Eggs Part 3: The Omelette

Howdy folks!  Been a little while since I posted last.  I've been having some serious troubles with my crappy cell phone camera (turns out my phone likes to restart itself after I take a picture), however I was able to cram in some shots before it started acting screwy again.  I hope to remedy this one day by getting a real camera, but it may be a little while until then, so you're going to have to be patient with me.

Today we're going to be looking at the omelette in its simplest form.  From my first couple posts, you can see why I'm a proponent of gentle cooking when it comes to eggs, and today we're going to be using that same low and slow method to cook an omelette.  To me, omelettes are a great comfort food that really brings me back to my childhood.  They can be a canvas for a variety of flavors, but I think you'll find those flavors work best when you keep them simple.

The Omelette


To do this, you're going to need your nonstick pan again.  I like my omelettes to be nice and thin so they cook evenly, so I recommend a 10" pan for a 2 egg omelette, and a 12" pan for a 3 or 4 egg omelette.  It's crucial that you use nonstick for this, as a regular pan will most likely leave you with a mess at the bottom of the pan.  Bring your eggs and your butter up to room temperature by leaving them out for half an hour or so.  Start off by melting some great butter over low heat, tilting the pan so that the butter evenly coats the entire surface

Crack your eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk them with a splash of whole milk or heavy cream until the surface is dotted with bubbles.

In the fried egg post, I mentioned that cooking the eggs quickly to brown the butter gave the egg a rich nutty flavor, but cooking over high heat made it a more risky option.  Today I want the best of both worlds, so I'm going to be cooking low and slow, but making a separate brown butter to finish my omelette in.  Melt some butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.

I'm then going to add some fresh chopped rosemary to the butter, and let it brown over medium heat.  As the butter cooks, the milk solids in the butter and the rosemary are basically being fried in the butter fat.  Once these reach a nice golden brown color, turn the heat down to the lowest setting to keep warm.

(Note: The rosemary is in there, although it's hard to see from the picture)

Once the butter is bubbling in your nonstick pan, add your room temperature eggs.

As you add your eggs, they will immediately start cooking.  Once the bottom has set a little bit, start tilting your pan all around so that the liquid egg cooks along the edges of the pan.

By doing this, we have a thin, almost pancake like egg that has an even thickness throughout.  Keep tilting the pan over the heat so that the majority of the liquid has a chance to cook along the edges of the pan.

Once the eggs have mostly set (there should still be a little bit of liquid egg on the top), now is the time to season (salt, white pepper) and add your fillings.  I suggest going light on the toppings, as this is a pretty delicate omelette.  Also, you will want to use toppings that are either precooked, or that will cook very quickly such as cheeses or fresh herbs.  For this, I'll be adding just a little bit of finely grated Gruyere cheese.

After you've added your toppings, take a nonstick spatula and run it around the edges of the omelette.  Shake your omelette pan a little bit so that it comes loose.

After this, we're going to fold over one side of the omelette.  My omelette is folded in 3 parts, but you can just as easily fold it in two.  To fold it in three, bring one edge of the omelette 2/3 of the way down with your nonstick spatula.

We're then going to gently slide the omelette off the pan and onto the plate starting with the unfolded edge of the omelette, then bring the pan back so that the omelette folds over itself.  Add your brown butter and just a few drops of sherry vinegar if you have it.  The acidity of the vinegar will cut through the richness of the omelette.

The Conclusion

You'll notice the inside of the omelette is still a little bit liquidy.  That's a good thing, as we don't want to overcook the eggs.  The omelette is lightly cooked and very delicate, and has a rich flavor from the browned butter and the Gruyere.  We're cutting through that richness and providing a little bit of balance to the dish by adding the chopped rosemary and a little bit of sherry vinegar for acidity.  In the end we're left with an omelette that is light, delicate, and balanced, as opposed to one that is dense and heavy.  As I've mentioned before, low and slow should be the method you're going for when dealing with eggs, but an omelette that is brown and flavorful can also be great just as long as you're not overcooking your eggs or overwhelming them with too many toppings.

An omelette can be an incredible comfort and a well balanced meal or a late night snack.  As always, a great dish lies in its techniques.  If you take the time to practice and refine your basic techniques, you're going to be left with a great result.  Next time: Poached Eggs!

