Friday, November 12, 2010
Oeufs…Where would chickens be without them?
Still pondering the conundrum...
The magical power of the egg is one of nature’s many marvels, and since it’s on my soft textured food list, it’s my new BFF; scrambled, fried, frittata, soufflé, and of course omelets’.
Now, I realize not everyone is an egg fan, my brother being one of them. As a small child he had an aversion toward eggs. My mother was one of those mothers who could get kids to eat things that they wouldn’t normally eat; by disguising them in other food sources. And eggs were my brothers’ nemesis. Of course, I had my own list of food aversion; one of which I never out grew, but we’ll discuss that in another post.
Unbeknownst to my brother, my mother had been covertly disguising his eggs in the form of an omelet, along with other custards and soufflé like dishes. He was clueless as to how these things were made, all he knew is that they tasted REAL GOOD! Until one day, he walked in on my mother making breakfast, and discovered, that she was putting EGGS in his OMELETE! Well, you can almost envision the scene that ensued; it was akin to watching little Opi Taylor from Mayberry RFD discover that Aunt Bea had tricked him.
It is heart wrenching to watch childhood innocence being crushed; you might as well have told him right then and there that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny didn’t exist.
My brother did eventually get over the infraction and forgave my mother; I think he reconciled the fact that my mother was a superior cook, and, he wasn’t going allow something like an EGG get the way.
FYI: Do you know where, why and how the egg carton came about?
The egg carton was invented in 1911 by newspaper editor Joseph Coyle of Smithers, British Columbia, to solve a dispute between a local farmer and hotel owner over the farmer's eggs often being delivered broken.
Although, I’m still unsure as to how and why the newspaper editor became embroiled in the dispute in the first place?
If anyone has the answer to this riddle, I’d be very interested to hear it. Until then stay tune to for more adventures and minutia from the Food Diaries.
Bon Apetite
Oeufs Brouillés: Scrambled Eggs French Style
My mother made these eggs every Sunday morning for brunch and served them along with “French” toast and “Little Smokey” sausages. I can remember waking up to the aroma of cinnamon and hickory wafting through the house, ummm, yum.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cream cheese with chives
4 large eggs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cream cheese with chives
Preparation
Place 1-inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler and heat until boiling; reduce the heat to very low. When the water is simmering, place the top of the double boiler over the water. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and heat until melted.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a medium bowl just until combined. Add 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces, salt to taste and a grinding of pepper. Pour into the double boiler.
Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or heatproof rubber spatula, until the eggs are thickened into soft curds, 10 to 15 minutes.
Fold cream cheese in and serve
Makes 2 serving.
Easy Frittata Recipe
The Italian quiche; serve this with tomato basil sauce on the side. You can use just about ingredients or cheese combinations
Direction:
8 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
1 plum tomato, chopped
2 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup white mushrooms, sliced or chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
oil for pie pan
Preparation:
In a bowl beat the eggs and milk together.
Mix in the tomato, 1/2 cup of Mozzarella cheese, bacon, mushrooms, and basil.
Oil the a 9" pie pan.
Pour the egg mixture into the pie plate.
Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
Top the frittata with the remaining cheese and return to the over for 10 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes before cutting.
It can be served for breakfast, lunch, or supper.
