Poached Eggs

I had always thought that poached eggs were fancy and difficult to make.  After my experience with poaching eggs this morning, I have come to the following conclusions:

1. Yes, poached eggs can be fancy, but they also make a simple and tasty breakfast along with some buttered toast.

and

2. No, poached eggs are not difficult to make.  Slightly more time-consuming and resulting in more dirty dishes than other egg preparation methods, perhaps, but by no means is it difficult to poach an egg.

Since poaching eggs is less of a recipe and more of a method, I'm not going to include a recipe in this post.  There are plenty of step-by-step egg-poaching tutorials out there and I don't think another one is needed (plus, I'm feeling lazy today and I don't want to type up a recipe).

 I mainly used two sources for reference:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/how-to-poach-an-egg-smitten-kitchen-style/
http://www.pbs.org/food/fresh-tastes/poached-eggs/

I followed the method in the second link this time, but I may try the whirlpool technique next time I poach eggs.  I'm curious as to whether it would result in less weird filmy waterlogged egg white floating around the pot.  I found that lowering the small dish with the egg into the water before tipping it out did seem to help keep the egg in one place.

The first egg was left in the water for about 3 minutes.  Since it was the first one I made and I didn't want to give the uncertain results to my family members and possibly disappoint them, I ate the first fruits of my labors.  The white was firm and smooth, but the yolk was still liquid, just the way I like it.  There was a thin layer of almost-firm yolk, but it was mostly just runny and delicious with my buttered toast.

Next, I tried poaching two at once.  I left them in the pot for about 3 minutes each (taking advantage of both the stove timer and the microwave timer).  These two were slightly more cooked than mine, but still had runny yolks.  My older sister and my little brother each had one.  My little brother said it was okay, but he actually prefers a solid yolk.  Next I poached two more eggs for my younger sister.  She really liked them, but then again, she loves eggs in general.  After hers were done, I offered to try poaching one more for my brother, this time with a solid yolk.  I let it cook for close to 6 minutes, and when he cut into the yolk, it was solid almost all the way through, with a slightly soft--but definitely not runny--center.  Finally, I poached an egg for my mom.  In an effort to end up with minimal cooked yolk, I only let the egg cook for 2 1/2 minutes.  She said it still have a layer of cooked yolk, though, so next time I might try only 2 minutes of cooking time.

All in all, I would say today's eggy experience was a success!  I can't wait to try making Eggs Benedict with my new egg-poaching skills, and it will give me a chance to attempt a hollandaise sauce, as well.

Soufflé!

Today I made a souffle for lunch.  I found the recipe in a Kraft Food & Family magazine.  I decided to use this recipe because it looked relatively foolproof.  Even so, separating the eggs was one of the most stressful experiences in my cooking career--I was petrified that one of the yolks would break into the whites and the whole thing would be ruined.  In the end, I only ended up dropping one yolk into the whites, but it did not break, so I carefully scooped it up and placed it into the bowl of yolks.  I had found some tips online for making souffles, and they said that separating eggs is easier when they are cold, but that they whip up better when they are at room temperature.  I left the separated eggs on the counter along with the cream cheese so everything could come to room temperature.

Using a hand mixer, I beat the egg whites until they reached stiff peaks.  At least I think they were stiff peaks, but I've not really done much with beaten egg whites, so I'm not certain.  The egg white foam seemed to stand up when I pulled the beaters out, so I called them done.

Then I used the same beaters (I saw no reason to bother cleaning them off first) to beat the softened chive-and-onion cream cheese with the egg yolks.  Next I added the egg white foam to the bowl with the yolk/cream cheese mixture and, using a rubber spatula, carefully folded the two mixtures together.  I'm not certain if I mixed too much or not enough.  I was afraid to over-mix and deflate the egg white, but I was also afraid that I had not mixed it well enough, as there were still some small clumps of egg white visible in the mixture.  I'll have to experiment a bit more with egg whites until I become comfortable working with them.  Anyway, my mom found me a baking dish with relatively straight sides and she sprayed it with cooking spray for me (I certainly know how to do this myself, but when given the chance, I prefer not to; I tend to make a bit of a mess with cooking spray).  Gently, I poured the fluffy, eggy mixture into the prepared pan and popped it in the oven.

At this point, I began steaming some green beans to go with the souffle.  I thought a green vegetable would look pretty on the plate next to a golden brown serving of souffle, so my mom bought some fresh green beans while she was out this morning.  A side note entirely unrelated to souffle:  I have decided that I really enjoy my fresh vegetables when they are steamed.

The souffle did not appear to puff up very much in the oven, but when I pulled it out to check on it, the top was rounded and golden brown.  It still seemed slightly jiggly, so I put it back in the oven for about 2 minutes before calling it done.  As I waited for the green beans to finish steaming (they took longer than planned), the souffle sat on the counter.  The recipe said that this souffle held up well after being removed from the oven, and this note was confirmed by my souffle, which only sank slightly as it waited for its vegetable accompaniment.

