Hi folks! Chef G. here, and I'm back from another long absence. Too long. Ridiculously long. So long that I'm probably happier to see me producing another episode of The Chef G. Cooking Channel than you are . . . and that's saying something. The highlight of my return is that I'm dedicating today's episode to a group of viewers that, heretofore, has been wrongly neglected in my amazing blog. You guessed it, I'm talking about the vegetarian crowd.
As you are probably aware, vegetarians eat food too. It's different food than animals like me, lions, wolves, owls, sharks, rattlesnakes, and Venus flytraps generally eat, but it IS food nevertheless.
I'm not talking about vegetables though. (I already starred in an episode dedicated to the tastiest vegetable on earth--corn on the cob--a couple years ago.) No, I'm talking about a vegetarian-approved source of protein. Yes, I'm talking about eggs. Like corn on the cob, eggs can be prepared in many fine ways. And I'm going to teach you some of them. As a celebrity chef, that's my job.
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Some vegetarians eat fish for protein. Others eat insects. In my opinion, salmon & crickets & such are still meat, but I'm not going to get into a big debate about that. Nor will I argue with anybody who says eggs are the meat of unborn birds. This blog is not the place for such philosophical disputes. It's a place for peaceful food harmony.
Anyway, there is another group of vegetarians who eat neither fish nor insects nor eggs for their protein. They are called vegans. I respect their dietary discipline, but this post is for non-vegan vegetarians. Rest assured, though, that I will do a show for my vegan fans sometime in the future.
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I have an egg guru. His name is Bob. He makes perfect over-easy fried eggs. After years of trying, and failing, to cook my own perfect over-easy fried eggs, I began to study Bob's technique on our annual guys' trips to campgrounds and cabins all over northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. It was ingenious. In a cast iron pan, he cracked open a few eggs into hot bacon grease and let them simmer for a couple of minutes. He basted them with the bacon fat a few times, carefully flipped them over, cooked them for a few more seconds, and transferred them onto plates for a trio of hungry friends. As one of those friends, I can tell you we were REALLY hungry in the mornings after long days of outdoor adventure and long nights of beer drinking. Bob's bacon and egg meals were easily the best breakfasts I've ever eaten.
As I said, I'm going vegetarian for this post, so bacon fat is out. I'll try to duplicate Bob's over-easy egg excellence by substituting bacon grease with the next best thing--butter.
More recently, in an e-mail exchange, Bob shared his secret to great scrambled eggs. Crack them into a bowl, add a little cream, whisk, throw them into a hot pan with butter and, here's the kicker, don't stir them. FOLD them for extra tenderness.
Bob didn't tell me anything about boiling eggs. Maybe he was holding out on me. That's okay. After many weeks of intense research at egg libraries around the world, I created the perfect boiled egg recipe.
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There you go: Today, I'm going to cook eggs--three ways--four simple ingredients--one meal--one plate.
During the one hour waiting time, you can crack another egg into a bowl. Then add a tablespoon of cream, whisk like crazy, and set aside.
Now it's time for the scrambled egg. All you have to do is pour the previously prepared mixture into the butter fat leftover from the fried egg. Let it coagulate for a minute or two, and fold it over a few times with a spatula. Add salt and pepper. Then divide it up a little bit with the spatula. I could FEEL the tenderness and could not wait to CHEW it.
The only thing I could think of that might be more unique than cooking three different egg dishes was to serve them all on one plate. What I came up with was a thing of eggalicious beauty. I hope you agree.
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| The four simple ingredients preclude other delicious egg preparations such as omelets, quiches, and deviled eggs. I could have made poached eggs, but they're gross. |
I started with a boiled egg. I put one egg into a pan, added water, brought the egg & water to a boil, turned off the heat, and let the egg cook for 18 minutes in the hot water. Less time than that might result in a runny yolk. To be clear, runny yolks are great in fried eggs, but in boiled eggs they're sickening. That's my opinion anyway.
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| Egg in hot water |
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| After 18 minutes in hot water, put the egg in ice water. Crack the shell slightly to make it easier to peel, return it to the ice water for an hour. |
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| You'll need this after the over-easy fried eggs are done cooking. |
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| Prepare for frying by melting a healthy amount of butter into a fry pan. When fully melted and bubbling, add an egg. |
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| As the egg cooks, scoop up some melted butter and pour it onto the yolk. Repeat two or three times. Add salt and pepper. Flip the thing over for five seconds and, voila, a perfect over-easy egg. |
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| Folding the egg |
Enjoy your meal with a hot cup of strong coffee.
