Egg Salad

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons Just Mayo
1 tbsp cream cheese [optional]
1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon lemon juice [a squeeze of fresh lemon juice]
6 hard-boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
2 scallions, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/4 c chopped dill (a small handful)
5 chopped olives (or pimientos) [optional]
1 tsp sweet relish [optional]
1 tsp chopped parsley [optional]

To serve:

bread, lettuce, sliced radishes

Directions:

Mix well.

NOTE1: Some people separate the yolks and mix with the mayo.

 

Egg Replacement

It is very difficult to replace eggs in baking.

Just read an article with a genius egg replacement (which can even be used to make meringue!!!!!!!!!!!!).

Please try it and let me know how you like it.

I’m attaching a copy of the text of the article below. I’ve kept all of The Week’s hotlinks for your reference.

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You’ve heard of root-to-stalk and nose-to-tail cooking, but here’s a way to limit waste that may not have crossed your mind: Use the water in a can of chickpeas. Why on earth would you want to do this?

You can use chickpea water as an egg replacement. Whipped like egg whites, it can turn into meringue. It also works as a great replacement for whole eggs in certain baked goods.

Three tablespoons of chickpea water can replace a whole egg. The substitute works best in recipes like cakes and quick breads, but it can work for cookies, too.

 Things get a little more complicated when you substitute it for whipped egg whites, but if you’re careful and patient, you’ll churn out meringue that looks and tastes just like the real thing. We swear.

Two tablespoons of chickpea water can replace one egg white. Simply beat the brine as you would an egg white, and in a little extra time, you’ll see magical results. While you may be able to whip egg whites into a desired consistency within a few minutes, whipping chickpea water requires a little extra time. Expect to whip it for at least 15 minutes.

In addition to whipping for longer, you also have to be careful with the temperature. Whether you’re making meringue cookies or meringue topping, never heat the brine above 250 degrees and keep a close eye on the oven.

Skeptical? Thanks to vegan baker Goose Wohlt, who some credit with discovering the brine’s meringue-like properties, there’s a growing movement behind what people are calling “aquafaba.” Dan Barber even used the stuff at his food scraps pop-up wast-ED.

Though it may seem like a fringe cooking hack for now, there’s reason to believe it won’t stay on the sidelines forever. For one, it’s a vegan alternative to one of the most difficult foods to replace: eggs. And we all know vegan food is here to stay.

Second, it’s a new way to combat food waste. Waste has become one of the most talked-about problems in the food world. Americans throw awayabout 40 percent of their food, and worldwide “about one third of food produced for human consumption every year” gets tossed.

As home cooks, we can all play a role in reducing food waste. Using up a couple of ounces of canned liquid may seem like a small matter, but the principle of using as much as you can of everything you buy will take you far. So whether you’re choosing to use aquafaba for dietary reasons or to combat food waste, you’d better get on board the chickpea water train.

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One Yolk Caramel Custard

A lot of people throw out the egg yolk. What a waste. You can also freeze it to use it later. I didn’t want to bother since I forget about the yolk when it’s time to use it again.

Instead, make a one yolk caramel custard. Serves one.

ONE YOLK CARAMEL CUSTARD

Prep Time: 12 min
Cook Time: 40 min
Ready Time: 52 min
Servings: 1

INGREDIENTS:

one egg yolk
two tablespoons of sugar
one cup of reduced fat milk (you can use heavy cream but trust me this works just perfect)

DIRECTIONS:

Get a small sauce pan on medium heat and put in your sugar to start to caramelize. (This is called dry caramelizing sugar).

At the same time microwave or heat up the milk to just before boiling.

Once the sugar has a nice amber color to it add the hot milk and start whisking until it is nicely dissolved and a perfect cafe creme color.

Now beat your egg yolk and slowly add in a little bit of the milk whisking while your doing it add a little more at a time until you have the entire mixture in. (This is called tempering).

Get out your ramekin. Pour in the mixture until almost to the top and place them on a pan that has sides high enough to pour water in to at least a 1/3 of the way up. Now cover with foil to prevent a skin forming and into a 300 degree oven for 30-40 min. Check around 20 min the sides should be firm and the center a little wobbly that is when you know they are done.

Take out let cool to room temp before chilling. Serve with a little whip cream and chocolate shavings or some nice mint or basil.

Swedish Meringue Recipe (No Cream of Tartar or Confectioner’s Sugar)

I have a bunch of recipes for meringues on my blog and in my recipe book collection. This recipe intrigues me greatly, because it’s so simple and doesn’t require any special ingredients. Almost everyone should have lemon, sugar and eggs at home – and from that, dessert! This is the first meringue recipe that doesn’t require cream of tartar, or confectioner’s sugar, that I’ve seen.

