Egging On-Freshness, Brown versus White and More

If you thought you loved eggs, ask yourself if you'd eat this burger? Fresh from Catalonia, this sandwich is not for the egg faint-of-heart. If I were going to eat this sandwich in the US, I might ask for a pasteurized egg. If I were in Europe, I'd just eat it and shut up about my health concerns.

Egg Age Test
Perhaps eggs deserve a higher place in the literary tradition than the Humpty Dumpty genre. For example, why not write, "His heart dropped like a fresh egg in pot of cool water," or "Her spirits soared like an old egg in a pot of cool water."

Ok, so the metaphor doesn't work well for emotions (except on opposite day) but the pot of water is a handy, easy freshness test. So if your eggs have been hanging around for an indeterminate length of time in the fridge, break out the bad metaphor and double check them with a quick dunk. If they sink, eat them.

Eggshells are porous. As they age, moisture inside the egg slowly evaporates through the shell and gets replaced with air. So a dried up egg will float, and who wants a dried up egg?

The Color of Eggs
Advertising notwithstanding, here's no inherent nutritional or freshness advantages between brown or white eggs. Brown eggs come from hens with more pigmented feathers and other features, and white eggs come from hens without significant pigment in their feathers and other features. There are other varieties of hens that lay blue and speckled eggs, but it's a bit harder to pick those up at the supermarket.

There are plenty of nutritionally enhanced eggs on the market as well. If you're not a fish eater, for example, and trying to increase your Omega 3 fatty acid intake (an arterial lubricant that can help with cardiovascular health) you can get eggs from hens fed an enhanced diet. Luckily, you're on top of the food chain, so you can reap the benefits of the chicken's repast.

It's a 75 Calorie Wonder? Or Wonderbread?
A hard-boiled egg has about 75 calories, 6 grams of protein, 212 milligrams of cholesterol and about 5 grams of fat. Taken all together, it's not a bad balance and it will fill you up, but the cholesterol content of an egg represents about 70% of the recommended daily intake. All of the fat and cholesterol in the egg is in the yolk, but so is half the protein. Again it is proven that there is no free lunch.

The Quick Delicious Way to Eat a Hard Boiled Egg
Eating a hard-boiled egg need not be a simple salt and pepper affair, although that's pretty good. But it need not be a production either. Here are a couple of suggestions that I love, and the reason I like to keep a couple of hard boiled eggs in the fridge at all times.

Peel the egg, slice it in half, sprinkle it with salt and cracked pepper then drizzle with a tiny amount of olive oil. The added richness and flavor of the olive really elevates the egg.

Get the egg ready to go as above, but instead of salt and pepper, try a little Tabasco with a little olive or peanut oil. If you feel like going crazy, use a dollop of mayo instead of oil (definitely not the healthy choice, but delicious).

Again, prep your egg, then shave a little Parmesan and grind a little pepper over it. You really don't need much more than that.

More About Eggs: The Cheese Omelet

I'm a shameless fan of breakfast. I can't resist darkly browned sausages, deeply roasted coffee, and toasty buttered bread. But the high heat that's great for browning the goose is definitely not good for it's eggs. Nothing tarnishes the joy of a pre-noon nosh for me like a rubbery omelet, or worse, a browned one.

When I make a cheese omelet, I aim for a uniform, puffy, pale yellow round that's neatly folded over a few shavings of Parmesean, Romano or other sharp cheese. Subtely seasoned with butter, a bit of salt, and a dusting of finely-ground pepper, for me the perfect cheese omelet is moist and light without a trace of runny, uncooked egg. The Denvers, Westerns, and Spanish omelets of the world might be fine for dinner, but for breakfast, simplicity trumps place-names.

The Charming Curd
The trick to making omelets is to stop thinking about omelets and start thinking about large-curd scrambled eggs set together at the last moment. The truth is that there's really no good way to cook an omelet all the way through by letting it just sit in the pan (unless you're making frittata, which is something else entirely).

Don't Be Afraid of Alien Technology, Except for the Microwave
Although you may be tempted to escape the burnt egg debacle using a microwave, you're inviting rubbery texture and flattened flavor to the table. Microwaves are blunt instruments: too blunt for the egg.

Instead, embrace the other alien kitchen technology: the non-stick pan. There are some wonderful next generation pans that are tougher and safer than non-sticks you grew up on. The caveat with all non-stick pans is not to overheat them, but for eggs, this will never be a problem since eggs do best cooked on medium-low heat. If you're a die hard, you can make an excellent omelet in a high quality non non-stick pan, but just be prepared for a steeper learning curve on getting your omelet out cleanly.

Making the Goo, Gently Does It
Crack two or three eggs into a bowl, add a teaspoon of water for each egg (not milk or cream) and blend with a fork (not a whisk) until the yolks have broken and the mixture has barely combined. You're not looking for milkshake smoothness, more a rough mixture. Whisking adds air and can also alter some of the proteins in the white, which can toughen the final product.

