Archive for ‘food basics’
22 items.
Jan18
Since part of getting back into the swing of things this year meant watching what (and how much and when) I eat, I’ve been paying more attention to labels so that the info I’m entering into MyFitnessPal.com is as accurate as possible.
And while I always knew, and understood, the idea that we eat with our eyes as well as our mouths, it really hit home over these first two weeks with my occasional afternoon snack of chips and queso.
One week we had the large, restaurant-style chips in the house and a portion of those is approximately 7 chips. The next week, having run out of the larger chips (they were left over from holiday entertaining and snacking), I ended up buying the smaller bite-sized rounds.
Imagine my surprise when the same calorie count (140, for the curious) translated to 24 round chips.
Why is this relevant? Well, while quality should always trump quantity, sometimes the hand-to-mouth comfort of larger portions makes us feel better than the righteousness of a smaller portion. In this case, though, the portions are equal, it’s the perception of the many pieces in one versus the few in the other.
(Yes, there’s plenty to be said on meeting emotional needs with food–this isn’t a post about that and I sympathize with those in Overeaters Anonymous who struggle with just this issue.)
In fact, 24 of the rounds almost felt like too much. I’ve even been known to only have 12 (yes, I counted) and been perfectly satisfied. But there’s very little chance that I would have settled for only 3.5 of the larger chips. I mean, come on, would you?
Have you ever heard the phrase ‘your eyes are bigger than your stomach’?
It’s not your eyes that are the problem, it’s your mind. Taking the chip example and putting into dinner mode, think about the size of your average dinner plate: 10+ inches.
Now place a deck of cards (for meat/protein), a 1 cup measure (veggies) and a 1/2-cup measure (grains or potatoes) on it.
Swap out that whopper of a dinner dish for the smaller salad plate (8 inches) and place the same representations onto the plate.
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The dinner plate on the left looks positively naked while the salad plate is full. And it’s not unusual to feel short-changed with a small item on a large plate. That perception of being deprived or “gypped” by a near-empty plate is what leads to loading up double portions or going back for seconds. And soon a habit is formed that a 12 oz steak is a single portion (not more than 2!) or that if you’re plate isn’t filled you won’t be full.
Switch to a smaller plate, though, and a lot of those habits are easier to break.
We still keep our dinner plates around, of course. They’re great for holidays when a little indulging is okay. When you’re having a cookout they’re great for serving kebabs or acting as serving dishes for smaller dinners. Or under a soup-bowl to hold a slice of bread or corn muffin.
But we don’t use them very often for dinner and we don’t miss them, then, either.
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Jan09
I must confess a major pet peeve when it comes to menus that list things like Strawberry Bisque or Sweet Potato Bisque. Why? Because bisque is a specific family of soups–not a generic name for cream soups that you want to make sound uppity!
Traditionally, bisques are only found in the varieties of lobster, crab, shrimp and crawfish. Notice a theme there? It’s all shellfish. And those shells are what make bisque bisque and not just cream of lobster soup.
Our ancestors were crafty people who didn’t like anything to go to waste. While I’m not certain they new shellfish exoskeletons are rich in calcium, but they did know that after the shells were used to make a rich stock for the liquid portion of the soup, the shells could be ground and used to thicken the soup as well.
Which is why I find the use of “bisque” for creamy vegetable, fruit and other soups a show of the writers ignorance in the history of the food they are selling or supporting.
If you’ve got a mind to make your own old-fashioned bisque, make sure you’ve got a serious food processor handy to do the job. These days, though, it’s seldom you find a bisque recipe that calls for the shells to be used for thickening, instead a roux, rice or cornstarch can be used to lessen the work of the cook while still yielding a rich, smooth soup perfect for a cold winter’s supper.
Over the summer I’d picked up a few pounds of crawfish from our local seafood market and made sure to save the shells for future use. While I didn’t make the New Orleans-style crawfish bisque that takes 3 days and stuffs the heads with some of the tail meat mixture, I did make a wonderful crawfish bisque in the style of lobster, crab or shrimp bisques.
Using the Shrimp Bisque recipe from Ina Garten as my model, I did a few things differently, aside from substituting my shellfish.
First, I made my own seafood stock. Considering it’s tough to find vegetable stock most weeks at our local grocery store, seafood stock was out of the question. Instead, just take your shells and load them up into a big pot with a couple of quartered onions, some celery stalks (the little pale inside ones work great for stocks), a handful of baby carrots and a bay leaf and let it simmer until you’ve captured as much flavor from those shells as you can. (A couple of hours.)
