggs are set, but still a little underdone (watery looking). The residual heat will continue the cooking. You can add your seasoning (and cheese!) at this point.

Voila! No more rubber eggs! And when you go out for brunch you will realize the eggs you get at your corner diner or $50 brunch buffet are dang nasty compared to the ones you can make at home.

 

Why use shallots?

So often I come across recipes that call for shallots – a tablespoon here, a teaspoon there. And to be honest, for most of my cooking-life, I’ve just substituted red onions. The reason for this is sheer laziness and also the fact that I’m just cheap. Shallots can be pricey!

So anyway…shallots are more or less, a milder onion (google a better definition if you must). There are subs out there where you use a certain ratio of garlic to onion. I kind of say screw it to this idea and just use an onion (didn’t I just say I am lazy?). A long time ago, I heard that when you refrigerate an onion (like when you have a leftover half), it causes the onion to taste milder, hence more like a shallot. I’ve always bought into this idea since I almost always have a leftover onion on hand…whether or not it is really true…

Ok. There are a few applications where you really want to use an actual shallot and substitutes just won’t cut it:

1. In a sauce. Reason? Shallots break down and disintegrate into the sauce. Makes a smoother sauce. Don’t substitute here.

2. In a vinaigrette. Onions are just too overpowering. And the shallot sub is just too strong here too.

Extra tip: shallots are often way cheaper – and larger – at ethnic markets. I have no idea why. But load up when you are there. 🙂

Boiling vs simmering – which to use?

Boiling is appropriate for some applications, simmering for others. Below are some quick guidelines:

Boiling is good for:
1. Pasta – to keep the pasta constantly moving (so it doesn’t stick) and to speed up cooking time
2. Non-starchy, non-delicate vegetables – to speed up cooking time. Vegetables need to be cooked quickly to preserve their color and texture.
Simmering is good for:
1. Animal proteins like meats and eggs – this is due to the nature of their proteins – at higher cooking temperatures, more moisture is squeezed out as the proteins contract causing the eggs/meat to be tough. Remember this when making hard boiled eggs or when poaching chicken for chicken salad.
2. Starchy vegetables like potatoes as well as delicate vegetables like brussels sprouts – boiling water is too rough and causes the vegetable to break apart.
3. Long cooking vegetables like beets are also better at a simmer – since it takes a long time for the center of the vegetable to come up to the same temperature as the exterior.

 

A few other tips:
What is the difference between boiling, rolling boil and a full boil? For cooking purposes, these all generally means the same thing.

 What is poaching? Cooking -usually animal protein – in barely simmering water. Remember that proteins don’t react well to boiling so keep it at a very low simmer – like…barely bubbling at all.

Always start with cold water – It is often recommended to bring a pot of cold water to a boil or simmer, not warm/hot water. The reason for this is that the warm/hot water can pick up off flavors from your pipes and your hot water heater. So…it is best to start with cold water.

Hope this helps improve your cooking! 🙂

 

A Lesson in Eggs – The Hard Boiled Variety

Alright. I’m going to try something new and see if it will keep me interested. Originally, I started this blog to keep track of recipes. It progressed into something more and then got difficult and tiresome to maintain. I also…am tired of blogs in general. Recipe after recipe after recipe. Nothing new but a change in ingredients. Sure, people are making some fantastic things. And also are showing off their fabulous cameras and mad photography skills.  I’m thinking in a new direction – maybe a “back to basics” approach. Cooking based on technique – not recipes. How to do simple things – make sauces. Choose the best ingredients. Something like that.

So here goes. Today I’m starting with eggs.

Eggs:

Brown vs white? The difference between brown eggs vs white vs blue is breed of the chicken. The end.

Should you refrigerate eggs? If you are in the US, yes.  The reason is that in the US, during production, eggs are rinsed which washes away a natural protective coating on the egg. A new coating is added, but again, it’s not the egg’s natural protective coating.  This process doesn’t happen in other countries and is why you may see eggs sitting out un-refrigerated (also, they have less government mandates). Of course, keeping eggs refrigerated will always keep them fresher longer. But this explains a little bit why you may see un-refrigerated eggs in your travels.

