Bespin Eggs
Several days before our 12-year wedding anniversary, my partner texted me:
"I want to make food."
I looked at that and my first thought was, "Who doesn't?" because cooking is one of my all-time favorite past-times. But then my rational brain caught up and reminded me that my dear partner will cook only if he's about to drop dead from starvation because cooking just isn't his thing, so I lifted an eyebrow at my phone and responded with: "What food do you want to make?"
I got a picture in answer and lifted the other eyebrow up to meet its mate. My not-cooking partner wanted to make cheesy meringue nests cradling a gooey egg yolk? Yes f*cking please!
So that was awesome enough on its own, but then our anniversary showed up and I got to watch him sweat through making these things (perfectly, by the way) and get a deep, personal appreciation for the feat of getting all the pieces of a complex, skill-heavy meal done at the same time so that everything's hot when it's served, and the feat of separating eggs, whipping egg whites, and baking a meringue long enough for it to be done but not burnt. I contributed to the meal by peeling an orange and cutting it in half. All-in-all, an excellent experience.
(I suggested the name over brunch and got a heavy long-suffering sigh in answer. I'm counting that as a victory.)
Ingredients
4 eggs
1 healthy shake salt
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Equipment
Small mixing bowl
4 little cups. No seriously. You need these. Have them. Shot glasses will suffice.
Electric mixer
Silpat or parchment paper for your baking pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450*F.
- Separate all four eggs, putting each yolk in a separate cup and the whites all together.
- Add salt to the whites and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold the parmesan into the whites.
(If you're making toast to go with it, this is a good time to put the toast into the toaster.)
- Make four little clouds of egg white mixture on the pan.
- Using a spoon, gently-gently-GENTLY create a yolk-sized crater in each cloud.
- Shove that nonsense into the oven and leave it there for 3 minutes.
- Take it out, put a yolk into the center of each cloud, and return it to the oven for another 3 minutes.
(This is a good time to butter your toast.)
Top with a little bit of black pepper and serve immediately. I'm thinking this will go great with some steamed asparagus and mimosas the next time my mother-in-law visits, and probably some lattice bacon as well if we're going to be fancy. We shall see.
"I want to make food."
I looked at that and my first thought was, "Who doesn't?" because cooking is one of my all-time favorite past-times. But then my rational brain caught up and reminded me that my dear partner will cook only if he's about to drop dead from starvation because cooking just isn't his thing, so I lifted an eyebrow at my phone and responded with: "What food do you want to make?"
I got a picture in answer and lifted the other eyebrow up to meet its mate. My not-cooking partner wanted to make cheesy meringue nests cradling a gooey egg yolk? Yes f*cking please!
So that was awesome enough on its own, but then our anniversary showed up and I got to watch him sweat through making these things (perfectly, by the way) and get a deep, personal appreciation for the feat of getting all the pieces of a complex, skill-heavy meal done at the same time so that everything's hot when it's served, and the feat of separating eggs, whipping egg whites, and baking a meringue long enough for it to be done but not burnt. I contributed to the meal by peeling an orange and cutting it in half. All-in-all, an excellent experience.
(I suggested the name over brunch and got a heavy long-suffering sigh in answer. I'm counting that as a victory.)
Bespin Eggs
Ingredients
4 eggs
1 healthy shake salt
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Equipment
Small mixing bowl
4 little cups. No seriously. You need these. Have them. Shot glasses will suffice.
Electric mixer
Silpat or parchment paper for your baking pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450*F.
- Separate all four eggs, putting each yolk in a separate cup and the whites all together.
- Add salt to the whites and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold the parmesan into the whites.
(If you're making toast to go with it, this is a good time to put the toast into the toaster.)
- Make four little clouds of egg white mixture on the pan.
- Using a spoon, gently-gently-GENTLY create a yolk-sized crater in each cloud.
- Shove that nonsense into the oven and leave it there for 3 minutes.
- Take it out, put a yolk into the center of each cloud, and return it to the oven for another 3 minutes.
(This is a good time to butter your toast.)
Top with a little bit of black pepper and serve immediately. I'm thinking this will go great with some steamed asparagus and mimosas the next time my mother-in-law visits, and probably some lattice bacon as well if we're going to be fancy. We shall see.
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