As I mentioned in my previous post, we eat a lot of eggs. Maybe they are an ingredient in a recipe, perhaps made into a frittata, or maybe they are served on their own. For the 3 people in our house who eat eggs (alas, O, our 9-month-old is not yet regularly enjoying the incredible edible ovum), we can easily go through a dozen or more each week. Most of these go through A, my 6-year-old, who has developed a definite sense of a well-cooked egg.

I’ve heard many times that egg cookery is a sign of a good cook. Well, my family sure likes what I’m putting out, so here’s some of what I’ve learned. Since it’s what we buy, these recipes are all tested with large eggs.

Fried Eggs

The current favorite for morning meals is over easy. My daughter likes the tender whites and runny yolks. Sometimes I break a yolk, and she complains for just a moment, before scooping the mess into her mouth. I’ve gotten to a point where I cook them in one pan (the same one every morning) with no utensils other than my daughter’s fork. The method I’ve adopted is similar to the one demonstrated by Bob Del Grosso in this video from A Hunger Artist.

Basically, heat up a pan, not too hot (much cooler than you might think). Add butter, let it melt, add eggs, cook for a while, season with salt & pepper, flip, cook until you’re happy. Everyone likes their eggs differently, make them how you like. With my range, I set it between 4 & 5 (of 10). If I set it higher or lower, the eggs stick to my pan. I’ve done this with a non-stick and a plain 8″ All-Clad Stainless-Steel Fry Pan… it really is all about heat control and having enough fat in the pan (I use about 2-3t in an 8″ pan for 3 eggs).

Variations: over medium, over hard, sunny side up, “egg in a boat”

Scrambled

These used to be the one and only egg my daughter knew of. I keep them really simple. There are two schools of scrambled eggs I’ve encountered. There’s the soft, custard-like eggs that are often cooked in mass quantities for brunch buffets, and then there’s omelet-style eggs… a little drier, firmer, little or no dairy involved. We prefer the latter. Fast and easy, beat your eggs, cook in a medium-heat buttery pan, stir a bunch until they’re as done as you want. Due to uneven heat, mine tend to stick in one part of my very old non-stick pan. Other than that, you can’t really mess them up too badly. I’ve heard there’s a debate over whether to season before beating or to season in the pan (something about making them tough). I’ve tried both and see little difference.

Variations: omelet(te)s, frittata (on the lean side), quiche (on the custard side), tortilla española

Boiled eggs

People seem to argue over the best way to make boiled eggs. Salt and/or vinegar in the water? Add eggs to cold or boiling water? How long?! Well, my daughter went through a hard boiled phase, and my wife a soft-boiled phase. Here are my methods:

Soft: Add eggs to boiling water, to cover. Boil 4 minutes, then drain eggs and cool under running water.
Hard: Add eggs to cold water, to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, cover, remove from heat, 12 minutes later drain eggs and cool under running water.

I’ve learned that fresher eggs equal MUCH harder to peel eggs. Sure, older eggs have a bigger air pocket which may lead to more cracking, but that’s why you just add a few extra QC eggs in the first place, right? The soft-boiled eggs will have tender-firm whites and warm runny yolks. The hard-boiled will be firm all through, the yolks should be solid, but still moist. Cook another minute or two and the yolks will be a little drier, great for making your favorite deviled eggs.

Everything Else

I know, you’re thinking “what about _______ (insert your favorite egg cookery method here)?” I understand. I make some of these other eggs from time to time, but not enough that I’d want to try to tell someone how to do it. Leave your favorite egg cooking method in the comments for others to enjoy. Argue over the correct spelling of omelet(te), the true name of an egg fried in a hole cut in a piece of bread, or whether yolks should be scooped up with bacon or toast (or both).

My 6 year old daughter is in love with all things Japanese. Since the after school Japan club was discontinued, she has begged to learn about Japanese language and culture from a local teacher. She has Japanese every Sunday, and she learns about language, culture, customs, crafts. Her teacher is impressed at her ability to concentrate for so long, and my daughter comes away just wanting to learn more. Her first, and perhaps favorite exposure to the world of Japan has been through its food. Whether it’s sushi, noodles, okonomiyaki, or tonkatsu, she loves the umami-rich lavors of Asia.

Sometimes we go out to restaurants to have Japanese or other Asian food (her current favorite is a small Korean restaurant, Goodfella). These days, we’re more often staying at home, but this doesn’t mean we have to leave behind her favorite cuisine!

She has been working on her skills with chopsticks lately, and she has gotten much better. I made a variety of sushi last weekend, and we all had fun picking our favorites and trying new things. Making sushi at home isn’t hard, necessarily, but it does take practice. I mangle some scraps of nori and sushi rice, but the sushi tastes good, and in the end it’s all about the flavors.

