Storybook Eggs

Stranger I've Almost Forgotten: *Knock, knock*

Me: "Who is it?"
SIAF: "It's me."
Me: "Hmm? You sound familiar, but I've almost forgotten you."
SIAF: "It's me!!! Spring!"
Me: "Oh, of course! Well, in that case come on in, and I'll cook you up!"

Spring. As I'm typing this I can actually hear birds chirping outside my window. Asparagus and strawberries were available at the farmers' market last weekend, green garlic has been here for three weeks now, and the fresh milk I've been buying is thicker than ever. This is the season that always makes me think I should quit my job, pull out my big backpack, and live my life wandering around the countryside. I'm pretty sure I could live on wild onions and forest morels for at least a little while, but that's a fantasy for another day.

Three weeks ago the Dunwoody Green Market opened, which was great news for me. This means easy access to a few different farms that are growing slightly different veggies and such than my friends at the Morningside Market. Several wonderful little discoveries have come out of this market, but one of my favorites is duck eggs. I found them by accident. The day the market opened I loaded up one of my little friends (age 5), and we headed that way to see what we could find. He was very impressed by the white carrots and the free samples, but what most impressed him was a duck wearing a dress. Here's a picture of the duck and her owner:

You will notice that the duck (named Cutie Pie I later learned) is NOT wearing a dress in this picture, which is unfortunate, but so it goes. It cost 5 bucks to take a picture of the duck with the dress on, and I decided that money was better spent on what she'd produced: duck eggs. I'd never tried them before and was curious.

That afternoon I headed home with a dozen little treasures, proudly lifted the top of the carton, and watched Charlie's eyebrows raise in amusement. He suggested we fry them, and I couldn't think of a reason why we shouldn't, so we did!

Before we get into the part of this story that involves cooking and eating, let me take a moment to describe these little stars. The eggs are really beautiful. They're a very pale ivory with a gray tint and a few speckles here and there. They're longer and thinner than chicken eggs and are more difficult to crack. Because they come from water fowl, the eggs must have a slightly thicker shell with a more resilient membrane inside to protect the contents. One good whack on the side of the counter breaks through with no problem, and out slides a beautiful, orangey yolk and nearly-transparent whites. I was amazed by the size of the yolk. It's much larger than the yolk of a chicken egg and (I later learned) has a lot more protein.

What does one do with such a lovely new ingredient? Well, if you're me you create a recipe that features it. And so, Not-Quite-Benedict came to be. I am sorry to say that my stupid camera battery died before I could take a decent photo of the finished dish (that might have been my fault...), but I did manage to snap one not-so-great picture. This doesn't even almost do justice to the pretty eggs, but it's what I have. In fact, I think it looks kind of gross in this picture, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that it wasn't. It was delicious!

See! It's not gorgeous in the photo. Oh well.

Not-Quite-Benedict

serves 4

ingredients:

8 thick slices bacon

4 large duck eggs

8 buttermilk biscuits, recipe to follow

Hollandaise sauce, recipe to follow

salt

pepper

Place bacon slices in a large cast-iron frying pan. Place the pan on your stove-top and gently cook on medium-high heat, turning the bacon after 2 - 3 minutes and continuing to cook until it is cooked through and just beginning to crisp. Remove bacon from the pan and place on paper towels to drain. Do not discard the leftover bacon fat in the pan.

Carefully crack one duck egg in a small bowl, taking care not to puncture or otherwise break the yolk. Heat the reserved baking fat until hot but not smoking and gently slide the egg into the pan.

Allow the egg to cook until the whites set, 2 - 3 minutes, then carefully flip it over with a spatula, again taking care not to break the yolk. Cook another 1 - 3 minutes then remove from pan. Repeat with remaining eggs.

To assemble, split one warm buttermilk biscuit in half, and place two pieces of bacon on the bottom half.

Slide one fried egg on top of the bacon, and top with a generous spoonful of hollandaise sauce. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with an extra biscuit for sopping up the egg and hollandaise sauce. Serve immediately.

