Monday, November 29, 2010

Perfect EGGS

After working in a commercial kitchen for a few months (long story, separate post one day...) I have learnt a few more egg truths:


  • Be generous with the cream in scrambled eggs
  • Forget any poaching gadgets.  Not too deep gently boiling water (add vinegar) and definitely break into a small dish first and lower the egg into the water.
  • I cannot peel a boiled egg anymore without making a mess of it.  Any tips for me?
  • Stop worrying.  They are just eggs and you can always cook another

Regards,
The Larder Keeper.

Previous Post:

I often have a little debate with myself about which five ingredients I would choose to take on a dessert island. I change my mind whenever I taste some incredibly fresh seasonal produce, or a beautifully cooked piece of meat or fish. One thing which always remains on the list is eggs. Although I suppose I should take a chook if I want more than one egg. Would that be cheating?

Fresh quality eggs are essential particularly for dishes like scrambled eggs, omelettes, soufflés, and whipped egg white recipes like meringue and pavlova. You may get away with a less-than-fresh-egg in a cake or added to fish cakes, but it’s all about the freshness of the egg white for other dishes.  While there is quite a difference in various egg prices, if you think of how many meals you can make from one dozen eggs, it’s easy to get over the extra expense for quality, fresh, organic or free range eggs.

A fresh egg should have an upstanding rick yellow yolk, and firm whites. Shell colour means little as it is dependant on the chook rather than an indication of the egg quality. Even the colour of the yolk depends on the chooks diet, and a pale yolk does not mean an inferior egg. In fact, commercial producers use additives to improve yolk colour which we have mistakenly taken for an indicator of quality. Typically ‘all natural’ eggs can include diet supplements such as capsicum and marigold leaf powder. If you can't buy fresh, well-fed, free range eggs from a small local supplier, test a variety of supermarket brands until you find one that offers consistent quality.

Keep eggs refrigerated and use while fresh for best results. The shells are porous and absorb strong odours and flavours so the best way to store them is in a carton in the fridge. Eggs will last for weeks, but as fresh-is-best buy half dozen packs if you don’t use a lot.

If you have your own chooks or forget how long those eggs have been in the back of the fridge, and easy way to test the freshness of an eggs is to place them in a bowl of water. Fresh eggs will generally stay at the bottom of the basin as they only contain a small amount of air whilst older eggs will stand on one end or float to the surface. Even then, they may still be OK to use. As those with their own chooks have learnt, there is nothing worse than being in the middle of a multi-egg recipe and adding a bad egg, and having to throw a bowl full of ingredients away. So it’s a great habit to crack each egg into a small dish first, before adding to the bowl with the other ingredients. As an egg ages, the yolk takes up most of the water from the egg white (albumen). This is a primary reason why an omelette from fresh eggs is always superior. It is the water evaporating from the eggs which make it fluffy. Cloudiness of raw white is due to the presence of carbon dioxide which has not had time to escape through the shell and is an indication of a very fresh egg.

Much to our general horror, small spots of blood are occasionally found in an egg yolk. Never fear, this does not mean the egg has been fertilized and they are fine to use.

Some time ago, everyone watching their weight or with elevated cholesterol eliminated eggs from their diet. Today we understand that there is good and bad cholesterol just like good and bad fats, and thankfully we can continue to eat and cook with these delicious and nutritional bomb shells. Whilst moderation is ideal like most things, for the average person one a day is fine and a big omelette or large pile of scrambled eggs once or twice a week is perfectly healthy.

The only cautionary note to add about eggs is that foods containing raw or only lightly cooked eggs should be treated with particular care. They should be eaten as soon as possible after cooking, and if they are to be left standing, should be placed in the refrigerator.

The ongoing Debate on Boiled Eggs is whether to boil the water first or immerse the egg in cold water, then bring the water to the boil.

The fabled 3 minute egg is a cook-in-boiling water egg, but they are always overdone if I try to prepare them that way.

I have always had much more success with the add-the-egg-to-boiling-water method. A five minute egg cooked this way is perfect for a yummy dip-in-egg (with soldier toasts) but you have to be organized and quick. The lid has to be cracked, cut off then served immediately.

The critics of the add-the-egg-to-boiling-water method suggest that the eggs shells crack when you immerse them in the boiling water and this is sometimes true. I find it easier to place the eggs in the water with a large spoon (rather than with bare hands which burn and then you drop them in!), and even better still, fresh room temperature eggs rarely ever crack.

In Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home, Keller explains his own method of perfect boiled eggs as follows:

Firm soft-cooked eggs: yolks are just firm enough to handle but still slightly runny, while the whites are set;
Medium cooked eggs: the center of the yolk is soft with a slightly darker colour
Hard cooked eggs: yolks are completely set

Method for medium and hard cooked eggs: Put the eggs in a saucepan and cover with at least 10cm (4inches) inches of cold water. Bring rapidly to the boil, and cook for 4 minutes for medium eggs (the timing starts from the beginning of the simmer when bubbles appear on the bottom of the pan), and seven minutes for hard eggs.

TIP: Always cook a couple of extra eggs in case of a disaster!

Cookbooks and food blogs are full of tips on removing the shells. Some call for transferring the eggs to the bowl of ice cubes and water mid cooking, chilling for 2 minutes while bringing the cooking water to the boil again. Then back into the boiling water, bring to the boil again, and let boil for 10 seconds – which supposedly expands the shell from the egg. Finally, remove the eggs, and place back into the ice water. The chilled eggs are then easier to peel.

To be honest, it sounds like a lot of trouble, and I think it has more to do with the freshness of the egg.

For a Perfect Poached Egg bring 6 to 8 inches of water (15-20cm) of water to boil in a large deep saucepan. Meanwhile prepare an ice bath.

Add 2 tablespoons white vinegar to the boiling water, and reduce to a simmer. Crack one egg into a small cup or small bowl. Stir the outside edge of the water a couple of times to get a whirlpool motion going, then gently slide the egg into the centre of the pan and simmer gently for approx 1 ½ minutes, or until the white is set but the yolk is still runny. With a slotted spoon carefully transfer the egg to the ice bath.

Skim and discard any foam that has risen to the top of the water and cook the remaining eggs, one at a time.

I have always been famous (amongst friends and family) for my Eggs Benedict (hyperlink to recipe), but find it a challenge to make enough poached eggs all at once to serve for a large crowd.

I was thrilled to discover from the pros, that eggs can be poached several hours in advance and stored in ice water in the fridge. To serve simple bring a large pot of water the boil, trim the poached eggs of any messy edges with small scissors (if you could be bothered), then lower into the eggs into a large pot of simmering water, and reheat for about 30 seconds. Remove with a skimmer, blot on paper or clean tea towels and serve.

Really thick, yummy scrambled eggs are another challenge for many. You want your eggs cooked like all those great breakfast café’s who serve up time after time, thick, light piles of hot scrambled eggs.

There are a variety of techniques and tips for cooking perfect scrambled eggs depending on whom you ask.  Why not give some of them a go and see what difference it makes….
• A light hand is better. Don’t over-whisk. Use a spatula or fork instead
• Fresh eggs are best
• Always cook in a pre-warmed pan
• Always cook in butter (I should not have to tell you that!)
• Dice your butter, and add half the diced butter to the pan and half to the eggs in the bowl, then add the egg mix before the butter is completely melted
• Don’t use too much milk. Only a very small amount of liquid is required
• Try a little cream instead of milk

If you are really interested in the Perfect Omelette, you must read David Chang’s account in Momofuku. I love this book (as I have mentioned before) and David’s enthusiasm for the topic. Thanks to David’s efforts, we don’t have to obtain an audience with cooking greats to learn the secrets to success. It’s also interesting to learn that many kitchens will use an omelet as a test of a chef’s skill. So to the many who have tried and failed to make a good omelette, you will now know why – it is not as easy as it sounds.

So, to make a fluffy omelette, it’s critical the pan is hot enough. That means pre-warming. The challenge is not to burn the butter at the same time and this is overcome by watching and adjusting the heat if necessary and quick cooking. Make sure the pan is gently sizzling as you pour the beaten eggs in and you will be rewarded with a perfect omelette which is a combination of golden butter brown and pale egg yellow.

A good omelette really does not require filing but some herbs may be a welcome accompaniment. To make a meal of an omelette, you may wish to separately sauté some onion, then add chopped tomato. Place on half the omelette with some fresh basil, flip half over, and serve immediately. Cheese omelets are popular but the cheese should be mildly flavoured. Other good flavours are mushrooms, spinach and some shaved truffle.