Eggs Part 2: The Scrambled Egg

Today we're going to look at another common preparation of eggs, the scrambled egg.  Last time we discussed purchasing eggs, and prepared 2 different versions of fried eggs.  One was made "low and slow" using nothing more than a little bit of butter, and the other was made over higher heat in a bit of brown butter.  While the browned egg developed a great nutty flavor and a crispy texture, it was left to cook unevenly, leaving some parts to become overcooked while others weren't being cooked enough.  Additionally, the high heat left air pockets embedded in the surface, and while this provided for that crispy texture, it certainly took its toll on the appearance of the egg.  The low and slow method ended up producing an egg that was evenly cooked, had a smooth surface, and made for an excellent presentation.  Today, we're going to test similar methods on scrambled eggs, but rather than low and slow and high heat methods, instead we're going to be trying "low and slow" and "lower and slower".

I could start off by showing you the result of high heat on scrambled eggs, but chances are, you've already tasted them.  Many of you have had them all your lives.  Sometimes they may be cooked to the point where the water is released from the eggs, and you're left with soggy, liquidy eggs.  Appetizing, right?  I'm not going to do it that way.  Cooking your scrambled eggs over high heat is overkill.  You're left with a dry rubbery product which resembles a sponge more than it does eggs.  This is why I like to cook my eggs "medium rare".  By cooking over a low heat and constantly stirring, you're gently and evenly heating your eggs up, which will provide a creamy, luxurious texture for your eggs.  Pulling them off the heat before the eggs have fully cooked ensures that they haven't been overcooked, and you're left with a fantastic plate of eggs.  Once you've tasted scrambled eggs this way, you may never overcook them again.

The Scrambled Egg Part 1: Low and Slow

We're going to start off as we did before, with some great eggs and some great butter.  Leave your eggs and your butter out until they get to room temperature, about 30-45 minutes.  You're going to need a silicone spatula, a nonstick pan, a mixing bowl, and a whisk.

Start out by cracking your eggs on a flat surface into a large mixing bowl.

Whisk the eggs until the surface is dotted with air bubbles.

Heat up a nonstick skillet over low heat and add about a tablespoon of butter.

Once the butter has melted, add your eggs and immediately start stirring with your nonstick spatula.  

The key to this method is to never stop stirring your eggs.  As you continue to stir, you're constantly moving around and agitating the eggs and preventing them from setting.  The eggs become heated evenly as the surface area exposed to heat is constantly changing.  Think of your scrambled eggs eggs like your children.  Don't leave them unattended, and never stop agitating them until they do what you want (ha).

As you're stirring, make sure you're stirring with smooth, gentle motions.  This is going to produce long egg "curds" which will have an incredible texture in the end.  Make sure you're paying attention to the sides and the middle of your pan when you stir.  I like to stir in a figure 8 pattern, and then move from left to right.

As you can see, our eggs have already begun to thicken.  They're still very much in a liquid state, but it looks like there are some nice looking curds developing.  If you start seeing a lot of solids in your eggs, take your pan off the heat immediately and don't stop stirring.  This is the point where we want to add some milk or heavy cream.  I'm going to be using a little bit of some whole milk.  In keeping with using great ingredients, I have a organic grass fed whole milk.

We're going to add a splash to the pan.  This will slow down the cooking process. 

Mix the milk or cream thoroughly with the eggs.  Once the eggs look about 3/4 of the way done, take them off the heat and get them onto your plate immediately.  The mixture should be still slightly liquidy, but fairly thick.  When you stir the eggs around with the spatula, they should mostly keep their shape.  You want them to look like this:

If you take them off the heat when they look done, they will be overcooked.  The idea is to take them off the heat just before they're fully cooked.  They'll continue to cook from their own residual heat.  Season them with salt and white pepper, get them onto a plate immediately and eat!

What we're doing is we're taking the eggs off intentionally while they're still a little underdone.  What you should be left with is a very rich and luxurious plate of scrambled eggs.  It should be almost the texture of a thick custard.  These eggs take to herbs very well, so if you have a little bit of fresh parsley, tarragon, or chives you want to chop up, feel free to add them.  