Color of the yolk is dependent upon the type of feed given to the bird.

How to determine egg freshness:

Sure, you can use the date on the carton. But how often do you have a package in the fridge that is one, two, or dear heavens, 4 weeks past the expiration date? You could throw them out. But if you are cheap like me, you could throw caution to the wind and use them anyway.

One way to find out if the eggs are still usable is to submit them to the float test – submerge the eggs in a bowl of cold water (make sure it’s a bowl deep enough to be able to submerge an egg standing on end). If the egg stands up, but doesn’t float, it is old but still usable. If it floats, discard it. The reason that older eggs float is due to the fact that as the egg ages, an air pocket is created in the egg.

Now, just cause the egg floats, that doesn’t mean it is rotten per se. It just means that is more likely to be bad. The reason is that as the egg ages, carbon dioxide contained in the white escape through the pores of the shell and oxygen and other gases seep in. The loss of carbon dioxide makes the egg more alkaline and thus more susceptible to bacteria.

You can see the aging of the eggs after you crack them open too (this is after you have determined your old eggs don’t float, of course). Egg whites are made of two different parts – a thicker white around the yolk and a thinner white beyond that. In older eggs, the white is thinner all around – you won’t see the distinction between the thicker and thinner white parts. Additionally, the yolk of older eggs begins to flatten.

What about all that other stuff like cage-free, no hormones, etc? I’m not even going to discuss that. Kind of up to you to research and decide what is important for you. For me, I pick cage-free, no hormones.

Egg size? For most baking applications, you want large eggs but pay attention to what the recipe calls for. Extra large, jumbo, etc could screw up your baking so just be aware.

Egg yolk vs egg white: The fat is in the yolk. This is where the emulsifying power (lecithin) of the egg is. The egg yolk is responsible for making sauces and baked goods creamier. The yolk also contains a good majority of the egg’s vitamins and other nutrients and a little less than half the protein. The white is the part that when whipped, creates airy structures and rise (think Angel Food Cake).

On to cooking…

Hard Boiled Eggs

The trick to making perfect hard boiled eggs is that you don’t actually boil your eggs – this causes your eggs to be tough. Simmer instead

Using older eggs means easier peeling because of the air pocket (mentioned above). Remember that the air pocket will be at the wide end of the egg – so might want to start at that end for easier peeling.

Salting water helps to coagulate egg faster. Up to you if you want to do this/think it is necessary (for the record, I’ve never done it).

Two good ways to create perfect hard boiled eggs:

Cold water method (this requires you to be paying more attention to the cooking process):
Put eggs in cold water. Bring water up to a boil. When it comes to a boil, turn it off, cover and let eggs sit for:
12 minutes for hard boiled
10 minutes for medium boiled
5 minute for soft boiled

Immediately place eggs into ice bath to stop cooking. This also prevents the grey/green ring on the yolk.

You can see with this method that you need to be around at the moment the water comes to a boil in order to turn the heat off.  Which makes things harder to control if you want soft boiled. However, you can put cold eggs straight from the refrigerator into the pot, which is a plus

Hot water method:

With this method – you need to bring the eggs up to room temperature to avoid them cracking when you put them in the hot water. But overall, you have more control over how cooked your eggs are.

Bring a pot of water up to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer. Place eggs gently into water using a large spoon. Timing:

12 minutes for hard boiled

10 minutes for medium boiled

8 minutes for soft boiled.

Again, stop the cooking process by putting the eggs into an ice bath.

The advantage of this method is that you don’t have to be watching to turn the heat off when the water comes to a boil.

Hope this helps!

Mushroom Aged Gouda Tart

In the seemingly neverending quest to use up stuff from the freezer/fridge/pantry, I made this tart, and I finally used up that super expensive Dufours puff pastry!! Which I gotta say, was quite a bit better than the usual Pepperidge farm.