My Famous Eggs Benedict

It’s a little embarrassing, but my family tells everyone that I make THE best Eggs Benedict. I think that is more favouritism than fact, but it does all depend on a good hollandaise sauce and of course, nicely poached eggs. The dish is much easier to prepare than you would imagine and the meal of choice for large family breakfasts in our household.

One key to success is in the sauce. You must be able to taste the lemon in a hollandaise sauce, but it should be a very subtle flavor. My own secret is blender hollandaise. I can make a great hollandaise and béarnaise sauce in my beautiful little copper and porcelain baine marie or double boiler, but when you are cooking for a crowd at breakfast (which there always is when I make eggs Benedict), blender hollandaise is a quick, easy and foolproof way to do it.

Get everything organized because you need to do this all quickly:

1. Melt 125g butter in a microwave proof jug.
2. Meanwhile place 4 egg yolks into a blender and add the juice of half a freshly squeezed lemon. Place the lid on the blender, but leave the little whole in the top open.
3. Whilst the butter is still bubbling, turn the blender on and pour the butter through the whole in a thin stream.

Warning - If you don’t have the lid on you will have a kitchen covered in butter and egg!

4. Blend until the sauce thickens.
5. Toast split English muffins (traditional), Turkish bread or sourdough bread.
6. Top with ham, a poached egg, and spoon sauce over. Some like it placed under the grill for less than a minute so the sauce just bubbles and begins to colour ever-so-slightly. Others (like me…) prefer the sauce ‘raw’.

You can also use bacon or smoked salmon (eggs Norwegian or Tasmanian), or top the ham with spinach for eggs Florentine.

You can also make a nice hollandaise with verjuice (such as Maggie Beers) or half verjuice, half lemon (my preference). The verjuice adds an interesting flavour and goes really nicely with fish.

Béarnaise Sauce is an egg sauce quite similar to hollandaise, made from tarragon vinegar. It is a classic sauce to serve with a big steak – but only if you are not watching calories!


When you make hollandaise or béarnaise sauces, you’ll always have plenty of left over egg whites. They can be stored covered in the fridge for a day at least, or successfully frozen. Use ice cube trays, with one egg white per ‘cup’. You simply remove the tray from the freezer and place each egg white directly in, then straight back in the freezer. To use, remove each frozen egg white from its ’cup’ and thaw in a bowl, covered, at room temperature.

If you wish to use the egg whites while fresh you can make meringues, a pavlova, Langues de Chat (cats tongues), or nut bread. I used to always make a batch of almond bread the same day but I stopped because I ate it all myself!

I will do some eggsellent sweet egg recipes including egg custards, floating islands, sabayon and bread and butter pudding another day as its enough for blog on its own.

Off course any discussion of savoury egg recipe’s would be incomplete without a delicious
RUSTIC EGG AND BACON PIE


Use a homemade shortcrust pastry, or if feeling lazy, go for an easy sour cream pastry (hyperlink). There is no need to buy it pre-prepared pastry, it’s too thin for the pie, and honestly, it tastes like it’s bought. Why not save money from NOT buying frozen pastry for six months then go out and buy yourself a good food processor, an essential tool if you are serious about cooking?


You could make this in a very deep pie plate such as the one pictured, but I prefer to cook it in a 25cm cake tin with removal base. It’s easier to slice and serve and everyone gets too see all that lovely golden pastry.
So, to make a Rustic Egg and Bacon Pie you will need:

9 bacon rashers, trimmed of rind and excess fat and cut into 5cm pieces
1 large brown onion, peeled and sliced
8 or 9 large eggs
¼ cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Black pepper
2 large ripe tomatoes, thickly sliced. Roma tomatoes are ideal for this pie as they don’t contain as much liquid or seeds. If using regular tomatoes, just cut the tomatoes in half before giving them a squeeze to remove a lot of the liquid and seeds. Then slice thickly.

And some tomato sauce or paste (optional). Don’t use anything too wet like passata or tinned tomatoes.

1 quantity of shortcrust or sour cream pastry*

Method:
  1. Brown the bacon pieces in a fry pan.
  2. Line the base of a greased 25cm cake tin (with removable base) with pastry. Scatter bacon over the pastry base.
  3. Add onion to the pan, and cook until soft, then sprinkle over the bacon. 
  4. Gently place whole eggs over bacon and onion, and pierce yolk with a small sharp knife. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and season with pepper. Squirt some tomato sauce or paste all over the place, then cover with sliced tomatoes.
  5. Brush the edge of the pie shell before adding the pastry lid.
  6. Trim edges and make steam holes by stabbing with a knife a few times randomly over the place. Brush with an egg wash (a beaten egg yolk and a little milk) for a golden glaze.
  7. Bake in a hot oven (200 – 210) for 20 minutes, then reduce to moderately hot (180) for a further 20 minutes or until pastry is cooked.