Now add a big pinch of salt. Yes, I said it! While there's a lot of talk about salt toughening eggs, according to Harold McGee (who would know) it's balderdash. So boldly salt & pepper your eggs before cooking: your omelet will have better flavor all the way through.

Cook the Goo, Gently Again
Get your non-stick skillet going at medium-low heat and add a little butter. Reduce the temperature to low and pour. As soon as the egg hits the pan, curds will form, and it's time to begin a slow clockwise lifting and turning-over motion.

Using a silicon or wood spatula, work your way steadily around the bottom of the pan making sure to lift and turn every square inch. The goal is to bring the whole thing to no more than 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Much beyond that, and the custardiness will give way to inner tube.

Tender is the Morning
Keep lifting and turning until there's just enough uncooked egg left to glue the whole thing together and rest your spatula. Remove the pan from the heat and let it set for a few moments, flip it over in the pan if there's still some uncooked egg on top (or don't if there's not), shave a little sharp, salty cheese over the round, fold it over using the spatula, and slide to a warmed plate.

Garnish with a little pepper if you like, or just leave it alone. It's already a little bit of breakfast heaven. Why mess with that?

It's a French Wrap
This custard style omelet is attributed to the French, and Julia Child is often cited as the chef who brought the technique stateside. The word omelet is adapted from the French word omelette, which in turn most likely derives from a latin word meaning layer.

How to Boil an Egg

It seems like a simple task, but boiling an egg for slicing or Salade Nicoise calls for technique. A perfect egg should be rich and luscious with tender white and bright yellow center. It should never be dry and crumbly in the yolk, or worse, marred with that green patina you sometimes see.

I hesitate to use the phrase "hard cooked" because what you really want is an egg that's pliant in the yolk with slight darkening toward the center. After all, cooking eggs is mainly about getting the yolk right.

Where Does the Green Ring Come From?
The good news is that the ugly green gray ring that sometimes appears around the edge of the yolk is harmless. The bad news is that it's fairly disgusting to look at. The other bit of good news is that it can be totally avoided.

The ring forms when sulfur in the egg white reacts with iron in the yolk. The most likely cause of is overcooking, but apparently (according to a University of Nebraska posting) it can also be caused by an abundance of iron in the cooking water.

How to Avoid the Dreaded Green Ring & Get Perfect Firm Egg Yolks
I've been using this method for several months now with perfectly consistent results. I hope you find the same success.

Take cold or room temperature eggs and put them in a pot of cold water. Put it on the stove and bring the pot to a boil. Once the water has reached the boil, remove the pot from the heat and set your timer for 10 minutes. After the timer goes off, plunge the eggs into cold water and relax. When you crack open your eggs, it all has gone to plan, you'll find a bright yellow, slightly moist and dense, delicious yolk.

For the Love of Peanuts: Pea? Or Nut?

Peanut Mysteries
This nearly irresistible childhood palliative and adult guilty pleasure turns out to be a legume, so it's closer to a pea than a nut. But don't get your hopes up diet-conscious eaters, it doesn't count as roughage--especially when roasted and ground into Skippy.

Originally domesticated by our neighbor-nations to the south, the thirsty peanut plant grows close to the ground in warm climates with sandy soil. This explains, in part, why most of the US peanut crop is grown in the southern states. Peanut pods mature under the surface of the soil upon pollination, and harvesting involves pulling the entire plant up by it's roots.

Boiled
If you drive the highways of Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia or the Carolinas you may encounter a roadside boiled peanut truck. Eaten and enjoyed for it's edamame-like qualities, this preparation method yields a salty, damp, grassy-tasting snack. I know it doesn't sound that good, but try some if you get the chance. It'll really open your eyes as to the Hyde nature of the groundnut. It's an acquired taste that couldn't be further from the sweet, smooth super-market peanut butters on which most of us were raised.

Peanut Peril
I think we all know that peanuts are loaded with fat, but in moderation, that's not a problem. What's more of a problem is a fungal by-product called aflatoxin. It's a potent carcinogen, so it behooves all of us to avoid open-air storage of any peanut product. Those red bins in the health food store have been shown to be ideal breeding grounds for the fungus, so it's best to stick with name brands in sealed jars.

Commercial peanuts are sprayed with anti-fungals and carefully monitored in production, so aflatoxin contamination isn't much of a problem for buyers of the big three: Skippy, Peter Pan, and Jiff. If you're like me and you prefer natural peanut butter, be aware that organic peanuts may contain more aflatoxin than non-organically raised peanuts. In this case, organic may not be necessarily better. I wish I could be more specific than this, but peanut butter manufacturers are not required to make aflatoxin content information public. I called a couple of companies and wasn't able to get any details.

Paella is the New Black

Paella is the New Black

The big culinary retailers seem to have a whole cabinet full of new pans and accouterments for paella, but all you really need is a wide, flat-bottomed saute pan (preferably with straight sides to maximize the cooking surface area) and good heat source, and some Bomba or Calasparra rice (paella rice). The super-thin metal pans you see on the shelves might be traditional in some way, who knows, but they're also perfect for burning your ingredients and inducing hot spots. I prefer seasoned cast iron or stainless. For the grill, cast iron is just plain thematic.