This method produces eggs with a texture like no other.  It should fall somewhere on the border of a solid and a liquid, and is creamy and luxurious, and at the same time inexpensive and humble.  Now that we've familiarized ourselves with the low and slow method of scrambled eggs, we're going to take things down another notch and go even slower.  How is that possible you ask?  We've already cooked our eggs on the lowest heat setting on our stove, how is it possible to cook them over lower heat than that?  The answer, my friends, lies in a water bath.

The Scrambled Egg Part 2: Lower and Slower

To become aware of this method, we need to look at the process of heat transfer.  Whenever you're heating up a can of soup, for example, you may start by turning on the burner and placing your saucepan over the heat.  In order to heat up your soup, you're putting your saucepot over the fire or element (your heat source) which is transferring that heat to the pan you're using.  From there, that pan heats up and transfers the heat to your soup.  As the water rises up and begins to approach its vapor state, it starts releasing steam, which is continuing to transfer the heat upwards.  If you have a lid on, much of the vapor bounces right back rather than escaping, and transfers heat back to the liquid, heating the liquid more quickly than if you had the lid off.  

Looking at the 4 different carriers of heat, we can naturally assume that the heat source (the fire or the element on your stove) is going to be the hottest, followed by the pan since it's closest to the heat source, followed by the liquid, and then the vapor.  Since the vapor is furthest from the heat source, it provides the gentlest possible heat since the heat from your stove has to move through the pan, the liquid, and the air to reach whatever it is you're heating up.  In this method, we're going to cook the eggs over a low simmering water bath.

To do this method, you're going to need a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, a metal mixing bowl that goes over the top, and of course, a silicone spatula and a whisk.  I prefer to use a separate mixing bowl to whisk the eggs, but if you only have one, you can use the same bowl to cook your eggs (make sure it's heat proof).  Start off the way you did before, cracking 2 or 3 good quality room temperature eggs into your mixing bowl.  

This time, we're going to be adding both milk and a little bit of cream to our eggs.

Whisk this mixture together until air bubbles form at the surface.  Meanwhile, heat up your saucepan over high heat until simmering.  Once it's simmering, turn your heat all the way back down to low, and place your metal bowl over the top with roughly a tablespoon of butter.  

Once the butter melts, add your eggs and don't stop stirring!

You're probably going to notice the cooking process moving along a little more slowly than before.  This is a good thing, since it allows us more time to work with and stir the eggs so that they cook evenly.  The mixture will continue to thicken as we're heating it up.

As soon as the eggs develop curds, and the liquid thickens, take it off the heat.  Season it with salt and white pepper and get it onto your plate immediately.

As we can see here, we're left with a creamy mixture that's even more uniform than the first one.  Because we're cooking so far away from the heat source, the eggs are cooking more slowly and evenly.  We're left with a uniform mixture that looks and tastes incredible, with smaller, more evenly distributed egg curds.

The Conclusion

We investigated cooking eggs using 2 different methods providing varying degrees of heat for the egg to cook.  It turns out, contrary to popular belief, it's far better to undercook your eggs than overcook them.  And if there's one thing we've learned so far, it's that eggs cook quickly.  If you can't work as quickly as the egg cooks, then they're probably going to be overdone.  So the question when cooking eggs should always be how slowly and gently you can cook them.  Indeed, it's clear that the proverbial tortoise will beat the hare in the end.  By taking your time and getting things right the first time, you're always going to ensure a much better product in the long run.  I highly encourage you to give either of these scrambled egg methods a try for yourself.  I think you'll be pretty happy with the result.

Eggs Part 1: The Fried Egg

I wanted to begin with something that is probably the number one staple in my kitchen, the egg.  Eggs are inexpensive, and serve an incredible array of purposes in the kitchen.  So the first couple weeks are going to be all about eggs.  Today we're going to look at eggs in its most basic form as a food, starting with the fried egg.

To properly cook an egg is very much an art form, and says a lot about your skill and your attitude as a cook.  One simple ingredient can become elevated to something great if you have the patience.  To me, it illustrates one of the most basic principles of cooking, letting your ingredients and your technique shine through.  Eggs don't have to be complicated, their beauty lies in their simplicity and their versatility.  An egg can be cooked and prepared so many different ways.  One of the most basic of which is the fried egg.  Let's start from the beginning.