If you’re crawfish were well seasoned to begin with you really don’t need to add anything extra seasoning-wise, it’s bound to be plenty spicy on it’s own. (This also means hold off on adding heat to your soup until the broth is in as you might end up over-doing it.) Also, I had no need to add water to make up the necessary volume. In fact, I’ve got a couple of quarts of very spicy crawfish stock in the freezer, now, ready for the next bisque-y day.
Since your crawfish is already cooked, you’re only going to add the meat at the very end and only long enough to heat it through. Going back to the base recipe, this means I purreed my onions/leeks and garlic with the crawfish tail meat and the other chunky ingredients cold (okay, room temperature), then made the roux and concocted the soup as I would any other soup of that nature, stirring in the liquid ingredients and adding the pureed mixture at the end. If additional thickening is required, a little rice flour works great and fast.
I reserved some crawfish tails, pre-puree, and placed them into the soup plate before ladling the bisque around them. Add a slice of french bread and you’ve got an amazing, filling supper that will show you what a bisque is all about.
Jan02
It’s a new year and with the starting of a new calendar many folks around the world have all vowed to do one thing: lose weight.
And I saw a statistic the other day that was not all that encouraging for their chances.
Me? While my doctor would love to see that scale go down at my 6-month check-up, I’m not as concerned with the numbers as I might have been before. For me, it’s less about losing weight and more about being healthy.
That’s where moderation comes in.
Todd and I are pretty good about eating the “right” things, 9 times out of 10, but lately we’ve been less concerned about portion size. And if lab rats have taught us nothing, we’ve learned that too much of anything–even the good stuff–can be harmful.
Here’s a for instance for you: A while back I participated in the Game On! Diet
Folks, there’s a reason cows have 4 stomachs–1 is just not enough to deal with all that roughage in one day!
It didn’t help that, by no longer having a gall bladder, my body was just not equipped to handle such large meals in succession anymore. Basically, to say I was uncomfortable by mid-afternoon would be a severe understatement.
But before I swore off the challenge I dug around a bit and found where I’d gone astray (for the record, only 2 of the 5 meals–easily lunch and dinner–required the 2 cups of fibrous veggies) and the rest of the 4-week challenge went just fine (I even managed to lose 5 pounds, and our team won!).
Back to the point, moderation relies on one major factor: awareness. What you’re eating, how much of it and what it’s made of all play a part in this sort of healthy lifestyle choice. So how can you be more aware?
First, write everything down that you eat and drink. Really. You can do this in a notebook or use a hand website/app like MyFitnessPal.com. I started playing around with the latter the week before Christmas and found that if I was committed to writing everything down I was less likely to go grab a cookie from the breakroom because I didn’t want to have to write it down. And the time that I was willing to do so, I really appreciated that cookie a bit more.
Second, think about what really constitutes a portion. A 6 oz steak mike look pretty small on your plate, but it’s technically 2 servings of protein. Some folks like to relate portion sizes to the palm of your hand, the size of your closed fist, etc. but all I have to do is look at the size difference between my hand and Todd’s and know that’s not an accurate guide! If might feel weird, but carry around a 1/2-cup measuring cup for a week or two and visually compare it to the food on your plate will give you a much better idea of what a portion is.
Finally, know what you’re putting into your body. Obviously, if French fries are a regular part of your daily diet, you might want to start substituting something less fried for your side. But even the seemingly “healthy” stuff can do you in if you’re not sure of what’s in it. A salad topped with fat-free dressing might sound like a good thing, until you realize all the chemicals that went into making that dressing could be more harmful than a basic oil and vinegar dressing with, yes, fat (but the good kind of fat). If you’ve got the time to make everything from scratch, more power to you–I don’t and don’t expect anyone else to, either. But educating ourselves about ingredients is a step in the right direction and the Fooducate app is, I think, a great tool for making better choices at the grocery store.
That’s my plan, at least, and if the numbers on the scale go down, that’s great. (If not, you won’t find me boo-hooing, though, because quality of life, to me, is more than a number on a scale.)
Do you have any healthy plans for the upcoming year?
Aug01
Last week we wandered down the soup for all seasons path. This week, let’s talk leafy, green, studded-with-savories salads.
