Friday, 3/5/10 – Eggs

Everyone loves eggs, that’s a given. Whether they’re hard-boiled, sunny-side-up, doused in hollandaise or served over steak, you always win with eggs. Who would have thought that cooking (and sometimes purposely not cooking) the unfertilized embryo of a chicken/ostrich/quail would be so popular and so versatile?

The French love their omelettes, rolled or flat, buttered or browned, dressed or naked. I definitely had my fill of eggs by the end of the night, but left knowing eight new ways to prepare them for any time of the day. We made a browned flat omelette with onions, tomatoes and green peppers (Basque-style), and also made a rolled omelette that was purposely left runny in the middle (eek) and perfectly un-colored. We then learned the absolute perfect method for poaching eggs and hard-boiling them. For just 4 quick and easy payments of $49.99 you too can learn these methods and banish the runny egg blues! Call now!

Satisfaction and fulfillment not guaranteed. Money will be used to purchase shoes for the administrator of Getting Cooked, who will refuse to answer phone, email and facebook messages after cashing checks. Credit cards also accepted.

I was introduced to a heart attack in a ramekin – the Oeufs Cocotte, or an egg cooked in cream. It’s actually very easy: you break an egg into a buttered ramekin, reduce your cream, season it with pepper, salt and nutmeg and pour it on top of the egg, covering it and filling the sides. You then bake it in the oven until it’s slightly set, but the yolk is still runny. It’s absolutely delicious, and dipping a few pieces of bread into it would be unreal. I just can’t justify that…I can’t. The perfect party treat, however, would be the Oeufs Farcis Chimay – stuffed eggs, Chimay style. It was a savory and decadent version of Deviled Eggs, only filled with mushrooms, egg yolk and béchamel and then topped with Gruyere béchamel (called a Mornay) and a heap of Gruyere. It is then baked until melted, and run under the salamander to get a brown crust. Absolutely delicious, and would be easy to prepare ahead of time for a dinner party or cocktail soiree, since I host so many of those on a regular basis…

We’re studying tarts and doughs on Monday, so we prepared our pâte brisée and threw it into the freezer for later use. Judging by how finicky and particular this most basic dough was for us, I assume Monday will be kind of a pain.

Sometimes in life God proves to you that he knows exactly what you need, and he seems to pull strings and re-arrange situations to award you a simple surprise. Steve and I were having a lazy Saturday at a local Greek deli, enjoying falafel and hummus, when my mom, who’s been at a conference in Boston all week, called. “Hey…what are you doing tonight,” she asked sheepishly. “Um, nothing special.” Boy was that true. “Well, my flight is delayed…and I have the option of possibly being able to stay overnight in NYC. Is that ok with you?” Is that ok with me?? “Yay! Of course! OMG it’ll be so fun we’ll have dinner at my school! And we can have a sleepover! Puppies, ponies and rainbows!!” “Jackie, let me just make sure I can arrange it first.” Sure enough, she was not only able to come to NYC but extended her stay a full 24-hours! We had a blast, tried out a new Mexican restaurant in Harlem, had brunch at my school’s elegant restaurant and dragged her along as we ran our weekend errands buying toothpaste and such. It was a wonderful turn of events for our boring and uneventful weekend, and we were so happy to be able to spend some time with her. It was a little ironic though, because my mom has always, always promised me she would not be the type of mom to just show up on the doorstep for an extended weekend. Sure enough, we’re married for 4 months and what does she do? It was such a wonderful surprise, though, and we’re very grateful it worked out. Husbands are the best, but sometimes a girl needs her mommy.