My younger sister had a friend over for lunch today, but since my dad was at work and my older sister was out with a friend, there were only five of us at home for lunch.  The souffle served the five of us comfortably for lunch, but I think it would be a stretch for it to serve more than five hungry people for dinner.  I dished the souffle up from the edges first, and I'm glad I did, because the middle was just slightly underdone.  Next time, I will bake the souffle just a couple minutes longer to ensure that the center is cooked.  Having never really eaten a souffle before, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect as far as texture is concerned, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the souffle had a texture and flavor similar to an extremely fluffy omelette.

Now that I've tried it once, I would be happy to make another souffle.  I'd like to try my hand at making one completely from scratch, and I think I would like to make a dessert one.  But I have a feeling that it will be quite a while before I recover from my egg-separating experience enough to make another souffle. ;)

I was also thinking about the recipe I used and the fact that it uses cream cheese as the base.  My thought was that, in theory, any flavor of cream cheese would work in this souffle recipe.  I thought I'd like to try it with another flavor of cream cheese, possibly a sweet one, and see if it works.  Then I remembered the tubs of salmon-flavored cream cheese I've seen at the store and I had a light bulb moment.  Salmon and eggs go beautifully together, so why not make this souffle with the salmon-flavored cream cheese?  I really think my dad would enjoy it, too.  I may have to make a lot more souffles in the near future...

Easiest Soufflé Ever
found in the spring 2012 issue of Food & Family magazine

Ingredients:
6 eggs, separated
1 tub (8 oz.) chive and onion cream cheese spread

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 375°F.

Beat egg whites in medium bowl with mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form.  Beat cream cheese spread in large bowl with the mixer until creamy.  Add egg yolks; beat until well blended.  Gently stir in egg whites until well blended.

Pour into 1 1/2-quart baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 24 to 26 minutes or until top is puffed and golden brown.

Note: In addition to a simple recipe preparation, this souffle holds beautifully on the table until ready to serve.

_________________________________________________________

Special thanks to Mommy for all the help and for taking pictures of the process for me! :)

Lazy Day Gumbo

Last night I made gumbo for dinner.  The recipe said it served 12 to 14 people, but there was absolutely none left after the five of us ate.  That just goes to show how amazingly delicious this pot of gumbo was!  The recipe I used is from my Nanna, but I don't know where she got it from to begin with.  One thing I found interesting about this recipe for gumbo is that it says to make the roux in the microwave.  I'd never heard of doing it that way before, but I also had never really made a roux at all before.  I was a little skeptical, but it worked!  The recipe called for peanut oil, but Mommy said that Nanna has used canola oil, so I made the roux with canola oil instead.  I used frozen okra and frozen shrimp for the gumbo.  I thawed the shrimp before adding them, but I added the okra straight from the freezer.  Nanna always doubles the amount of okra in her gumbo, so I did, too: I used 20 oz. instead of 10 oz.  Also, I thought we had dried thyme, but I could not find it when it was time to add it to the pot, so I used fresh thyme instead.  For the chicken broth, I used 5 1/2 teaspoons of chicken base plus 5 1/2 cups of hot water, because we don't usually keep chicken broth on hand.

One more thing: At the bottom of the recipe is a note stating that Nanna adds some gumbo filé when she is putting in the other spices.  Daddy searched the grocery store and bought me some, and I had every intention of adding it...but I had put it away in our spice rack and forgotten about it...so, our gumbo didn't have any filé in it.  Which just means I'll have to make it again.  What a sacrifice it will be for my family to have to eat more gumbo another day! ;)

Lazy Day Gumbo
From my Nanna

Ingredients:
1 pound fully cooked smoked sausage, cut into 3/4 inch slices [I used Polka Kielbasa, because that's what Daddy likes!]
1/2 cup peanut oil [or canola oil]
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium green bell peppers, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
2 [or more] cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves [I used about 6 sprigs of fresh thyme]
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
5 1/2 cups chicken broth [or 5 1/2 teaspoons chicken base + 5 1/2 cups hot water]
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups diced chicken [I used chicken tenders but I'm sure any kind of chicken would be fine]
1 1/2 cups fresh okra, or 1 10-ounce package frozen okra [Nanna always doubles this amount, so I did, too.  Use cut okra, not whole.]
1 pound peeled, de-veined medium shrimp [thawed from frozen works fine here]
6 cups hot cooked rice

Instructions:

Cook sausage in  large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat 4 to 5 minutes.  Remove sausage; drain fat.  Set aside.

Combine oil and flour in 2-cup glass measure.  Microwave on high 5 minutes; stir with a small wire whisk.  [It will look funny when you take it out of the microwave--almost like a sponge or something--but don't panic.  Just stir it with a whisk and it will look fine.]  Continue to cook at 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval until roux is dark red-brown.  [Mine seemed dark red-brown to me after the first 5 minutes.  Yours may take longer, depending on your microwave.]  Pour roux into heavy saucepan; add onions, green peppers, celery, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper, thyme, and oregano.

Cook, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.  Add broth and bay leaf; bring to a boil.  Add reserved sausage and chicken; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.  Add okra; simmer 10 minutes.  Add shrimp; simmer 5 minutes.  Remove bay leaf.  Spoon rice and gumbo into serving bowls.

Yield: 12 to 14 servings [whoever wrote this yield has never met my gumbo-loving family--this only served the five of us!]