I used the following:

1 sheet puff pastry rolled out

6 oz sherried crimini mushrooms (sauteed mushrooms and thyme, deglazed pan with sherry)

a few tablespoons mascarpone

a few ounces shredded aged gouda

minced sage

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Roll out puff pastry – score edge 1/4 inch from edge. Layer with mascarpone, aged gouda, sherried mushrooms and sprinkle with sage. Throw in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Verdict: Pretty tasty!

I’m back…sorta.

So a few years ago I started this blog cause I wanted to keep track of recipes I had made. Then…I started to get sucked into the whole blogging thing – arranging food for semi decent pictures (I was even considering buying a super expensive camera JUST for this purpose). I spent time trying to market the blog and spent lots of time writing content. And then…it wasn’t fun anymore and became an obligation. So instead, I’m just going to keep this as a personal food diary. That’s it.

We’ll see how long this lasts…

Guacamole

Guac the way I make it (more or less)

We’ve been making a ton of guacamole lately. Which is kinda weird for us – not something we usually eat. Thought I’d post the recipe here.

Do you really need a recipe for guacamole? Probably not. It’s kinda like salsa – add a little of this, a little of that and voila. But anyhoo, here it is just for fun:

Guacamole

Ingredients:

1 Haas Avocado (ok, those ones usually in the store) – a little squishy to the touch

1 medium sized tomato seeded and chopped

1 T red onion or so

1 clove of garlic minced (pressed, whatever)

1 jalepeno seeded (wuss) and chopped

1/2 lime

1 T or so (give or take) cilantro chopped

salt. Do.Not.Forget.To.Salt.Your.Food

Steps:

Combine. Eat it. The end.

Pasta with Peas and Prosciutto in a Mascarpone Cream Sauce

Sometimes, you need an easy weeknight meal. And this can be an easy weeknight meal with just a smidge of forethought.

This dish comes together in the time that it takes to boil pasta PROVIDED you have some roasted garlic. So just make sure you have that ready, m’kay?

How to roast garlic: preheat your oven to 350 degrees, take a head of garlic, lop off a little of the stem (not the root) end, put it in a piece of foil, coat it in oil, close up the foil tightly around the garlic and roast for about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and when cool enough to handle – squeeze roasted garlic from each of the cloves.

Store: use right away, freeze or refrigerate in airtight container for up to a week tops.

Anyway, I had a craving for pasta with peas in a cream sauce and came across this one from Wolfgang Puck that sounded like it would fit the bill. He uses goat cheese, I use mascarpone. I like feta, but plain old goat cheese is a little too rank for my likings. Hence the swap.

Pasta with Peas and Prosciutto in Mascarpone Cream Sauce

Adapted from Wolfgang Puck
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
3 T olive oil
1/2 medium white onion (4 oz), chopped fine
2 T of roasted garlic
1.5 cups Chicken stock
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 oz Mascarpone cheese (Puck uses goat cheese here)
1 T butter (Puck uses 4 T…I couldn’t do it)
1/2 t minced fresh oregano
1/2 t minced fresh thyme
12 oz pasta (Puck uses Penne)
8-10 oz shelled peas (Puck uses 8 oz, but a bag has 10 so…)
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes cut into strips
1/4 cup prosciutto cut into strips
chopped flat leaf parsley for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:
1. Bring a large stockpot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook till al dente.

2. While the pasta is cooking, in a large saute pan, heat the oil. Over medium heat, saute the onions until golden.

3. Stir in the garlic, stock, Parmesan, Mascarpone and butter. Cook until the sauce thickens slightly. Season with the oregano, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Add the cooked pasta to the saute pan. Stir to coat.

5. Stir in the peas and tomatoes and cook 1-2 minutes longer. Just before serving, stir in the prosciutto. Adjust seasonings. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley if desired.

Enjoy!

Ms. Pantry Raid

Bagels!

Boiling bagels gives them a crisp crust

Do you like your bagels steamed or boiled? That is the question.