We went with some simple combinations, based on what we had around the house. With our family’s love of Japanese food, we almost always have some of the basic staples of Japanese cuisine. We’re always excited to find new ways to use the same ingredients.

First is a classic stripped-down California roll. It has our favorite bits, the fake crab and creamy avocado.
Next, we have eel. This eel is actually from a can of roasted eel (black pepper flavor). The pepper flavor was very strong, but otherwise it was surprisingly good. Not as soft and sweet as the unagi you’d get at your favorite sushi bar, but good on its own merits. Next to it are some seasoned corn gunkanmaki (corn, kewpie mayo, soy sauce).

We eat eggs all the time, and sushi night is no different. I made some tamago (seasoned scrambled eggs) wrapped with nori strips.

We had some frozen prepared shrimp that we’ve been looking to use. I’ve made them from scratch before, but it’s certainly easier to buy it pre-made. The package we got at the local Asian market had probably 3 dozen prepared shrimp for around $7. Pack some rice, add a dab of wasabi, place the shrimp, and there you have a delicious piece of ebi.

We’re at the stunning, non-vegetarian conclusion of the Chickpea, Butternut, and Lamb meal. The lamb in this case is in the form of a kebab. When I was younger, kebab meant cubes of meat threaded onto a skewer between chunks of tomatoes and onions. Those kebabs are good, but I’ve learned that the term kebab opens up to a world of flavorful creations in many forms. This could mean chunks of meat, like the aforementioned cubes on a skewer, but the ground meat possibilities are even more interesting. Sure, you could have ground meat on a skewer, but it could also be baked in a pan, or made into patties and fried. In learning about Indian cuisine, I’ve encountered all 3, and I would be hard-pressed to pick my favorite kebab archetype. Today, we’ll focus on ground meat, heavily seasoned, fried in a pan.

Since we’re dealing with Indian food, and most Indians don’t eat beef, the primary red meat source is going to be lamb (and goat). You could certainly do this recipe with beef or any other ground meat. The recipe I’m using is from “From Curries to Kebabs” by Madhur Jaffrey. This book, as you may guess from its title, has a number of kebab recipes from many parts of the world. I really like the original recipe, which calls for mint, but I had cilantro on hand. That’s the only change from the original recipe.

There are a couple of interesting parts to this recipe, different from many other “meatball” recipes I’ve encountered. First, the meat is mixed with the seasonings and left to mature for up to a day. From my experience in trying to rush things, this appears to accomplish a few goals. The meat breaks down a little, thanks in part to the salt, which gives the kebab a smoother texture, and allows the meat the ability to bind together without much help from, say, an egg. The recipe recommends serving with thinly sliced onions and mint chutney.

Lamb “Galavat” Kebabs (Galavat Kabab)
Meat & Seasonings
1 pound ground lamb
1T finely chopped fresh mint leaves (I used about 2T cilantro)
1 1/2 T peeled, grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 t garam masala
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t salt
1/2 t finely chopped fresh rosemary (optional)

Binding & Frying
Peanut or corn oil for shallow frying
1 medium onion, sliced into fine half-rings
4 t chickpea flour
4 t plain yogurt
2 T kewra (screw pine) water (optional)

1. Put the meat in a bowl.
2. Add all the rest of the seasoning ingredients and mix well.
3. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 24 hours.
4. Pour oil in a medium pan to a depth of 1/8 inch and heat over medium-high heat.
5. When the oil is hot, put in the onion and fry, stirring, turning the heat down as needed, until the slices are reddish-brown and crisp (they will crisp more as they drain). This will take 10-12 minutes.
6. Remove the slices with a slotted spoon, saving all the oil left behind in the pan, and spread on paper towels to drain.
7. Once the onions have drained and cooled, crumble or chop finely (or put them in a clean coffee grinder) and add to the meat mixture.
8. Toast the chickpea flour in a small heavy-bottomed pan and add to the meat mixture.
9. Add the yogurt to the meat mixture and mix well.
10. Wet your hands (with the kewra water, if using) and form about 20 meatballs, flatten slightly into patties.
11. Strain the oil used from frying the onions and add additional oil to a depth of 1/4 inch.
12. Heat pan over medium-low.
13. When hot, add as many kebabs as will fit in a single layer, fry 2-3 minutes on each side or until reddish-brown.
14. Drain on paper towels.

The kebabs come out crunchy on the surface with a soft, moist interior. They go great with any Indian bread, but we usually serve rice.