Read Online Don't Sweat the Aubergine by Nicholas Clee - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Nicholas Clee
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bread sizzles energetically in it. Tilt the pan, and slip the eggs (no more than 2 in a pan) into the oil where it is deepest, so that you get hot oil to run over the yolk. Level the pan, and fry the eggs for a couple of minutes, until the white is set; lift out of the oil with a draining spoon.
If you don’t like runny yolks, a fried egg is not for you. In the time it takes a yolk to set, a frying white turns to rubber.
SCRAMBLED EGGS
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HOW TO MAKE THEM
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Again, the secret is slow cooking. That, and knowing when to stop: the egg will carry on setting when removed from the heat. If I haven’t made scrambled eggs for a while, I often find that I get my timing wrong.
Crack 2 or 3 eggs for each person into a bowl. Stir with a fork to blend the yolks and the whites. 1 Add salt to taste, and 1 tsp vinegar for every 4 eggs. 2 Allow 10g butter or more (I use more) for every 2 eggs. Melt half of it over a medium to low heat in a non-stick saucepan (use another kind only if you enjoy cleaning off stuck egg – I’d rather clean the Augean stables). When the butter foams, pour in the egg, and continue to cook, over a low heat and stirring constantly, until the egg is set but moist. 3 Take the pan off the heat, add the rest of the butter, stir until it’s melted, and tip the scrambled eggs on to warm plates. Add pepper if you like. 4
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VARIATIONS
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Any of the herbs and vegetables that go well with an omelette ( see here ) will make a happy alliance with scrambled eggs. You must make sure that the vegetables have disgorged their water, and won’t spoil the rich creaminess of the dish. Simply adding grated cheese to the beaten eggs and cooking them together is fine, or you could try a fancier option, reducing a small glass of wine to a couple of tablespoons of liquid in a saucepan, and adding it, with seasonings and herbs if you like , to a mixture of eggs and cheese (Gruyère complements eggs particularly well).
Piperade is an onion, pepper and tomato stew with a bonding of creamy egg. For 2 people: 4 eggs, lightly beaten; 1 onion, sliced; 2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced; 1 garlic clove, finely chopped; one 400g can of tomatoes, or 4 plump fresh ones; 2 tbsp olive oil. Fry the onion, pepper and garlic in the oil until soft – about 10 to 15 minutes. (Or skin the pepper first – see here .) Now, here is one of the rare times when it’s important to deseed and de-juice the tomatoes ( see here ): if using canned ones, drain them and squeeze out their juice. You need a dry stew that doesn’t water down the egg. Chop the tomatoes, add them to the onion and pepper mix, and cook them until their moisture has evaporated. Add the eggs, seasoned, and cook until lightly scrambled.
Or make them spicy: (for 2) fry a sliced onion and chopped garlic in butter or butter and oil; add a teaspoon of toasted and ground cumin ( see here ), and a chopped green chilli, with the seeds and pith removed if you don’t want the heat; cook for a couple of minutes longer, and add 4 beaten, seasoned eggs; cook gently, stirring, until scrambled. This dish is better with fresh chilli than with dried chilli or chilli powder, I think; and it’s also nice with the addition, at the end of cooking, of some chopped coriander leaves.
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WHY YOU DO IT
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1 • Don’t overbeat . Blend the whites and the yolks, but leave a globby texture. If you beat the eggs until they become runny, they will be tougher when cooked. This rule applies to omelettes as well.
2 • Salt and vinegar . The softening effects of salt and vinegar, which can enfeeble the white of a poached egg, are just what you want here. If you use just the small amount of vinegar I recommend, you should not be able to taste it.
3 • Warm butter, slow cooking . You get the pan and the butter hot first because you want the eggs to start cooking as soon as you pour them in. However, you have to heat them gently; cook them on a high heat, and you produce pale eggy chunks with the
If you don’t like runny yolks, a fried egg is not for you. In the time it takes a yolk to set, a frying white turns to rubber.
SCRAMBLED EGGS
----
HOW TO MAKE THEM
----
Again, the secret is slow cooking. That, and knowing when to stop: the egg will carry on setting when removed from the heat. If I haven’t made scrambled eggs for a while, I often find that I get my timing wrong.
Crack 2 or 3 eggs for each person into a bowl. Stir with a fork to blend the yolks and the whites. 1 Add salt to taste, and 1 tsp vinegar for every 4 eggs. 2 Allow 10g butter or more (I use more) for every 2 eggs. Melt half of it over a medium to low heat in a non-stick saucepan (use another kind only if you enjoy cleaning off stuck egg – I’d rather clean the Augean stables). When the butter foams, pour in the egg, and continue to cook, over a low heat and stirring constantly, until the egg is set but moist. 3 Take the pan off the heat, add the rest of the butter, stir until it’s melted, and tip the scrambled eggs on to warm plates. Add pepper if you like. 4
----
VARIATIONS
----
Any of the herbs and vegetables that go well with an omelette ( see here ) will make a happy alliance with scrambled eggs. You must make sure that the vegetables have disgorged their water, and won’t spoil the rich creaminess of the dish. Simply adding grated cheese to the beaten eggs and cooking them together is fine, or you could try a fancier option, reducing a small glass of wine to a couple of tablespoons of liquid in a saucepan, and adding it, with seasonings and herbs if you like , to a mixture of eggs and cheese (Gruyère complements eggs particularly well).
Piperade is an onion, pepper and tomato stew with a bonding of creamy egg. For 2 people: 4 eggs, lightly beaten; 1 onion, sliced; 2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced; 1 garlic clove, finely chopped; one 400g can of tomatoes, or 4 plump fresh ones; 2 tbsp olive oil. Fry the onion, pepper and garlic in the oil until soft – about 10 to 15 minutes. (Or skin the pepper first – see here .) Now, here is one of the rare times when it’s important to deseed and de-juice the tomatoes ( see here ): if using canned ones, drain them and squeeze out their juice. You need a dry stew that doesn’t water down the egg. Chop the tomatoes, add them to the onion and pepper mix, and cook them until their moisture has evaporated. Add the eggs, seasoned, and cook until lightly scrambled.
Or make them spicy: (for 2) fry a sliced onion and chopped garlic in butter or butter and oil; add a teaspoon of toasted and ground cumin ( see here ), and a chopped green chilli, with the seeds and pith removed if you don’t want the heat; cook for a couple of minutes longer, and add 4 beaten, seasoned eggs; cook gently, stirring, until scrambled. This dish is better with fresh chilli than with dried chilli or chilli powder, I think; and it’s also nice with the addition, at the end of cooking, of some chopped coriander leaves.
----
WHY YOU DO IT
----
1 • Don’t overbeat . Blend the whites and the yolks, but leave a globby texture. If you beat the eggs until they become runny, they will be tougher when cooked. This rule applies to omelettes as well.
2 • Salt and vinegar . The softening effects of salt and vinegar, which can enfeeble the white of a poached egg, are just what you want here. If you use just the small amount of vinegar I recommend, you should not be able to taste it.
3 • Warm butter, slow cooking . You get the pan and the butter hot first because you want the eggs to start cooking as soon as you pour them in. However, you have to heat them gently; cook them on a high heat, and you produce pale eggy chunks with the
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