The pie will serve about six adults with a fresh garden salad. You could get eight portions out of it, but there won’t left for be seconds!

You can also bake in an over sized lamington tin or baking dish, using 10 rashers and 10 or 11 eggs. It will cook in about the same length of time and makes about 30 square snack sized portions ideal to pack for lunch or a picnic.

*EASY SOUR CREAM PASTRY



This quantity makes sufficient for a base or top; double if you need both

200g chilled unsalted butter
250g plain flour
125g sour cream


USING FOOD PROCESSOR: Dice the butter then pulse with the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sour cream and continue to pulse until the dough starts to incorporate into a ball.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 20 minutes. Don’t skip this step!

Roll the chilled pastry out until 5mm thick. I usually do this between two sheets of glad wrap. Alternately roll on a floured (cold) surface. Marble is perfect. Enough for six small pies or 1 x 22 cm loose bottomed flan tin.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

AT BANNISTERS WITH RICK STEIN


I happened to hear that Rick was going to be in-house at Bannisters, Mollymook, for the weekend of my birthday and what could be a better gift for a foodie than a weekend of food and wine with an international chef?

We used to spend the occasional weekend at the lovely Bannisters, however since Rick took over the restaurant, it’s been a little more difficult to secure a room at short notice which is the way I usually decide to do it.  I was keen to get down there to see the place under Ricks influence, and of course meet the man whose food and travel series I enjoy so much, so this was the perfect opportunity.

We started the weekend with a few hours in the spa.  Not a bad way to kick things off.  Later that evening there was a welcome BBQ by the pool bar.  I was surprised to see how large the intimate group of guest was - perhaps 50 or 60 guests -  and how far many guests has travelled to attend, a large number from interstate.  One of the nice things about a famous chef is that they brings guests to an area that would otherwise not visit and the weekend certainly demonstrated that affect.

The south coast of NSW has a bountiful seafood produce including some very fine if small oysters, however there has never been a truly good seafood restaurant.  Admittedly there has been plenty of popular and successful ones, but most experienced a slow death in the 90’s and none have risen to take their place, and more importantly offer the fresh seafood taste we crave today, rather that the cream laden, gratin and garlic flavours of the 80’s and 90’s.  Rick Stein’s coming to the coast was wonderful news and means that we will one day have a number of well trained and experienced seafood chef’s on the coast.  Rick repeated a conversation he had with Neil Perry (Rockpool, Rockpool B&G, Spice Temple), when Neil asked why on earth he would want to open down the coast i.e. in the middle of food nowhere?  Ricks reply was simpy “So I don’t have to compete with people like you” and while that may be true, Rick has always been a location chef rather than a big city chef and we are grateful for that.  So rick, thanks for training our future seafood chef’s and bringing new visitors to the South Coast.

I should add that Rick of course is executive chef or (what’s the French cook/restaurateur term?), not the head chef, and only visits Bannisters six or so times a year.  He bought one of his head chef’s from Padstow to fill that position, the young but capable Julian Lloyd formerly headed the kitchen in Ricks gastro pub, the Cornish Arms in St Merryn. (I am sure they wouldn’t like the phrase but what else is it?  Surely the diners are there for the food not the beer?)