To be honest, before I made them myself, I didn’t have a clue. If someone had told me – I know the place to get the best hand rolled, steamed bagels, I would say GREAT! Lead the way! Being not from Bagel-land, I had no idea what makes a great bagel. A little research has unearthed the fact that bagel afficionados prefer the boiled bagel. It’s the way they “used to do it” before places with the 6 inch Cinnamon Crunch bagel took over the world (not naming any names here).

What does boiling do exactly? Well, it gives the bagel a little bit of a chewy crust. And really, you when you make these, you will realize this makes all the difference in the world. The water doesn’t really penetrate very far into the dough during boiling (something about the starches gelatinizing), so there is this very slight crust that is formed that forms when baking. You will notice the little bit of crunch on the crust that you just don’t get from steamed bagels. And the bagels themselves are chewier. To be honest, they rule. The little bit of crust is the “holy cow – these are so much better” that willl set your homemade, boiled bagels apart from the ones you get at the local bagel shop (well, alright, unless you are lucky enough to live by a place that actually boils their bagels. Most don’t though  – it is too labor intensive a process).

Next up, of course, there is the water controversy. As in, “bagels can only be made from water from Brooklyn. The End”. Well, what’s a Chicaogoan to do? I mean, I COULD import water like this Bagel place. Alas, I think good old Chicago tap will have to do.

Alright, making your own bagels takes time, but it isn’t hard. It is a two day process. Which is actually ok because you want your bagels fresh, first thing in the morning, right? So get to it. You won’t be disappointed.

The recipe I used is from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread, which, if you haven’t already checked this book out and are interested in baking, GET THIS BOOK PRONTO (and if you don’t want to get the book, head over to Smitten Kitchen for the recipe). It is bread making demystified. And if you are interested in learning bread making with a whole mess of people from around the world, get in on the BBA Challenge (I, personally, cannot bring myself to bake bread every week, but I will s-l-o-w-l-y work my way through the book on my own).

Oh – one note – I caramelized some onions to use as a topper. I would not recommend doing that. They are just way too greasy. Instead – I would probably purchase onion flakes or some sort of dehydrated onion product.  Just my two cents.

Finally – storage. I stored mine on the counter on a plate…loosely wrapped in plastic wrap for maybe 3 days. I would have stored them in the freezer, but we had company that weekend and managed to blow through the whole batch pretty quickly. I would not, under any circumstances, stick them in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Ms. Pantry Raid

Balsamic Berries with Mascarpone

Ever been to one of those olive oil/vinegar bars? I know they are popping up all over the place – even the local mall. When I was in Door County, WI a few months ago, I finally visited one.

If you live in, say, the Chicago area, you should be quite familiar with Door County. It’s one of the 20-some destinations in Wisconsin that frazzled Chicagoans escape to on the weekends during the summer. And as such, yes, there is a bit of Chicago-Wisconsin animosity. I know – I used to live there. I readily used the term FIB* and yet…now I am one.

Anyhow, Door County is filled with little shops and restaurants. I am a bit nostalgic about the place – having gone there almost yearly since birth (in my pre-FIB days). As I said previously, on my most recent trip, I came across a little olive oil/vinegar bar called Fish Creek Oilerie. They had all kinds of oils and vinegars to sample. I came across their aged balsamic – did a shot and…swoon! This is some of the best balsamic vinegar I’ve ever had. Especially for the price. So I scarfed up a bottle.

Now what to do with it? Tons of things. I’ve been meaning to glaze some chicken with it. But for today, we’re going to throw it on some berries.

I wish I could give a recipe for this, but I really don’t have one. I eyeballed everything.

More or less, this is what I did:

Ingredients:
Berries
Balsamic Vinegar
Sugar
Mascarpone
Vanilla Extract

Sliced some berries.

Poured a few tablespoons of balsamic into a bowl. Added a smidge of sugar. Tossed in the berries and stirred to coat.

Then I grabbed another bowl – threw in maybe half a cup of mascarpone cheese. Then maybe 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla. And maybe some sugar. Stirred it up.

Then I put the berries in a serving dish and served them with a dollop of mascarpone.

Good stuff! Enjoy!

Ms. Pantry Raid

*For your education: FIB.