While salads are not restricted to any one time of year, have you ever found yourself really craving their crisp, coolness on a hot summer day? When the thought of heavier food just makes you lose your appetite completely?
our Greek salad to go with last night's Pastitsio
Salads, I think, have a bad reputation among some folks. Either they’re considered rabbit food, “girl” food or, worse, diet food by your traditional carnivores. Not all salads are created equal, though, and one of my favorite salad indulgences is what I call the “Salad Bar” salad.
Inspired, obviously, by the array of options on the standard casual-dining restaurant salad bar, this isn’t a side salad or an opener to a meal, it’s the meal itself!
Here are the basic components:
- Romaine lettuce (iceberg is almost all water, no substance, at least start with a better foundation)
- Diced ham or turkey
- Chopped hard-boiled eggs
- Shredded cheese
- Chopped veggies: mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers
- Crumbled bacon
- Dried fruit like raisins, cranberries or blueberries
- Nuts or sunflower seeds
- and, of course, Croutons and the salad dressing of your choice
This isn’t a complicated salad, but it’s great for a quick mid-week supper.
Jul25
Soup for a Seasons
Don’t relegate your soup suppers to late fall and winter, soups make excellent meals year-round, can be made with just about anything and are virtually fool-proof to boot!
Often when you hear someone reference soups in summer it’s cold soups they’re talking about: vichyssoise or fruit soups used as an appetizer light lunch with salad. Frankly, cold soups leave me… cold; they often have odd textures and incomplete flavors. Instead, we have hot soups once a week or so, paired with warm rolls, a salad or sandwiches depending on the soup.
One of the most common reasons for making soup is a what-are-we-going-to-do-with-this vegetable from the farmers’ market. Frequently it’s the quart of field peas or beans that seemed like a good idea until you get home and make your menu. But plenty of other vegetables–fresh, frozen or dried–make excellent soup starters.
I like to make my soups in the slow cooker
The other awesome thing about soups is that, really, you don’t need much of any sort of recipe. It’s pretty difficult to screw up a batch of soup, but having some pointers certainly won’t hurt:
- Start with your primary ingredient: beans, lentils or dried peas, chicken pieces or stew meat are good places to start.
- Add flavorings: an onion, a couple of garlic cloves (minced), salt, pepper and a bay leaf are my go-to flavor choices for almost all my soups.
- Finish with enough stock to cover all the ingredients. When setting up your soup the night before and using anything that sucks up liquid (e.g. dried beans, pasta or grains), wait to add your broth or stock until just before starting the soup.
Now that’s just the basics. You can add any number of additional ingredients that you have on hand. Toss in some diced tomatoes, carrots and green beans. Try hard squashes or potatoes added to your basic soup with a bit of nutmeg or garam masala. Maybe some kale or spinach towards the end of the cooking time, or barley or quinoa. Sliced-up sausage adds amazing flavor, as do some smoked chicken wings or ham hocks–perfect when you want the flavor without meat being the main course.
So go ahead and ignore the “conventional wisdom” of anti-soup summers and toss together a soup for an easy meal this week.
Jun13
I’ve often said that our hands and the best kitchen tools every made. They can do so many things and are always (sorry, I have to) close at hand. They can break items down and combine others together. They can mix, measure and mold. And it is those same hands that guide and utilize all the rest of the tools in our culinary arsenal.
So if hands are the most versatile and we expect so much of them, why should we expect any less of the rest of our tools?
As much as I love kitchen gadgets and little doodads that do specific things in the kitchen, I really love finding multiple uses for those one-trick ponies populating my cupboards and drawers.
Back when I taught cake decorating we’d try to come up with different uses for those shaped cake pans that are very popular for their ease-of-use but, let’s face it, not exactly versatile. If you trace the basic outline of the pan on a spare cake-board or piece of paper you get to see it without all the details. Turn each drawing 90-degrees and you might see something else in the shape that you didn’t see before. Bingo: another use for the same item! Our rule of thumb was trying to get at least 1 use of each tool per dollar spent.
Years (and years) ago I bought a baguette pan. Great for keeping those lovely loaves rounded instead of flat on the bottom but kind of a pain to store and not exactly made for multi-purposing. But! Making meatball subs with leftover albondigas one night with the aim to toast them/melt the cheese without the stuffed rolls losing all that yummy filling, that baguette pan was the perfect tool to hold the subs just right in the oven. And the other night when I was baking English marrow squash stuffed with seafood, that same baguette pan was, again, perfect for keeping the squash halves perfectly positioned.
