Egg

Michael Ruhlman can wax poetic and philosophical about most anything in the food world. So one can simply imagine our joy when we found he was working on a book about our favorite food -- the egg.  We do love our egg cookbooks and this one, appropriately titled: Egg, is no different. 

Now we know what you are going to say,  duh, everything has eggs in it so what's the big deal. True, eggs are eggs. We know that better than most, as we have an entire shelf of egg cookbooks.  Ruhlman, however, brings his excessive/compulsive geek-y-ness to the subject of eggs.  In the introduction, he describes a conversation with Alton Brown.  Brown says "...the egg is the Rosetta Stone of the kitchen."  Ruhlman is like the Food Language of Rosetta Stone software, follow along and soon, you too, will be fluent in no time.

First we get a look at all the ways one can cook the egg. Boiled, poached and fried lead us to gently fried, aggressively fried and deep fried.  Shirred and coddled make their way into the mix. Speaking of mix, we get eggs in cake mix and yolks in pasta as well as meringues and mayonnaise. There is even a drink or two, like this one.

Nineteenth-Century Ale and Rum Flip

3 ounces/85 milliliters spices Christmas or pumpkin ale
2 ounces/55 milliliters dark rum
1 egg
Pinch of ground coriander (or whole coriander seeds shaved on a Microplane) or ground ginger (optional)
Grated orange zest (original)

Combine the ale, rum, and egg in a large mug.  Whisk or blend with a hand mixer.  Or toss the drink back and forth between two large mugs, as Jerry Thomas might have done.  Heat it for 40 to 50 seconds n the microwave (or use a red hot poker). If desired, top with a pinch of coriander or ginger and some grated orange zest.

Did we mention omelets and custard? Sous vide? Pancakes or potato pancakes?  How about cookies?  We are more than happy to add Egg to our egg shelf.

Now get the kitchen and get cracking.  (Give us that one. We never used the word "eggcellent.")