So the next morning, following a tasty breakfast slightly surpassed by the view, we were amongst the first group to attend a food demonstration at Rick’s home just down the road.  About 20 of us were seated while Rick and his young assistant prepared and discussed three seafood dishes.  Rick was as self-depreciating as he is on TV and a genuine character.  There were plenty of matching wines being passed around (like many foodies, Rick loves a drop) at 10am as we sampled the Heinz Seafood Braised in Coconut Milk.  Based on a Balinese spice mix included turmeric, garlic, galangal, ginger, sesame seeds, peanuts (or cashews for those with allergies) which can be found in Far Eastern Odyssey, the mix is ground to a paste in mortar and pestle or small blender.
It should go without saying that Rick is exceptionally knowledgeable about seafood,  but I was pleased to learn that it was not just his native UK and European species he knew so much about, but it extended to US, Australian and Asian (or Far Eastern if you are British) varieties.   Ricks enthusiasm for seafood is genuine, as is his support of sustainable fishing methods and aquaculture.  I love eating fish but I would rather truss a duck or bone a leg of lamb than a fish, so I really found Ricks tips encouraging.  I asked Rick how to select fish to substitute for those in his recipes and he replied that rather than looking for a similar looking fish, look at the type of fish, and substitute those with similar characteristics such as:
1.     1. Flat fish
2.     2. Large fish
3.     3. Shellfish including octopus and calamari
4.    4. Oily fish like mackerel, kingfish and trevally; and       
     5. Round fish, like snapper, blue eye cod, and john dory

For example some useful Australian/UK substitutions are barramundi instead of sea bass and John Dory instead of monk fish.  
In preparation for the next dish we discussed making a good fish stock.   The first tip was never use oily fish, and secondly, to add left-over lobster or blue swimmer crab shells (but not mud crab or mussel shells).  Some fish suggestions for good fish for stock were snapper or John Dory.  The stock is made from the frames and heads after the rest of the fish has been filleted or cooked whole for anther recipe.  Essentially, a subtle fish stock is simply made by simmering bones and fish head, and crustacean shells for about 25 minutes only; removing the bones and heads, then adding the vegetables and continuing to cook.  Skip  the usual addition of carrot and use only ‘white’ vegetables such as fennel, onion, leek and celery.  As it is intended to be a light stock, it does not require the long cooking of other stocks, needed to intensify the flavours.

A beautiful lobster raviolo (large ravioli) filled with a lobster mouseline, was poached in a fish stock, served atop the poached baby spinach leaves, with in a simple white wine sauce and a few basil leaves.  This was matched with a rather retro woody chardonnay which for a non-woody chardonnay lover, was a surprisingly good pairing. 

Banisters’ sommelier is Toby Evans, son of Len Evans, and he professed to being a woody chardonnay lover.  Over the weekend I followed Toby's recommendations and tried a few wine varieties I would otherwise have avoided.  None disappointed and it was a good reminder for me to be as open to alternative wines as I am to new foods and flavours.

That evening we dined in the restaurant and I saw many plates of our demonstration dishes served to eager diners.  Knowing that I would go home and prepare these dishes for myself at least once, I decided to sample some of the others from the restaurant’s menu.  The menu offers a worldly choice of seafood dishes, and a couple of non-seafood one’s.  All are obviously Rick’s and perhaps a little predictable, but executed professionally and well by the kitchen staff.  It’s clear that the young head chef, Julian, is keen to exert his own style and this will probably be a good thing.  Nothing wrong with Rick’s food.  It is all classically based, with adventures into foreign places, much like Rick himself, but some experimentation and departure from these classics will appeal to the more frequent diner.

The front of house staff at Bannisters make a great effort to satisfy the huge demands of the influx of guests.  Like most rural/coastal areas, there is a lack of experienced quality wait staff, and this is evident when things get busy.  The staff however, have a great attitude and genuinely try to the best of their ability, and hopefully a few will decide to stay and become the experienced staff necessary to pass on the skill to the constantly revolving casual staff, most restaurants need to employ to survive.

After a much quieter Sunday breakfast the final group headed off to their demonstration with Rick and co.  We headed north via Milton and Berry  for some good retail and cafes on the way home.

The next week I prepared the final dish Rick demonstrated for us.  This Vietnamese salad featured a lovely smoked trout and a fresh, crunchy, feel good green mango salad.

Rick provided recipe cards but I also came home with a considerable pile of signed books which included all the dishes.  I gave my apprentice chef son a signed copy of Rick Steins Seafood , a veritable bible of seafood preparation, species and recipes and a second copy now sits on my groaning cook book shelf); along with Rick’s non-seafood Coast to Coast, and Far Eastern Odessey.

There was quite a bit of talk about Rick’s BBC food and travel series of course, as they are so popular.  Even my non foodie partner who almost despises cooking shows, will sit down and watch Rick.  So the good news is that there is another series on the way.  Rick had recently completed filming a series in Spain.  He is particularly fond of Spain and Spanish food, and it’s long been one of my priority travel destinations, so I eagerly await this next series (and another visit to Bannisters!).