This weekend, helping my brother get ready for his housewarming party, he had a watermelon I decided to get a little fancy with. Of course, being a bachelor, a melon-baller wasn’t part of his kitchen. In a pinch, we decided to use an ice cream scoop
What single-use kitchen tools have you found other ways to use?
Apr04
Not long ago, a new friend asked me a question that I did not have a ready answer for:
How do you stock a pantry?
The question stumped me because a) I hadn’t (ever?) given the matter much thought–it was just something that we did–and b) it really depends on how you cook.
Still, as the week went on I thought more and more about pantry basics and what tips I could offer her. And if I’m going to answer the question for one person, maybe there are more out there who could benefit from my answers.
Let’s take this group by group, shall we?
Canned Goods
We don’t use a whole lot of canned goods (we prefer frozen veggies to canned, for instance) but there are a few canned items that we keep around for convenience on a regular basis:
- Beans (kidney, white and black–great for a dip or quick soup or stew when you haven’t had the forethought to soak dried)
- Artichoke Hearts
- Coconut Milk
- Roasted Red Bell Peppers (which we use in place of diced tomatoes or any other tomato products, you might want to keep different types of tomatoes on hand in addition to a jar of pasta sauce if that’s something you’re likely to eat often)
- Olives
- Beef and Chicken Stocks
- Peanut Butter and Jelly (even grown ups get those cravings now and then)
- Tuna
- Minced garlic (fresh may be best but we go through so much garlic, it makes more sense to buy it minced in a jar–a big one–than to chop it ourselves practically every night)
Grains, Pasta, etc.
Variety is always good here: grains can easily extend a smaller meal when unexpected guests arrive and are a healthy filler for hungry tummies or when comfort food is desired.
- At least three shapes of pasta noodles: orzo or couscous, rotini or ziti and spaghetti or fettuccine–each type works with different types of sauces and there are plenty of other options available. Buying what you can find in whole wheat is a healthy alternative to the more processed varieties and something we look for.
- Rice, both white and brown, along with arborio if you like risotto
- Barley, quinoa or bulgur wheat (alternatives to rice and great additions to soups)
- Lentils
- Dried beans (the same variety as canned or in place of canned)
- Oatmeal (quick/rolled oats, not instant, for baking OR breakfast; steel cut are also nice if you have the time to prepare them)
Dry Goods
This is a catch-all for whatever doesn’t fit anywhere else, really. Everything from baking supplies to breadcrumbs fall in here.
- Flour (all-purpose at minimum, whole wheat, rice and gram flours are also nice to have on hand)
- Sugars (white, brown–light or dark is mostly personal preference, no matter what the recipe says, and powdered will get you through most scenarios)
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Salt (iodized is okay for the salt shaker but kosher is better for cooking)
- Breadcrumbs (buy plain and season them yourself when needed)
- Cornstarch
- Cornmeal
- Sliced bread or large tortillas for sandwiches
Oils, Vinegars, etc.
All fats are not evil, especially when used in moderation. They help keep your food from sticking as well as add and carry flavors. Vinegars and condiments add all sorts of flavor on their own and are worth keeping a decent variety around.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Peanut or Canola oil (for frying, mostly, if you deep fry at all)
- Vinegars (regular is good for dying Easter eggs or cleaning; apple cider, rice, white wine and red wine are all wonderful for cooking with)
- Soy Sauce (or Teriyaki sauce or both)
- Mustard (we prefer brown or whole grain to yellow)
- Mayonnaise
- Ketchup
- Relishes and chutneys (whatever sounds good, a couple to have on hand to spice up a basic dish)
Miscellaneous
Having covered most of the basics (at least that I can think of at the moment), there are things we keep on hand because we like them more than being necessities.
- Raisins and other dried fruit (for topping salads)
- Sunflower seeds or Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- Croutons
- Chocolate-filled Oreos (a decided weakness)
- Doritos (Todd’s snack of choice)
- Chocolate chips
- Marshmallows
Beyond the Cabinets
Of course, dry goods, cans and boxes are only part of the picture. A well-stocked kitchen also includes the fridge and wherever you keep your produce.
Fridge Forward
You want to keep some obvious basics around and chilled for any recipe contingency.