Selecting Your Eggs

At first glance, there appears to be a great deal of variety in your local supermarket when it comes to eggs.  Many of you may be partial to cage free eggs.  You may be surprised (or not) however to hear that a lot of the egg producers follow the same practices.  Because of poor regulation, your cage free eggs may come from chickens that may be subject to the same indoor environment, overcrowding, and poor health conditions that your run of the mill ordinary eggs may come from.  The distinction may lie in the clever wording.  Because you are buying cage free eggs, you can be assured that your chickens are, at least to a certain extent, not living in a cage.  However, this does not assure better practices or a safer egg than your normal eggs.

Because of this, I like to buy what is referred to as pastured eggs.  This type of egg comes from chickens that are free to roam around on a pasture, and aren't subject to overcrowding and poorly ventilated indoor environments that many of the "cage free" chickens are subjected to.  These particular eggs are from grass fed hens, so you can be assured that they aren't being fed corn meal or other chickens, as some modern facilities permit and even encourage.  Because of this, you have a relatively stress free chicken with space to move around and a healthy diet, and thus you have a safer, more ethical, and tastier product.  Look, there's even a little article about their practices on the inside of the carton:

I'm a pretty happy person, so if nothing else, it assures me to know that I'm eating the offspring of happy animals.  You are what you eat.  Anyway, no matter what kind of egg you're buying, it's really important to be that really annoying person that likes to check every single egg.  If you're paying a premium price for a premium product, it's worth the extra 30 seconds to look through and make sure there's no cracks or breaks in your eggs.

The Fried Egg Part 1: Sunny Side Up, Low and Slow

There's a lot of advocates out there for the low and slow cooking method, and for good reason.  Cooking your food slowly and gently tends to soften up tough connective fibers, and cook everything through more evenly, as it allows the heat time to evenly distribute throughout whatever it is you're cooking.  I'm going to be cooking my eggs today using 2 methods.  One will be low and slow, cooked sunny side up, and the other will be over medium heat, cooked fairly quickly, and made over easy (just for the sake of variety).

It's important to start by bringing all your eggs and even your butter up to room temperature.  By doing this, you're assuring that your final result will be evenly cooked through.  Let your eggs and your butter sit out for 30-45 minutes.  Don't worry, they'll be ok on their own, just leave them.  This is a good time to preheat your oven for egg's good buddy, bacon.

Yes, I love bacon just as much as the next guy.  I've become fairly snobby about my bacon lately.  Ordinarily I'd go with Schaller and Weber's double smoked bacon (easily the best I've ever had).  In this case, I decided to try a nitrate free apple smoked bacon from Trader Joe's just for kicks.  If you can get it in a whole slab, do it.  It'll keep longer, and you can slice it to whatever thickness you want (I like mine fairly thick).  In any event, start with some great bacon and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  When you're ready to start your eggs, put your bacon in the oven for 12-15 minutes.  How do you know exactly how long it'll take?  Check it!  Your oven probably has an oven light, just take a glance.  The amount of time depends on the thickness of your bacon and how crispy you like it.  I like mine well done, so I like to do 15 minutes.

By heating the bacon in the oven, you're ensuring that your bacon cooks evenly all the way through.  In addition, you're freeing up space in your kitchen and saving yourself the hassle of multitasking.  If you have many people to serve, you can cook much more bacon at a time than you could in a pan.  And now, back to your eggs.

You're going to need a small nonstick pan for this.  I got a set of 2 very cheap at Costco (25 dollars for the set).  Start with some really good butter in the pan.  I like to use a European or a cultured butter because they're rich in butter fat, providing a rich creamy texture and complex flavor.  Put about a tablespoon of butter on your pan, and heat it up on low.

Once the butter has melted, and has started bubbling, it's time to crack your eggs into the pan.

When cracking your eggs, always crack it on a flat surface such as your cutting board.  Let gravity do the work for you, don't smash the egg down onto the surface.  

Once you crack your egg into the pan, you're going to notice the whites cooking very quickly.  Take the pan and tilt it so that all of the whites stay close to the side of the pan.  This is going to provide a more definite shape for the egg.  Hold the pan at this angle and let it cook until the whites have firmed up.  As you can tell from this picture, there is a firm white in the center which mostly keeps its shape (due to the freshness of the egg), and a little bit of runny white which distorts the shape of the egg a little bit.  This is ok, since we're going to shape our egg at the end.

