eggs « (y)our food choices™

Nettle Frittata

The Story

The first thing Steve says to me after returning from the farmer’s market with a small batch of stinging nettles is that a few year’s ago he read that nettles are used in certain cultures as a penis-enhancing device. Allegedly, they’re put to use by rubbing them on the penis with the resulting swelling from the “venom” making it bigger. I’ve never heard of using stinging nettle as a male enhancement so I asked him to explain his remark and to do a Google search to back up his claim. His reply was a statement that I’m a pervert even though he’s the one who brought up the topic. After doing a bit of searching on Google we discovered that nettles are used in BDSM (bondage) play – not exactly our cup of tea. We won’t go into the salacious details here (you can do your own Google search on the topic if you want). Our collective reply to this type of use of the herb was “OUCH!” Rest assured neither one of us wants to volunteer for the nefarious experiment. Our goal is to find a purely culinary use for them!

Fresh Stinging Nettles

The prickly bastards are so painful that while Steve was cleaning them one of the stingers got him on a finger tip and it hurt like a huck-a-buck for several hours. I decided not to handle them, but can only imagine the pain.

Last night while I was working, Steve did a bit more research on the herb (weed, vegetable?) and discovered it is actually good for you. As it turns out, they’re full of vitamin K and a host of antioxidants. What’s more, they’re 40% protein, more than just about any herbaceous edible around. The species is ubiquitous and has been used as food for centuries. Northern Europeans have been making soups and teas from the leaves and in Italy, they’re ground into pesto with walnuts or used as a filling in stuffed pastas. In England, they’re used to flavor cheese. In Native American cultures, nettles are powerful medicine.

This morning Steve made a great frittata with the stinging nettles. They added a beautiful, green color in contrast with the earthy colors of potato, caramelized onion and golden egg. If you can’t find the prickly things you can also substitute spinach or any leafy greens for them with great results. Just make sure you use heavy plastic gloves when handling and we recommend not rubbing them anywhere on your body.

Cheers, Jason

Nettle Frittata Recipe

8 eggs, scrambled

4 small to medium new red potatoes

1 onion, sliced into half-rounds

1 cup grated Swiss cheese

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place potatoes, skins on, in a medium saucepan and fill with enough water to cover potatoes by a couple of inches. Add 1 bay leaf and 1/4 tsp. salt to water. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, approximately 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool in cold water. Slice potatoes into 1/4-inch thick rounds.

Heat large non-stick skillet over medium high heat and add olive oil. When oil begins to shimmer, add onions and 1 bay leaf, lower heat to medium and sauté onions slowly until they begin to caramelize. Be sure not to let them get too dark too quickly or they’ll lose their sweetness. Once cooked, remove onions from pan and set aside.

While potatoes are boiling and onions are sautéing, clean nettles and remove large stems (be sure to use thick rubber gloves). Blanch nettles in boiling water for approximately 4 minutes to soften and eliminate the stinging quills. Drain and set aside.

Add butter to skillet and heat to melt. Scatter blanched nettles over bottom of pan evenly. Place potato slices in an even layer on top of nettles. Scatter caramelized onions in an even layer over potatoes, sprinkle with paprika, turmeric, salt and pepper. Add grated Swiss cheese in an even layer. Pour beaten eggs over cheese, onions and potatoes and bring pan up to heat. Once the edges begin to bubble, remove from stovetop and place pan in oven, cover and cook on middle rack for approximately 15 minutes. Remove lid and cook for an additional 2 – 4 minutes or until center is set. Remove from oven and let sit for 2 minutes off heat.

Hot Out of the Oven!

To serve, remove frittata from pan by placing a plate over pan and then inverting frittata onto the plate. Slice into wedges and plate with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraiche, a sprinkle of cayenne and a pinch of gray sea salt.

Beautiful Brown Eggs

“Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.” – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

If we are what we eat, Jason and I are pretty egg-y guys. Fresh eggs are a major staple in our meal repertoire. They show up on our plates in a number of forms. Not relegated to weekend breakfast, eggs are our go-to food morning, noon and night. They’re nutritious, economical and oh so versatile. They’ve taken their hits over the years from the anti-fat and cholesterol crowd, but reason seems to be returning to our understanding of these nutritionally dense, healthful wonders. Here are a few of our favorite egg meals.

Boiled

Boiled eggs can become a salad, a garnish for salad, a stuffing ingredient, a companion to diced avocado, or a simple snack on their own with a sprinkle of sea salt.