- Butter (unsalted sticks are the most versatile)
- Milk (fat content or soy-substitutes are up to you)
- Eggs (large eggs are the most common size called for in recipes)
- Sour Cream OR Plain Greek-style Yogurt (we like the latter for health reasons and it’s easy to dress up sweet or savory)
- Cream Cheese
And speaking of cheese, it’s good to have a few types around but which ones and what form to buy? We tend to buy shredded cheddar, mozzarella and grated Parmesan the most often; sliced provolone is Todd’s favorite for sandwiches. Of course, if you own a box grater and a knife you can buy blocks of cheese (which are usually cheaper than the pre-shredded or -sliced) and break them down yourself for greater flexibility.
Fruits and Veggies
Produce is going to depend on seasonality and what you’re cooking. We’re more than happy to buy frozen veggies when fresh isn’t as available, but we love the fresh the best. Fruits we concentrate less on (though Todd has to have his daily banana). Here are some to keep on hand no matter what (fresh or frozen is up to you):
- Onions (yellow or white, mostly, with the occasional red onion thrown in for variety)
- Potatoes (mealy and sweet for baking, waxy for boiling and mashing and red for roasting)
- Bell Peppers, green and red
- Celery
- Tomatoes when is season (off-season fresh tomatoes have zero flavor and aren’t worth the money)
- Lemons and limes
- Ginger
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Green Beans
- Green Peas
- Romaine Hearts
- Spinach
- Kale
- Apples
- Bananas
- Avocado
Some things you’ll only buy every now and then, others (like produce) will need constant replenishment. I didn’t even touch on spices because that’s a post all it’s own and a collection you’ll definitely build over time. And I wouldn’t suggest anyone take this list and buy everything on it in one fell swoop (that would be a serious budget-killer) but to build up to this level over time. If you do, you can make many meatless meals as well as transform any fish, shellfish or meat from boring to extraordinary.
Mar14
I seem to be working on a theme, here, but it wasn’t intentional. Just one of those one-thing-led-to-another processes. This will, however, be the last dip into Escoffier
Why did the chicken go into the oven?
Because there was a blanket of butter waiting for her, of course.
Roast chicken has been experiencing a bit of a revival among foodies. It seems that something so simple and satisfying still takes some sort of skill to pull off well. To that end, I submit Poêling (pronounced PWAWL-ing).
Poêling is roasting but it’s a particular type of roasting. Here’s what the chef, himself, has to say about the method:
Method for Poêling:
Place a layer of Matignon in a deep heavy pan just large enough to hold the piece of meat or poultry; well season, place the item on top of the vegetables and coast well with melted butter. Cover with the lid, place in a not too hot oven and allow to cook gently, basting frequently with the butter.
When cooked, remover the lid and allow the meat or poultry to become well coloured then remove it to a dish and keep covered until required.
Add sufficient clear well flavoured brown veal stock to the vegetables which should not have been allowed to burn, bring to the boil and allow to simmer very gently for 10 minutes. Strain, remove the fat carefully and send the gravy in a sauceboat with the meat which would normally be surrounded with a garnish.
So there’s the big secret: basting with butter.
Now, before anyone starts to talk about a certain Savannah food personality who will remain nameless, please note that I used less than 2 sticks of butter for this recipe and that the resulting gravy is de-fatted before serving. There is a difference between using just enough butter to get the job done and pouring the butterfat straight into ones arteries.
Let’s Poêle, Shall We?
Preheat our oven to 375° Fahrenheit and melt 7 oz of butter ( 1 3/4 sticks) and set aside.
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Prepare the Matignon. Combine your basic mirepoix (2 parts onion, 1 part carrot, 1 part celery) with ham, bay leaves and thyme and sweat together in butter until the ham begins to color a bit and the onions become translucent.
I was, unfortunately, out of celery that evening so substituted a green bell pepper with no ill effects. |
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Add the prepared Matignon to the bottom of a roasting dish. My small clay baker was just a smidgen too snug and the turkey roaster overkill, so I went with a casserole dish deep enough to accommodate the bird, Matignon and the drippings and added a foil cover before placing in the oven. |
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Rinse and pat dry your roasting hen (or whatever else you’d like to poêle). Tuck the wings behind the back (to prevent burning) and truss the legs closed. Season with salt and pepper (most of the flavor comes from the basting liquid and the Matignon below) and place on top of the Matignon. |
Baste the bird with the melted butter, cover with either the lid for the roasting dish or tented foil (to prevent the skin sticking to it) and place into the oven. Baste again every 15-20 minutes until the thigh registers 150° Fahrenheit. By this point you should have run out of the melted butter and be basting with the liquid from the bottom of the roasting dish.