Buttermilk Biscuits

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups bread flour

1 Tablespoon honey

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 Tablespoon milk (for brushing biscuits)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and honey and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough just forms.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead several times. Using your hands, form the dough into eight balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the top of each biscuit with milk, and bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until the biscuits are completely cooked through and are golden on top.

Serve warm.

*Note: If you prefer, biscuits can be cut into perfect rounds using a circular cookie cutter or the bottom of a glass. I just tend to like puffy, cloud-shaped biscuits so I form them by hand. Also, a handful of shredded cheddar and chopped rosemary can be thrown in with the dry ingredients for a more savory biscuit.

This is my wonderful mother-in-law's recipe for Blender Hollandaise. It's so tasty and will keep for 2 days. I used it on steamed asparagus the first night and then used the rest on the Not-Quite-Benedict.

Blender Hollandaise

ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, heated to a bubble

3 egg yolks

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

Put egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend on low for 10 - 15 seconds. Add the hot butter, and blend 15 - 20 seconds more. Serve immediately.

The makings of brunch

Brunch on the weekends is such a lazy, decadent treat.  Every now and then I rise early on a Saturday or Sunday morning and rush to prepare a complicated or time consuming dish, but usually it's a time for simple and easy-to-prepare food.  

Eggs and pancakes -- that's the way to go.  Something savory and something sweet.  I try to stick to that rule when making brunch, and it serves me well.  Sometimes I go with straight-up scrambled eggs and buttermilk pancakes, and sometimes I play around with it a little.  Today the pancakes took a turn and became Creme Brulee French Toast with Strawberries.  I wanted something I could prepare fairly quickly then toss in the oven while I made a fruit salad and cooked eggs and bacon.  I tinkered around in the kitchen for awhile before coming up with a recipe, and boy am I pleased with the result.  It's light, fluffy, sticky, and gooey all at once.  It's sweet but not overwhelming, and the flavors all blended perfectly.  Also, my quick and easy plan worked.  This is a no-fuss fancy dish. :)

Creme Brulee French Toast with Strawberries

 ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla sugar, plus 1 teaspoon

4 slices challah bread (sliced 1 1/2 inches thick)

3 eggs, plus 1 eggwhite

1 cup half-and half

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon orange liquer

pinch of salt

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup sliced strawberries

confectioners sugar (for dusting)

fresh mint sprigs (optional)

Melt the butter in a small pan on medium heat.  Add the brown sugar and 1 Tablespoon vanilla sugar (recipe to follow).  If you do not have vanilla sugar add 1 Tablespoon of sugar and 1/8 tsp vanilla extract.  Stir constantly until sugar has melted and mixture is smooth.  Pour into the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish.

Place challah slices in one layer on top of sugar mixture, gently squeezing to fit.  

In a medium bowl whisk together the 3 eggs, half and half, vanilla extract, orange liquer, and salt.  Pour over the challah.  Allow to sit at room temperature for one hour.  It may sit for up to 1 day but should be refrigerated and allowed to return to room temperature before continuing. 

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the egg white, heavy cream, and 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar (or regular sugar) until it just begins to thicken (before stiff peaks are formed).  Pour over the challah.

Bake for 35 minutes or until french toast is puffy and golden.  Remove from oven and allow to rest for five minutes.  Top with sliced strawberries and confectioners sugar.  Serve and garnish with  mint.

This type of food makes me feel like I'm cooking in the country.  It's so warm and homey with the sticky bottom and the light top.  Bacon compliments this dish.  The sweet and salty play off one another quite nicely.

One last little thing before I finish the mimosas still on the table.  Vanilla sugar is a real treat to have around and is very simple to make.  After scraping the seeds out of a vanilla bean (and using them for something else) place the pod in a jar and fill with granulated sugar.  Put the top on and shake it up a little.  In a couple of days the vanilla will have infused the sugar, and you'll have vanilla sugar!  It's a wonderful thing to have around and can be used in a variety of ways.  Add it to coffee and use it in place of regular sugar when baking.  It adds that little something extra to the recipe above.