Re: Incredible Edible Eggs

[Guest guest]

Incredible, Edible Eggs

http://snipurl.com/dh2r

Or " aigs, " as we call them in Alabama. The egg is one of the best little

foods nature ever created. I have a special place in my heart for the

little orbs, as frying eggs was the first act of cooking my mother

taught me.

There is no other food item that is as flexible as the egg; none that shows

up in such a variety of dishes; none other capable of such an immense

range of texture. Eggs make soufflés delicate and sensual; they hold

together crème brulée and cheesecake (the epitomes of dessert baking, as

consommé is the capstone of broth making); they are creamy, light, and

soft when scrambled by a master hashslinger in your local greasy-spoon

diner.

When I fried eggs as a child, I’d use an old stainless-steel Revere pan and

whole butter. I’d always end up with some almost-burnt crunchy brown

lace at the edges of the egg white. That remains my favorite part of a

fried egg, but nobody at a breakfast diner will cook them that way.

An omelet with sausage and cheese is just about the reason Louisiana

hot sauces were invented. Omelets work with XX habañero sauces, too, in

case anybody’s wondering.

And then there’s the nutrition: Egg whites are basically zero-fat, 100%

protein muscle-building bombs, with just a few little bits of minerals

and vitamins thrown in. The protein in egg whites is so easily used to

best effect by the human body that the best protein powders in

bodybuilders’ nutrition stores use egg protein exclusively.

The yolks have plenty of saturated fat and cholesterol, and are loaded

with vitamins, minerals, and more protein. Additionally, the yolks

provide the smooth, mouth-filling texture that makes egg dishes so

satisfying.

Warmed -- not cooked -- eggs and egg yolks are used in sauces of all

kinds, particularly the classical hollandaise and béarnaise (which,

remember, include cayenne pepper in the French-textbook versions), not

to mention mayonnaise.

Hard-boiled eggs are good in salads, on their own (with plenty of salt

and hot sauce), and in whatever else you want to add them to. Raw eggs

hold together a nice beef tartar, adding their own mouth-filling

smoothness and luxury.

In custards of all kinds, including cheesecakes, crème brulée, and

quiche, egg proteins uncoil and solidify, holding the whole mass

together so it can be eaten with a fork.

What else is there to say about eggs? Oh, right: The food nannies hate

them. All that fat and cholesterol are bad for you; and raw eggs may

carry salmonella! When I want to use a raw egg for something, I remind

myself that on average, fewer than 1 in 20,000 eggs carries salmonella;

and if you buy your own eggs as fresh as possible and inspect them, you

improve your odds even further.

There’s good news about the fat and cholesterol, too. If you don’t have

a problem, eat up! If your doctor says you have a problem, well, err on

the side of taking his advice, but ask him a lot of questions. If I’m

not mistaken (and I always can be), the medical community has long since

decided that your genes are a bigger contributor to a bad cholesterol

profile than your diet.

What can you do with eggs you haven’t done already? Try frying up a few

with some potatoes and broken-up salmon to make salmon hash. Include

some diced yellow, red, or orange bell peppers. Make a sauce for that by

reducing orange juice, adding cayenne pepper, and finishing with butter.

Per Madison and most of Australia, you can put fried eggs on a pizza

with pepperoni and hot peppers.

One of my favorites, a real valve-snapping fat bomb: Broil up a nice little

beef tenderloin steak, and cover it with melted extra-sharp cheddar

cheese and a fried egg. For a dipping sauce, consider a strong reduction

of beef broth with balsamic vinegar and black pepper, finished with

heavy cream. The balsamic vinegar provides some bright notes, but fresh

herbs wouldn’t hurt, and Italian parsley goes with everything.

There’s still more you can do with eggs, of course. The list is never-ending.

Order them over easy with runny yolks in a greasy diner, and sop them up

with sausage and white toast. Talk about comfort food!

Next to salt (http://snipurl.com/dh2u), eggs are the most versatile

ingredient in your kitchen. Unlike salt, eggs are a complete food in

themselves. Fry yourself up a dozen,and thumb your nose at the food

nannies. But don’t eat eggs just because the nannies hate them; eat them

because they’re so darned good!

February 10, 2005

Brad Edmonds [freedomwins2001@...], author of the new book, There’s

a Government in Your Soup (http://snipurl.com/dh2w), writes from Alabama.

######

" I feel sorry for all those health food

people. Someday, they will be lying in a hospital bed,

dying of nothing. "

Redd Foxx

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" This is what the king who will reign over you will do:

He will take... He will take... He will take... He will take...

... he will take... He will take... "

(I 8:11-17)

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