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Remove the cover from the bird and place back into the oven until the thigh registers 160° Fahrenheit. The hope is that in cooking those 10 additional degrees the outside of the bird has turned a lovely golden brown. Here’s the thing, though: it may be more golden, less brown, but take it out anyway because it’s better to have a pale, tasty bird than a pretty, dried out one. All told it took around 2 hours to cook our little 4-pound chicken. |
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Set the poêled chicken aside and reuse that foil to cover it, keeping in the heat while you make the gravy.Pour the Matignon and pan drippings back into your pan from earlier, add beef stock (no real measurement here, but I’d say no more than a cup–you should have plenty of liquid from the pan to work with, too), bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. |
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Strain out the vegetables, ham and bay leaf from the gravy and de-fat what remains. De-fatting can be accomplished by skimming or dipping the edge of a white paper towel onto the top of the liquid and letting it absorb the fat (though that way can take a little while). One of those fat-separating measuring cups would really come in handy with this step! |
Check the finished gravy for flavor (the seasonings from the poultry should make additional salt and pepper unnecessary, but it’s always good to check) and serve.
Poêled Chicken and gravy over Quinoa, with Green Beans
This made for a delicious Sunday supper for us and the carcass went straight into the freezer for gumbo in the not-too-distant future.
Feb28
Well, I can’t speak for the country as a whole, these days, but back in the heyday of Classical French cuisine, frying was THE thing to do.
Escoffier’s The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery
Rambling through old school notes I was reminded of a particular dish that was a lot of fun to make, but it required yet another specific skill: How to Fry an Egg.
As most folks can “fry” an egg quite sufficiently, you might wonder why this is considered a special skill that takes practice and a bit of finesse to complete well.
Here’s the word from the man, himself:
1294 Oeufs Frits — French Fried Eggs
In the long list of ways of preparing eggs, that for fried eggs is relatively insignificant when compared with others. Although fried eggs are used to a great extent for breakfast in England and America, correctly speaking they are Oeufs a la Poele or pan-cooked eggs; in both countries the true fried egg is virtually unknown.
So, if our sunny side ups and over-easys aren’t technically fried eggs in the French sense, how do you fry an egg?
Deep fry it, of course.
Even our chef-instructor was a bit puzzled by how to go about it. Early attempts yielded messy results until he hit upon the seeming trick: to get the oil moving before the egg enters the picture. This makes forming a neat, fried egg with the white enveloping the yolk (which is left liquid) a much easier task.
How to (French) Fry an Egg
- Start with a small pan, like an omelet pan
, with enough depth to contain an inch of oil without overflowing. Heat the oil until just before it begins to smoke–you’ll notice the oil “walking” along the pan, give it a minute or two more before proceeding. Oil that’s not hot enough will cook the yolk before the whites are sufficiently browned while oil that is too hot will, predictably, burn the bits of egg white that you want to coax around the yolk. Prepare a plate lined with paper towels to drain the eggs on once cooked.
- Break an egg onto a saucer. You’re going to fry these one at a time and cracking it directly into the oil encourages splattering and could cause burns. You can season the egg with salt and pepper now, or wait until it’s cooked to season it; I prefer to do it after frying, Escoffier prefers before.
- With a chopstick or wooden spoon, stir the oil rapidly to get it to spin a bit. This turned out to be the secret to making this task easier as the whirlpool effect helps keep the eggs from spreading too much once added to the hot oil.
- Slide the egg from the saucer into the spinning oil.
- Continue stirring the oil, a bit more gently, and scoot the edges of the white closer to the egg yolk.
- As the egg starts to firm up, fold the white over the yolk and keep turning the egg until it sticks.
- Continue to turn the egg as it starts to brown along the edges. It’ll puff up a bit but should not explode.
- Once the egg seems sufficiently done, gently lift it from the oil and transfer it to the towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat with as many eggs as you need for your dish and serve ASAP!
To those not used to this sort of fried egg, it’s like a cross between a poached egg and one sunny-side up. It’s not greasy, despite being deep fried, and it’s a great option for the next time you’re feeling the Eggs Benedict craving.
Of course, I had a different recipe in mind when I wandered down the fried egg rabbit (chicken?) hole. Come back next week to find out what it was! (Though if you follow me on twitter, you might have already seen it!)
