Freezing egg yolks
"Is it possible to freeze egg yolk?" Was the very interesting question raised by Karin in her comment on "storing eggs". As the answer is a bit too long to post as a comment there is an add-on to the post on "storing eggs".
It is possible to store egg yolk or whole eggs in the freezer. But they require a special treatment before being stored in the freezer. If the yolk of the egg is frozen as is, it will become pasty when thawing and it won't be possible to combine it into a future preparation.
Now, you will have to make sure to follow these simple hygiene rules.
- Make sure that the eggs come from a refrigerated shelf in the store.
- Make sure that the eggs are extra fresh.
- When breaking them, use gloves and disinfected containers.
- Make sure to use perfectly clean recipient to store them.
Thoroughly mixing the yolk with some either salt, sugar or an acid will prevent the yolk proteins from aggregating, and leave the thawed mixture fluid enough to mix.
To freeze egg yolks add a teaspoon (5 g) salt, a tablespoon (15 g) sugar or 4 tablespoon (60 ml) lemon juice per pint (1/2 l). Blend well then freeze.
To freeze whole eggs, add 1/2 a teaspoon salt (2.5 g), 1/2 tablespoon (7.5 g) sugar or 2 tablespoon (30 ml) lemon juice per pint (1/2 l). Blend well then freeze.
Finally I would like to give you a piece of advice. I have to use frozen eggs in pastry making due to health and safety regulations in place . Don't expect the same results using frozen eggs whether it is egg whites, egg yolks or whole eggs ; they lose some of their foaming agents as well as some of their water and their proteins are also affected by the cold.
Guide to Organic Food
There is a guide to organic food and farmers. This type of farming has to respect very specific rules in accord to be certified organic. One of these rules is to respect seasons. I will compile (over time, so keep checking) here some products and there month of appearance on our markets. I would like to note at this point that it will be based on my location : Ireland, Europe. I cannot offer seasonality for people living in the south hemisphere or in tropical regions. Sorry about that!
WINTER
JANUARY
Purple Spouting Broccoli, Cauliflower, Winter Leek.SPRING
FEBRUARY
Full range of root vegetables, Parsnips, Celeriac, Turnips, Jerusalem Artichoke, Cabbage, Scorsonere, Chard, Dry Nuts Almonds, Hazelnuts, Pecan...MARCH
More or less the same than February, full range of roots and cabbages.APRIL
New season Scallion, Rhubarb, White Turnip, Asparagus (green, purple and white), Spring Lamb, Artichoke, Lambs Lettuce, the First Strawberries (from the south of Europe and north of Africa), Early Lettuces.SUMMER
MAY
All types of Lettuces, first early New Potatoes, Radish, Spring Butter, Fresh Cheeses, Corn Lettuce, Rocket, Lamb, Early Strawberries.JUNE
Carrots, Peas, Broccoli, Spinach, Khol-Rabi, Mangetout, Strawberries (peak of the season), Chives, Parsley, Tarragon, New Potatoes, Cos Lettuce, Morels, Baby Gem.July
Beetroot, Broad Beans, French Beans, Runner Beans, Marrow, Radiccio, Iceberg Lettuce, Lollo Rosso, Raspberry, Charentais Melon, Gooseberry, Tayberry, Loganberry, Courgette, Aubergine, Blackcurrant, Cantaloup Melon, Pears.AUTUMN
AUGUST
Swedes, Turnips, Fennel, Kale, Sweetcorn, Chick Pea, Marrow Pea, Peppers, Shallots, Blackberry, Blueberry, Bilberry, Figs, early eating Apple Peaches, Apricots, Tomatoes, Curcumber. SEPTEMBER
Parsnips, White Cabbage, Celery, Leeks, Onions, Eating and Cooking Apples, Wild Mushrooms start to pop-up : Cep, Girolle, Trompette des Maures, Bolets, Grappes, Potatoes, Gherkins.OCTOBER
Red Cabbage, Endive, Curly Endive, Chicory, Lambs Lettuce, more Wild Mushroom, Fresh almond, Hazelnut, Chestnut, Dattes.WINTER
NOVEMBER
Brussels Sprouts, Sutsumas, Clementine.DECEMBER
Full range of Root Vegetable and Cabbages, Oranges.Feijoes Fritados
There is a quite simple recipe for one of the most appreciated dish from Brazil and South America : fried beans. It makes a very nutritious vegetarian meal too.