Salade Niçoise

The best boiled eggs are cooked gently in water that is just hot enough to barely get to a simmer. Use a pin to puncture the “flatter” end of the egg and then ease it into the pan of hot water and leave it to cook for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the egg. Remove the pan from the heat and cool the egg under cold water. The gentle cooking method preserves the rich golden color of the yolk and prevents that green, sulfurous yolk coating from forming.

Poached

Dandelion Greens Salad w/ Poached Egg

Poaching an egg creates an elegant, creamy platform for rich hollandaise. We love a poached egg on dandelion greens salad with crumbled bacon. And thanks to Lidia Bastianich, we’ve learned to poach them in simmering vegetable soups and served over toasted crusty bread. To get the best results in poaching, we create a hot “bath” of water in a pan that is deep enough for the eggs to sit under the surface. It helps to add a few tablespoons of distilled vinegar to the water. Doing so helps to arrest the dissolving of the egg white into the bath, firming them up into neat white packages. Use a slotted spoon to scoop them from the pan. Crack each egg into an individual bowl or ramekin and then ease them gently into the water one by one. Be sure to keep the egg from sticking to the bottom early in the poaching process or you’ll have a mess when you try to remove them. Poaching takes about 4 minutes. Once removed from their bath, the eggs should be rinsed in cool water to remove any vinegar flavor and to prevent the yolks from continuing to cook. You want them to be just warm and very creamy when you break into them. Take them out of the cooling bath and dry them on a clean, lint free towel before using them. Trim away any strands or flimsy edges – they’ll look nicer if you do.

Eggs "Benedict"

Fried

Frying is the quickest and simplest cooking method. Watch the heat on the pan, though. A very hot pan with inadequate oil will make a quick mess out of an egg.

Fried Egg

Non-stick skillets are wonderful tools for frying eggs, but you still need to use a good pat of butter or a drizzle of bacon fat to be sure you get a flavorful egg that turns easily. Fried eggs with runny yolks are a breakfast classic accompanied by potatoes, hash, bacon and sausage, toast, pancakes and waffles, grits or polenta. Fried egg sandwiches were a childhood favorite and today we might go bigger and add a fried egg to a burger. We eat them on salads, pasta dishes and in soups.

Scrambled

A soft scramble of eggs just might be one of the greatest things on earth. Simply seasoned with salt and pepper and finished with a pat of butter, nothing could be more satisfying.

Soft Scrambled Eggs w/ Bacon

We embellish regularly by adding grated parmagiano or cheddar cheese just as they come off the heat. They’re amazing paired with fresh sliced tomato and bacon on toasted bread. When summer time rolls around and the sweet beautiful tomatoes start rolling in from the farm, these egg, tomato and bacon sandwiches become a regular weekend meal.

Scramble 4

The versatility of the egg manifests the world over in a multiplicity of recipes showcasing this unique food. Eggs provide structure and volume to French sauces and souffles, they create elasticity and resilience in Asian and Italian egg noodles, they leaven cakes and enrich custards. Egg yolks are powerful emulsifiers that provide the backbone to mayonnaise. Still, we return to the scramble at least weekly because they never fail to satisfy in a pinch.

Scrambled Eggs w/ Roasted Peppers

Soft Scrambled Eggs: The Technique

We’ve learned from masters like Julia and Jacque that one never simply scrambles an egg. There’s a technique to keeping them soft and creamy and it requires carefully heating the scrambled eggs in a well oiled pan over low heat. To prevent large, lumpy curds from forming, you have to constantly stir or whisk them in the pan until they come up to temperature and form small, soft uniform curds. If you have the patience, it’s well worth taking your time with them. A 20 minute slow scramble will yield the most delicious, creamy spoonful of delicate savory custard. Take them off the heat and whisk in butter and herbs or cheese and crumbled crispy bacon. Scrambled eggs are dense and dry when overcooked. If you go too far in cooking them, a dollop of sour cream whisked in at the end will temper the toughness and return them to a creamy consistency. Always taste for salt and serve immediately. We keep a pepper grinder, two kinds of Tabasco and a dish of large gray sea salt crystals on our table – each adds its own flavorful embellishment to the preparation.

Whatever your take on the egg, we’re sure you’ll find the following resources of interest. Be bold in your consumption of eggs. The nutritional value of this simple food far outweighs any risk from cholesterol.

American Egg Board

Incredible Edible Egg

Mayo Clinic on Dietary Cholesterol

Cheers, Steve & Jason