This recipe is technically for ginger meringues, but skip that if you don’t like ginger.

INGREDIENTS

BASE RECIPE

Lemon slice
3 egg whites, room temperature
¾ cup (5.25 ounces, 148 grams) natural cane sugar

COLOR AND FLAVOR

1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger OR cocoa powder OR vanilla extract  OR almond extract OR mint extract
A few drops food coloring (optional) (if you want pink or green or whatever color meringues in order to be festive or match the flavoring you are adding)

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200°F (95°C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Wipe the inside of a grease-free bowl, preferably stainless steel, with the slice of lemon. Whisk the egg whites in the bowl, ideally with an electric mixer, until white and soft peaks have formed, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar little by little, whisking continuously until the mixture is glossy and stiff peaks form, 5 to 10 minutes. If you turn the bowl upside down, the egg whites should hold. Add the color and flavoring and whisk a bit more.

Using a tablespoon, place the meringue batter in spoonfuls on the baking sheet, about 1 tablespoonful for small meringues and 2 tablespoonfuls for large. You can also pipe out the meringues into shapes using a pastry bag.

Bake for 1 hour for small meringues or 2 hours for large. When they are done, they should be crisp on the outside and sound hollow. Turn off the oven and leave the meringues in the oven to cool.

Meringues should be stored in an airtight container and will keep for a few weeks.

Creme Brulee

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 qt heavy cream

1 vanilla bean, halved, scraped

3/4 c sugar

8 egg yolks

turbinado sugar, for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.

2. Simmer cream, vanilla bean with seeds in med saucepan over med high heat. Remove from heat and let sit 30 min. Throw out vanilla bean.

3. In bowl, whisk sugar and egg yolks until smooth. Slowly pour in cream mixture. Whisk until smooth. Set aside.

4. Place a paper towel in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan, and place 6 pyrex ramekins inside. Divide custard among ramekins. Pour boiling water into pan to cover ramekins half way.

5. Bake until custard is set but still loose in center, about 35 min. Transfer ramekins to wire rack. Cool. Chill until firm, almost 4 hours.

6. Dab any condensation off custard cups with a paper towel. Sprinkle custard with turbinado sugar. USE A BLOWTORCH and go back and forth over the sugar until it becomes brown and caramelized. Let sit briefly until it hardens.

Enjoy!

Almond Flan

Almond Flan
6 eggs
1 12-oz can evaporated milk
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare bain-Marie and caramelize the mold as per instructions at the top of this page. Mix eggs with an electric mixer. Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend smooth but do not over mix. Pour custard into caramelized mold, cover with foil, and sit in the baño de María. Then pour hot water into the baño and into the oven for 1 to 1½ hours until done and knife comes clean.

http://www.elboricua.com/flan.html

Coffee Flan

Coffee Flan

6 eggs
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
7 oz whole milk
8 oz cream (or evaporated milk)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbs instant coffee (dissolved in a tablespoon of water)
1 tbp of vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare bain-Marie and caramelize the mold as per instructions at the top of this page. Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend smooth but do not over mix. Pour custard into caramelized mold, cover with foil, and sit in the baño de María. Then pour hot water into the baño and into the oven for 1 to 1½ hours until done and knife comes clean.

http://www.elboricua.com/flan.html

Coconut Flan (Puerto RIcan Recipe)

This is the solid gold standard of flan recipes.

From: http://www.elboricua.com/flan.html

Ingredients:

6 eggs
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 15 oz can coconut milk
1.5 c whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. On cookie sheet in water bath, place ramekins. Place 1 tsp sugar in each ramekin. Heat until it becomes a light brown. Take out of oven. Make sure it doesn’t burn. This is not an exact science.

3. Mix eggs. Add other ingredients. Do not overmix.

4. Pour flan mixture into caramelized molds from above. Cover with foil.

5. Place the foil covered ramekins in the water bath in the oven. Bake for 60-90 min until done. Larger ramekins take longer. The small individual sized ramekins take an hour.

6. Flan is cooked with knife inserted into center comes out clean. Flip over and onto serving plate. The caramel that was on the bottom of the ramekin forms the lovely caramel topping to the flan.

ENJOY! (To guild the lily, serve with whipping cream).

LEFTOVERS: Yes, you can freeze flan. Bake it completely, let it cool completely. THEN, wrap it really super duper well. You should be able to wrap your ramekins in cling wrap and freeze it with the plastic lid it came with (if you bought the pyrex ramekins). When you want to eat them again, defrost in the fridge, then enjoy. How long do they last in the freezer? As long as ice cream (same ingredients). Biggest danger in freezing flan is the noxious smells of the freezer and fridge getting into your food. If you can safeguard against that, you’re golden.