In Central America, it is often complemented by corn tortillas and, with the addition of scrambled eggs, is a food suitable for any time of the day. In the Caribbean, this dish is called "Moors and Christians", with black beans as the Moors and the white rice as the Christians. In Brazil, feijoes (the Portuguese equivalent of frijoles) are usually made with black beans and served with pilaf rice.
There is what you will need for 4 to 6 people :
- 450g of Black beans.
- 1 medium hot red chili, finely chopped.
- 1 onion, finely chopped.
- 100g grated smoked cheese.
- 3 tomatoes, coarsely chopped.
- 1 sprig fresh Basil.
- oil.
- 1 bay leaf.
- salt and pepper.
First thing first, soak the black beans in a cup of rock sea salt for 24h in water . Kitchen science will tell us that soaking dried pulses in salted water will make their cooking faster and avoid that they become dry and tough and experience will approve this advice. The next day cook them in water and the bay leaf for at least 2 hours. Do not add salt or acidic ingredients such as lemon, vinegar, wine, and tomatoes until the beans are finished or nearly done cooking. Adding earlier can cause the beans to toughen. Let them cool down in the water then stain them when lukewarm.
The next step is to roughly mash the beans. In a pan sautéd the onions (keep about a spoon full for the sauce) and 2/3 of the chopped chilli on a medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes. Add them to the mashed beans. Let this mix seat for 1/2 hour.
Place the tomatoes, basil, the rest of the chili and onions into a pot a cook gently for 1/2 hour. Season to taste and keep warm.
Place the bean mix into a frying pan with some oil and fry it gently until hot.
Transfer the feijoes into a dish, sprinkle the cheese over it, dispose of the sauce around the fryed beans. You can complement this dish with tortillas or pilaf rice.
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. "
Albert Einstein
Dairy free/ Nut free/ vegetarian/ Gluten free.Storing Eggs
What is the best way to keep your eggs? Well, everybody seems to know the optimum way to store its eggs, in the fridge or at room temperature, on their side, blunt end up or down or I even heard of people washing their eggs before putting them in the fridge. But even myself, using an average of 900 eggs a week in my kitchen, was surprised when I read about storing recommendations about the safe keeping of fresh eggs. So I decided to summarise all this information here in these few commandments.
First commandment, only buy eggs that stored on a refrigerated shelving and bring them back as quickly as possible in your own fridge. This will have for effect to minimise the risk of spoilage of your eggs with salmonella and listeria, which can have devastating effects on children, pregnant women, elderly people and immuno-depressed people.
The second commandment is to avoid shaking your eggs during transportation. Then DO NOT use the egg rack that nearly all home fridges have on their doors as it is the place of your fridge that get most of the shocks and vibrations. Instead, place them on an egg rack on one of the fridge shelf. Why these precautionary measures? Well, it is not to avoid to break your eggs, agitation thins the whites of the eggs therefore decreasing its nutritional values as well their cooking qualities especially in pastry making.
Third commandment, keep your eggs in an airtight container and not the carton they come in. These carton boxes are quite handy, I agree, but they do not protect the eggs from losing moisture, CO2 alike and absorb odours from other food in the fridge. Also, they cannot slow down the inevitable development of the stale flavour into the eggs. I remind you that an egg shell is porous, so that the future chick can breathe through during its development.
