eggs three ways: a tutorial in egg-cookery

Note: This post was previously published here as a part of my freelance work, and was written by my darling boyfriend, Adam. 

There is no other ingredient as versatile, ubiquitous and universally-loved as the humble chicken egg.  Japanese, Moroccan, Italian—name a cuisine and there’s undoubtedly an egg at the center of it. 

Above all no culinary culture is more egg-centric than French.  A French chef’s tall pleated hat (picture Chef Boyardee’s headgear) traditionally has 100 folds in it, each one representing a way to cook an egg.  It’s also said the great classical French chefs held eggs in such high regard that they evaluated a prospective new hire based on his or her ability to cook a simple omelette.

Indeed, egg-cookery is deceptively nuanced, requiring precision and finesse to do well.  And with the incredible eggs from Sandy Ridge Farms available in our CSA’s, there’s always opportunity to practice. Below are some tips to help elevate your egg game.

Perfectly Poached Eggs

1. Fill a 4-quart pot nearly full with cold water and bring to a gentle simmer.  Sprinkle in some salt and stir in about 1/4 cup of distilled vinegar.

2. Stir the water vigorously in a circular motion to create a vortex. Crack the eggs (no more than two or three at a time to avoid crowding) into the center of the vortex.  The centrifugal force—coupled with the slight acidity from the vinegar—will prohibit the eggs whites from dissipating, keeping the eggs, well…egg-shaped.

3. Allow the eggs to cook in the simmering water for two to three minutes.  Gently spoon them out with a slotted spoon and check to ensure the whites are set.  You can also carefully prod the yokes with your finger to feel how cooked they are.  If you’re like us, and like your yokes runny, you’ll want your poached eggs to give only the slightest resistance.  For a harder cooked egg, poach until the yokes feel springy or firm.

4. Carefully spoon the eggs onto some paper towels to sop up any excess water and serve immediately.

The Perfect Sunny-Side Fried Egg

1. Place a non-stick sauté pan on low heat and give it a few minutes to get hot.  Drop a tablespoon of butter into the pan.  If you’re at the proper temperature, the butter should froth and foam almost instantly.  If it doesn’t, increase the heat slightly.  This foaming action of the butter is your cue that the pan is at the ideal temperature to fry the perfect egg.

2. Crack an egg carefully into the pan.  The whites should be able to spread out a little before they set.

3. Turn the heat down as low as your stove will go, and let the whites cook slowly from the bottom up, until they are fully set. Pay particular attention to the denser portion of white (called the internal albumen) surrounding the yolk, this will be the last part of the white to cook. Be patient, this will take about five minutes.

4. After the internal albumen is set, carefully transfer the egg from the pan using a spatula.  Inspect the bottom of the egg. Is it perfectly white, with no browning whatsoever?  If so, congratulations; you cooked the perfect sunny-side up egg, which is no easy feat.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 medium onion

2 large portabella caps

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup cold water

1/2 all purpose flour

1/2 unsalted butter, cold

Directions:

For the crust:

1. Dissolve the salt into the water and place in the freezer to chill.

2. Cube butter into 1” pieces and scatter on top of the flour in a large mixing bowl.  Using a pastry blender, break up the butter until it creates pea-sized pieces.

3. Remove water from freezer and incorporate it into the dough, using a fork to work it around.  Add the water incrementally until the dough appears shaggy and not fully mixed. The biggest mistake you can make with pie crust is adding too much water to hold it together. This will detract from the crust’s flaky texture. 

4. Lay out a 2’ piece of plastic wrap.  Form the dough into a ball, smushing it together with your hands, and transfer it from the bowl to the plastic wrap.

5. Fold the sides of the plastic wrap tightly around the dough ball and wrap it up like a burrito to help bind the dough. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

6. Roll the dough 1/8” thick on a floured surface.  You should be able to see little pockets of butter in the crust.

7. Press the dough into a 12” pie dish. Fold the extra trimmings around the edges and pinch closed.Pre-bake for 25 minutes at 375 F.

For the quiche:

1. Dice the onion and sauté in olive oil over medium heat.  As the onions begin to brown, add sliced portabella caps and cook until nicely browned.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Transfer into precooked pie crust.

3. Whisk together eggs and milk and pour over mushroom and onion filling into the pie crust.

4. Bake at 375 F for 35 to 45 minutes or until the eggs are set in the center.

snapshots from a shared blogosphere

Today, I’m excited to announce a new project that I recently took part in. We all know (or you should) how much I love food, especially international cuisines. So I’ve teamed up with a group of bloggers around the world to stop and drop on the same day, at the same time, to photograph what we were eating. 

The Lineup:

Jessica, San Francisco, 8:00am

Me, Philadelphia, 11am 

Julie, London, 4pm

Judith, Seoul, midnight

It’s amazing what a cuisine will say about a culture, and this project has me itching to go eat my way around the world. Food is something people want to share with each other because it’s a deep rooted and meaningful piece of ourselves. The memories you have from being young, the meals your mom used to make, the restaurants you visited with your best friends in high school - traditions and memories develop around food, and the way in which each culture does it is unique. 

