Chatting.
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I really wish Birman would use his powers to update this app. I think I paid for it, maybe it was free, but his books in app form would get my dollars. PLEAZE!
poach them instead. It’s just as easy and they taste nicer. You will need
- 1 pan of water lightly simmering,
- a dash of vinegar (I recommend white wine or cider vinegar as it won’t discolour the white)
- the freshest eggs you have
Put the vinegar in the water, this will help set the white. crack the eggs into the water and let it simmer (not boil) for a minute or two. You don’t need as long as you think. Lift out with a slotted spoon.
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This sounds like classical Irish cooking. Boil it until it’s grey, them you know it’s done. This applies to meat as well.
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OMG Mark Bittman <3
This book is awesome. I bought it from a book club (!) about 20 years ago9, and as my kid grew up it became his bible. He took it with him when he moved out on his own. I LOVE that it features things like ‘here’s a basic cookie recipe. Here is an incomplete list of things you can add. Go have fun with it.’ This book took pretty much any fear of experimentation in the kitchen away from the boy, and he’s a more than competent cook at 19!
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Sipping whatever leftover wine is still too good to cook with.
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Thoroughly enjoyed this and the comment thread. I grew up with both parents cooking every meal and involving us as well as any dinner guests. Whatever you were wearing and whenever you showed up, you’d end up on prep or making appetizers. It’s taken years to get that not everyone has cooked like this. I see how many hard working friends have been transformed by Blue Apron and I’m happy to evangelize. The celeb chef thing, on the other hand, is stupidly intimidating. Turn off the TV and hit the farmers market and DIY.
One thing to add (which I gradually figured out)…if stir frying or even doing a sauce, do not cook your fresh tomatoes at all, especially the pricey heirlooms. Cut into big cubes and incorporate after taking the rest of it off the heat (and do this in a serving bowl if you were cooking in iron pans). Hopefully you’re not refrigerating unless they have broken skin. They will come up to a nice warm temperature from the stir fry.
Also try growing a couple of herbs.
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Serve on a slice of toasted sourdough covered in goats cheese with a slice of parma ham laid over the top and drizzle with some really good olive oil and a sprinkle of black truffle. Breakfast of the gods.
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Huh. I usually use butter, but sometimes I use olive oil. I like the taste. For me the trick is using more oil than I would use for a stir fry and take care of the heat.
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Also, when you buy frozen, you can have petit pois, (often sold as “Petite” or “Baby” or “Early Harvest” peas — I recommend the unsalted ones) as a year-round staple rather than as a fresh treat only briefly available once a year.
To me, even the best full-grown peas, including just-picked-fresh ones, seem starchy and bland by comparison.
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How about an oven bottom muffin with a thick slice of dry cure back bacon and a good dollop of hollandaise?
Use more butter. Don’t flip it. When the underside is cooked throw it into a preheated oven and take it out when the top is still slightly liquid.
This x 1000. But don’t ever over cook it. Onions caramelize. Garlic burns.
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- Use a razorblade to slice the garlic very thin; it will liquefy in the pan with a little olive oil. It’s a great system.
- Don’t use too many onions for the sauce.
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if you haven’t got an Aga…
Having read the list. And then decided I don’t want to watch the video. I will say this. It looks like there is some sensible advice there. But i looks like there is a lack of context or practical instruction (why I decided to skip the video). Instead I will offer the 4 things I learned working in commercial kitchens that have most contributed to my being a very good cook.
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Mis en Place. Prep everything first. Lay out all your tools. Everything you will need. All the oils and seasonings and ingredients. Do all your chopping cutting and cleaning. Lay it out in a sensible left to right. Most important, and most frequently used. To least important and least frequently used layout. Put everything in little dishes. Keep the salt close. You aren’t ready to cook until all is prepped. Everything laid out.
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Salt. Everything. Liberally. Each step. Each layer. Must be seasoned with more salt than you think.
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Things must be cooked both hotter and for less time than you think. “Medium” means “almost all the heat”. “High” means almost bursting into flames. If you think its done its probably over done. Especially with delicate things like fish and eggs.
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Buy and use a thermometer. And find a better source than the USDA for finish temperatures. 145F is not medium rare. Its medium well. Over cooked for most red meat. The USDA and other government boards calibrate those lists based on minimum safe temps for ground ass contaminated meat in worse case scenarios. Minimum safe temp becomes “medium rare” for reasons.
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Vinegar and eggs reminds me too much of the those my dear mother used to make (vinegar in scrambled eggs, really)? I often make poached eggs for my favorite Lyonnaise salad with frisée (this dish has bacon or pancetta too, yum). Break two eggs into a small bowl. Bring the water to a rolling boil in a small saucepan, swirl with a fork or spoon, turning off the heat first (and remove from the heat at once if you use an electric stove; gas is no problem). Drop the eggs into the heart of the whirlpool you have formed and immediately clamp on the lid and don’t touch. Time for exactly five minutes for a nice runny yolk; lift the eggs out at once with a slotted spoon (or, as I usually so, pour them out to drain into a handy “sieve on a handle” tool I use for all sorts of cooking). Seems to work for me every time; perfectly shaped poached eggs, no vinegar. If they sit for six minutes in the water the eggs will be almost hard-yoked and not so pleasing, to me at least.
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I’m for whatever reason incapable of making that work. Vinegar does something chemical to the whites that makes the poached egg more likely to hold together. But its no help in my case. I think I’m too impatient and uncontrolled. Poached eggs rub me the wrong way like baking. It requires to much precision. I poach my eggs with an immersion circulator. And do it right in the shell. Helps cover a black spot in my technique.
A tip for holding the whites together: get rid of the loose part of the whites. Tip your egg into a fine mesh strainer, swirl it around a bit over the sink – the loose part of the white will drip through. The remaining white will be tight and cohesive when poached, knock wood, avoiding the bukakke party syndrome.
Got this from The Food Lab’s poached egg article, which is worth looking at.
This is why you want the freshest eggs you have. The white thins as it gets older.
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