The fourth one is to keep your eggs on their side as it seems, after numerous studies done in the 50's, 60's and 70's, that it give a better centered yolk when hard cooked. There are no real answers to why this happen. Harold McGee thinks that perhaps the fact that both yolk cords fight equally against gravity.
And finally the fifth commandment, but maybe the most important of all DO NOT WASH the shell of raw eggs of any kind. As I said earlier, the shell of an egg isn't smooth or airtight or waterproof. In doing so you will dramatically increase the risk of bacteria that is on the shell, going through the shell and spoiling the inside of the egg. This applies too when you're cooking hard boiled eggs, do not start cooking your eggs in cold water, as the same process can happen.
In conclusion, bought fresh and handled with care, eggs should keep for several weeks in the shell.
To finish this post I would like to give some information on EU regulations about what should appear on boxes of eggs and grading. Awareness is knowledge.
Egg labelling
Eggs have separate rules. They are graded according to their class; A, B or C. Grading is done by an automated process known as 'candling' - looking through the egg against a bright background light. Grade A is the one you'll see in the shops; Grade B is 2nd quality or preserved eggs; and Grade C is for the food industry use only. Then they're weight graded into one of four sizes; very large or XL: large or L; medium or M; and Small or S. If they're sold in boxes the following information must appear:
- Packer's name and address
- Packing centre number
- Quality (A or A class)
- Weight (XL etc)
- Number
- Best before date
- Advice to keep refrigerated after purchase
- Optional information includes a 'sell by' date and the method of production.
Egg freshness
Under EU law eggs must carry a 'best before' date of no more than 28 days after laying and they must be sold within 21 days of being laid, so they've got at least a week to be eaten before their 'best before' date expires.
If they're marked as 'extra fresh' they must be sold within nine days of being laid. 'Sell by' dates are permitted as optional extras.
Croustade of Watercress and baby Spinach with Mozarella
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About two weeks ago, as I was doing my grocery shopping I came across a couple of bunches of nice fresh watercress. Then I remembered a kind of pie that I had in Crete which was made with nettles and spinach. Then I thought why not try to mix spinach and this cress and create a croustade type dish and top it with some buffalo mozzarella. I have to say that I was surprised with the result.For four you will need :
- 400g of Fresh Puff Pastry.
- 250g Baby Spinach.
- 200g Watercress.
- 6 Leaves of Fresh Mint.
- 200g of Buffalo Mozzarella.
- 1 Egg.
- 100 ml Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
- Salt, Pepper and Nutmeg.
So, this is how it goes. First wash very thoroughly the spinach and the watercress in lots of water with a dash of vinegar and a pinch of rock salt. Then dry them very well. Cook them, for 3-4 minutes in a very hot pan, stirring at all time, with a bit of olive oil in small loads. Reserve in a sieve to allow them to drain of their excess water. When they cool down a little bit squeeze the wilted leaves with your hand to get the rest of the excess water out.
The second operation is to dice up half of the mozzarella and get 4 thick slices with the rest of it.
Take the puff pastry, roll it down into a square of about 8 inches a side. Divide it in 4 equal parts that you will roll down to a half centimeter thick. Let them rest for half an hour.
The next step is to mix well the leaves, the coarsely chopped mint, the dices of mozzarella and season well with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
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Now, lets form our croustade. First brush the pastry squares with some .JPG)
egg wash, place some of the watercress mix in the center and top it with a slice of mozzarella. Then bring each corner of the pastry to the middle of the croustade and squeeze the excess of dough created until it stick well. Then press it with a fork to obtain a nice lined corner like on the picture. Repeat for each angles of the square. The last step is to brush our croustade with some egg wash..JPG)
Place delicately our croustade onto a greased oven tray and place them into a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 to 40 minutes depending on your oven..JPG)
Et Voila! So if you try this recipe please let me know how you enjoyed it (or not).Anybody who believes that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach flunked geography.
Robert Byrne
Nut free, Vegetarian, replace the mozzarella by some tofu to make it dairy free and suitable for vegan.
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