Here in Philadelphia on a Saturday morning, I had four friends walking in the door. As they arrived, I was putting the finishing touches on a brunch spread I had prepared using my favorite local and organic ingredients. For me, two things are important when it comes to food: home cooked and ethically-sourced. It’s not necessarily the most common way to consume food in this country, but it is one that is held in high regard. People here love a home cooked meal. And people here love food they can feel good about. Also, it should be noted that brunch is a very American thing…a brilliant custom if you ask me.

The Menu:

Baked Ricotta: made with Wholesome Dairy Farm’s Grass-Fed Raw Milk and Dutch Way Dairy Heavy Cream

Maitake Mushroom & Egg Scramble: mushrooms sourced from Greensgrow Farm and Sandy Ridge Farm eggs

Homemade Bloody Mary’s: made with tomatoes sourced at Greensgrow Farm, home brewed pickles, Clover Creek Cheese Cellar Pirate Blue Cheese, and Sky Vodka

Rosemary and Sel Di Gris Popovers: made with rosemary sourced in Philadelphia’s famous Italian Market, Sel Di Gris purchased from The Meadow in NYC, King Arthur Organic Flour, and Wholesome Dairy Farm’s Grass-Fed Raw Milk

Home-brewed Iced Tea: with ginger, chamomile, cinnamon sticks, clove, rose hip, and Walt's Swarmbustin' honey. 

Peach Preserves: made by Fifth of a Farm

We sat around the table for a good two hours. There were several foreigners in the group - something that is very common in our melting pot of a country - and the conversation went from talking about one person’s country to the next. That’s the lovely thing about brunch, you sit and enjoy the food, and then you sit some more and enjoy each other. It’s a long drawn-out custom that is perfect for the weekend, and a good way to enjoy the company of friends. I should also mention that at my house, dogs are always welcome, so we had three dogs playing underfoot and providing us with plenty of intermittent laughs. 

And that is how we Philadelphians do it. Head on over to Thread & Bones to see what was simultaneously occurring in the culinary worlds around the globe.

fall quiche: winter squash, kale, and fresh ricotta on fillo dough

A recent farmer's market trip resulted in two winter squash, a bunch of kale, 4 shallots, a tub of fresh ricotta, and 10 million ideas as to what I could do with them. I hadn't made a quiche in a while, and settled on a trying a fall version with fillo dough and almond milk to make it healthier. It's such a beautiful, rustic, and down-home dish that I thought a skillet would be the perfect touch.

Ingredients:

4 Shallots (sliced)

1/2 Large Sweet Onion (sliced)

6 Stems of Kale (chopeed)

2 Winter Squash

1/2 Tsp Mustard Powder

2 Pinches of Dried Thyme

1 1/4 Cup Almond Milk - Unsweetened

1 1/2 Cup Fresh Ricotta

10 Fillo Dough Sheets

4 Eggs

Salt & Pepper

Olive Oil

Cast Iron Skillet

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and thaw fillo dough sheets.

2. Peel and cube winter squash. Spread out cubes on a cooking sheet. Season with minimal olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme.

3. Saute onion and shallots until they being to appear see through. Add chopped kale with a dash of water to steam.

4. Line cast iron skillet with fillo dough sheets, basting with olive oil and alternating direction every two layers.

5. Beat together egg, almond milk, ricotta, mustard, salt, and pepper with a mixer.

6. First layer kale mixture into you pan, then squash, and then pour egg mixture over the top.

7. Stick you pan in the oven and bake for about an hour or until top turns crispy brown.

salmon & chive stuffed breakfast pastries

It was Adam's birthday this past Sunday. We were out till dawn, warranting a late morning sleep in. I let him rest and finally dragged myself out of bed to whip him up something special. I had been plotting these stuffed breakfast pastries and so everything was already in my fridge. It took about thirty minutes to throw everything together, and I have to say, they were pretty tasty. 

Ingredients (serves 2)
4 large eggs

4 puff pastry shells

4 oz smoked salmon

3/4 cup smoked gouda, grated

1/3 cup creme fraiche

10 small chive stalks, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

juice from 1/2 lemon

Directions

1. Let your pastry shells defrost for about 30 minutes, and preheat your oven to 450F.

2. Lay the pastry shells out on a greased baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Mix together salmon, gouda, creme fraiche, chives, salt, and lemon juice in a small bowl.

4. Cut out the center top of your pastries and fill with the salmon mixture . Close the top back up so that everything will melt inside from the heat of the freshly baked pastry.

5. Fry eggs in olive oil and place on top.

weekly scenes

It's funny how calm these photos seem when the past week has felt like no such thing. I guess they are there to remind me that there were some still moments amongst the chaos. But of course that healthy mix is what I thrive on. Can't wait to see what crazy, life living fun comes next. Until then:

1, 2, & 7. Whitewashed walls and rustic decor at the studio/home of Tara Chumpelik

3. Early Sunday morning trips up to NYC warrant a good coffee

4 & 5. Beautiful scenes at work & fun new washes

6. A sleepy morning with homemade omelettes and lots of nuzzling

7. Fashion's Night Out prep :)