As you're cooking the egg, the heat is radiating from the bottom of the pan.  Because of this, the bottom is cooking quickly, and the top is cooking at a slower rate from the heat transfer.  Tilting the pan again, take a spoon full of the hot butter and spoon it over the top of the egg.  This is going to speed up the cooking process and make sure the top gets cooked a little bit faster.

Because this egg is a little oddly shaped, I'm going to be using a ring mold to create the shape I want out of the egg.  Note that this step is purely optional.  If you want a ring mold, you don't need to spend all kinds of money on a fancy set.  The one I made was from a can of middle eastern cheese whiz (I live in an odd neighborhood) in which I've used a can opener on both the top and bottom.  This is going to provide a concrete shape for the egg.

Once the whites on top have set, your egg is done!  This is the point where you want to salt and pepper the egg.  If you're using pepper, be sure to use finely ground white pepper so as not to leave little black specks on your perfectly colored egg.

Be very careful if using a metal utensil on a non stick surface.  You don't want to scratch off any of the coating.

As you can see, we have a beautiful egg with well defined edges, cooked evenly all the way through.

The yolk should be runny and should mostly deflate the moment you cut into it.  This low and slow method produces a beautiful, perfectly cooked egg.  However, there are those that believe that eggs should be cooked at a higher temperature to promote browning, so that it develops more complex flavors.  Because of this, I intend on investigating as I cook a more browned egg, cooked over easy.

The Fried Egg Part 2: Over Easy, Quickly Browned

I would be amiss if I didn't mention the arguably more Americanized fried egg, one that has been cooked quickly to develop browning.  There are some that argue that this egg is more flavorful due to the Maillard reaction, a complex series of chemical changes that occur when cooking something over a higher heat.  However, this takes place at the expense of presentation, because although you're left with a more flavorful product, the egg doesn't make its appearance in its purest and most colorful form.  We're going to start with more butter in the pan, melted over medium heat.  This time, add the egg when you see the first wisps of smoke on the pan.  Crack the room temperature egg into the pan and turn off the heat.  The residual heat from your grill and the pan will continue to cook the egg

Tilt the pan to one side like before to make sure the egg whites stay together.  

Once the whites have set, give your egg a quick flip.  Salt and pepper your egg at this point.

You can see that the surface has cooked quickly and is much less uniform, but has developed some wonderful brown edges.  I'm going to shape the egg again using my makeshift ring mold.

You want to work very quickly as soon as the egg has flipped.  Get it onto your plate immediately to slow the cooking process.

Meanwhile, my bacon is done, and has come out to the right level of crispiness after 15 minutes.

Try to get these onto paper towels immediately so they don't become soggy.

And now, back to the egg again.  The higher heat has developed some great complex flavors that are absent in the sunny side up egg.  However, this method has several issues.  As the egg is left to cook much more rapidly, it develops a more uneven shape.  Also, because of the medium heat, the yolk firms up very quickly, so it's very easy to end up with an overcooked egg.  And finally, the well defined colors of the egg become less clear.  This is because of the browned milk solids from the butter as it cooks in the butter fat.  Although this adds a nice toasty flavor, the presentation of the egg is certainly compromised, at least to a certain extent.

The Conclusion

I prepared a fried egg in 2 different styles using 2 slightly different methods.  Arguably, the first method resembles the egg in its purest form, slowly cooked with a little butter.  This method is essentially foolproof as you're working over low heat, ensuring a properly cooked yolk.  The crucial element to the second method is the browning of the butter and the egg.  However, because this uses a higher heat, it's essential to work quickly to ensure an evenly cooked egg.  Honestly though, the way you prepare your eggs comes down to personal preference.  Eggs are something that can be enjoyed (and inexpensively, at that) for any meal of the day.  They are a great source of protein and nutrients, and can be an inexpensive luxury and an extremely versatile ingredient in the kitchen.  If one understands how to properly cook an egg, then they are truly learning some of the most important tenets of cooking, which can be carried over into pretty much all other aspects of the kitchen.

I hope you'll stay tuned.  Next time: Scrambled Eggs!