Part of paella's lore is that it was originally made by Spanish caballeros over an open fire using rabbit or whatever other wilderness creature was strolling nearby as the protein. Whether true or not, its easy to imagine how smoky flavors would compliment a dish rich with onion, peppers, and saffron. So a charcoal grill works great, and it gives you the unparalleled luxury of making something really impressive and delicious outside while friends gather around the beer cooler to relax under the setting sun.

Proteins Come First
Get any ingredients you want on top of your finished paella ready. You'll add them back in later. I usually opt for baby artichoke hearts, asparagus, and chicken thighs. But you can do anything really. There are a million flavor combinations, but if you do the rice well, they will be complementary rather than center stage. The flavors you develop in the pan with these first ingredients will linger and help to bring your dish together at the end. After your proteins are well browned in as much oil as they need, and your vegetables are almost cooked, take them off the heat and set them aside. If a lot of fat was rendered, you can pour off most of it, but keep the pan greased.

Get your Sofrito Ready
In part 1, I talked about getting your sofrito ready. Here's the master recipe for sofrito that's enough to serve about 4 or 5 people. You can add red and green peppers if you like, too, about half a cup of finely chopped of each:

2 medium tomatoes, grated and skins discarded
1 medium onion, peeled and grated
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 olive oil
Salt

Start your grill or stove off slowly. Sofrito needs time to cook on a slowish fire, not a quick blast of high heat. On the grill, this means covering with enough air vented through to keep the embers burning (for charcoal). On the electric or gas range, you already know the drill.

Dress your pan with 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil and keep more on hand. The process of cooking out the moisture and creating a deeply caramelized sofrito usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour. So pace yourself, open a beer or pour a glass of wine, and realize that slow, steady heat is your friend.

As the sofrito loses moisture and cooks down, it will slowly turn reddish brown. Keep it going until it's very heavily caramelized, and salt along the way. You're looking for a dark, tomato-paste consistency that's pungent, sweet and savory. Remember that aside from some chicken stock and a few ingredients, you're really making the most important flavor base of the dish. So take it slow and don't give up on it until you think its concentrated enough. When you taste a tiny bit, the salt and oil should quickly permeate your palette and the aromatic garlic and and onion should have a potent, browned but not burned flavor. This requires lots of stirring and paying attention. If you're doing this on the grill, the grill-cover will be coming on and off, and you'll be stirring in between. On the stove top or gas, leave it uncovered. When you're convinced, and I mean really convinced, that the sofrito can't take one more moment on the heat, scrape it out and set it aside.

3 More Keys and You're Done
1st Key: While the pans still hot, toast your saffron by wrapping 5 or 6 threads in foil packet and throwing it into the pan for a few minutes. When it becomes aromatic, it's ready.

2nd Key: Get your stock hot. I usually use chicken stock, but you could use seafood or vegetable stock depending on your choice of proteins and vegetables. Just be sure it's good quality, or that you make it yourself. You'll need at least 3 cups (I usually heat up 3.5 cups in case I need more if the rice gets too dry). You can heat the stock on the grill while your sofrito rests, but I use a portable burner just to save time. After it's steaming and almost ready to boil, infuse it with the saffron you've toasted. You should get that satisfying orange color in seconds. Taste your stock and see where it's going. Remember that you've got a lot of salt in the sofrito already, so exercise caution.

3rd Key: Put your flat bottomed pan back on the grill (uncleaned!) and throw in about 1.5 cups of rice. Cook it in the rest of the olive oil until the grains are slightly translucent (just like when you're making risotto). When the rice has absorbed enough of the oil so you only see a pin head of white inside the grain, combine it with the sofrito and distribute it evenly throughout the pan.

Next arrange your proteins, vegetables, and a couple of fresh rosemary sprigs on top, and you're ready to begin the final cooking. From this point on, your spoon or spatula should not touch a single grain of rice (except to pick one up to test it for doneness, perhaps). Don't stir because this releases a lot of the starch from the rice and will result in a starchy, sticky mess. That's what your want for risotto to get that creamy texture, but not for paella.

Add the Stock
Add the hot stock to the pan gently over medium heat and let it go for 10-15 minutes untouched until most of the moisture is absorbed. Take the pan off the heat before it's completely dry, cover it, and let it rest for another 10 minutes. During this rest, the rice will finish cooking and absorb the rest of the stock. If you think the rice is too dry and too far from done, add a little water or stock and let it cook a little more before removing it from the heat to rest.

The Sought-After Crust
The Spanish love the toasty crust called the socarrat that forms on the bottom of the paella, but to get it, you have to put the 99% cooked rice back on the heat for a minute until you start to hear slight crackling sounds and smell the toasted rice. Don't let it go too long. Those crackling sounds let you know the rice on the very bottom of the pan is getting brown. After you think your socarrat has formed, take your finished paella straight to the table. Your friends will gasp.