Egg by Michael Ruhlman

Page 1

Over Easy

Broken Yolk

Gently in Butter

Hard

Deep Fried

Pressure Cooked

Hard in Fat

Soft In a Bag

In Liquid

Coddled

Poached

Shirred

Baked

Sous Vide Fried

Mollet

Cooked in Shell

Cooked out of Shell

Photographs by Donna Turner Ruhlman

Michael Ruhlman

Whole

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Cooked Blended Dry Heat

A Culinary Exploration of the World’s Most Versatile Ingredient

Egg

Egg Wash Binder Wet Heat As Ingredient

Separated Dough

Batter

Yolk

White

Bread Raw

Pasta

Raw

Cooked

Cooked Baked

Pie

Cake Quick Bread Popover Crêpe Cooked by Sugar

Cookie Cake

Separated but Used Together

Cooked Yolk/Raw White

Raw Yolk/Cooked White

Cooked

Poached

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Contents Introduction xi

part one: Egg / Whole / Cooked in Shell  1 part two: Egg / Whole / Cooked out of Shell  29 part three: Egg / Whole / Cooked out of Shell / Blended  57 part four: Egg / As Ingredient / The Dough-Batter Continuum  89 part five: Egg / Separated / The Yolk  147 part six: Egg / Separated / The White  177 part seven: Egg / Separated but Used Together  205

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Acknowledgments

Index

224

227

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Curried Egg Salad SERVES 4 FOR SANDWICHES OR 12 FOR CANAPÉS

Yes, you’re allowed to put 2 teaspoons of raw curry powder into some store-bought mayonnaise and it will be fine, or even into your own mayonnaise, but what’s the fun of that? Especially when you can ratchet up the taste by a factor of ten by making your own curried oil with ginger and garlic. In either event, buy a fresh jar of curry powder if you can’t remember buying the one currently in your pantry. This mayonnaise can also be used to make excellent deviled eggs (page 209). I love to serve this in crunchy pappadams, pressed with a ladle into hot oil to give them a bowl shape. FOR THE CURRIED MAYONNAISE:

¾ cup/180 milliliters vegetable oil 1 large garlic clove, minced 1 piece ginger (about ½ inch/1 centimeter long), peeled and finely grated 1 tablespoon good curry powder ½ teaspoon ground turmeric (optional) Pinch of cayenne pepper 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, plus more to taste 1 teaspoon water ½ teaspoon salt 1 egg yolk

First, make the mayonnaise. Combine the oil, garlic, and ginger in a small sauté pan over high heat. When the garlic begins to simmer, reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until the garlic is cooked (smell it; it should have lost its raw smell). Remove the pan from the heat and add the curry, turmeric (if using), and cayenne. Transfer the mixture to a glass measuring cup to cool. While the oil is cooling, combine the lime juice, water, and salt in the vessel you’ll be mixing your mayonnaise in and allow the salt to dissolve. Stir in the egg yolk. When the oil is cool enough to touch, emulsify it into the water-yolk mixture as you wish (see making mayonnaise, pages 160–61). Set the mayo aside. (It can be prepared and refrigerated in a covered container for up to 8 hours before mixing the salad.) When you’re ready to make the egg salad, put the red onion in a small bowl and sprinkle liberally with salt, then cover with water for 5 to 10 minutes. Put the eggs in a medium bowl. Give them a three- or four-finger dose of salt. Strain the onion and add it, along with the celery and ½ cup/120 milliliters of the curried mayonnaise, and stir with a rubber spatula until all of the ingredients are uniformly incorporated.

FOR THE EGG SALAD:

¼ cup/25 grams minced red onion Salt 8 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped 2 celery ribs, cut into small dice

Whole / Cooked in Shell

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A removable poster of Ruhlman’s Egg flowchart is included in the back of the book.

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Egg /

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Featuring dozens of techniques‌

‌ and more than 100 recipes. Removable Poster /

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ALL-PURPOSE PASTA

1. / The easiest, cleanest way to make pasta is to weigh your eggs

2. / The ideal pasta dough is a 2:3 egg-flour ratio (e.g., 6 ounces egg

before adding the appropriate amount of flour.

and 9 ounces flour, or 200 grams egg and 300 grams flour).

5. / Knead it all into itself (the yolks make it very sticky).

6. / Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky, about 10 minutes. Take a moment to reflect on the lovely texture.

9. / Fold each piece in thirds so that you have the maximum width of the machine

10. / Roll each piece through consecutively thinner settings.

and roll it through the largest setting again. Repeat with all the pieces.

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Egg /

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3

a


3. / I begin mixing the dough in a bowl because the traditional method of

4. / Once the egg is incorporated, dump the dough onto a work surface.

adding eggs to a well of flour can be messy if the eggs overflow the well.

7. / Divide the dough in thirds.

8. / Run each piece of dough through the largest setting of a pasta machine.

11. / As the pasta gets thinner and thinner, add more flour as

12. / The rolled pasta can now be cut to whatever shape you wish.

necessary to prevent sticking.

As Ingredient /

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Egg / Separated / White / Meringue

Chewy NOUGAT AND MARSHMALLOWS ARE TWO

preparations that are just too cool not to write about. They’re similar in construction but very different when finished, largely due to the sugar content and the temperature that sugar reaches. As with most confections, you’ll need a candy thermometer to do the job properly. Arguably

these are more sugar concoctions than egg preparations, but each relies on meringue to hang the cooked sugar on, as it were. The nougat is hard but chewy, set by the high volume of heavily cooked sugar, and marshmallows are of course soft, meringue set with gelatin.

Nougat MAKES ABOUT 24 STRIPS

I learned this nougat while working on the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, wherein executive pastry chef Sebastien Rouxel makes a version for the bakery. I’ve simplified his recipe for the home kitchen (corn syrup instead of glucose and no cocoa butter, which he uses to get a cleaner cut). But it all basically comes down to the temperature you cook the sugar to; because it’s added hot to the egg whites, it ultimately cooks the whites and becomes a foamy white candy into which nuts and fruit are stirred. I love the combination of pistachio, almond, cashew, and cherry, but virtually any toasted nuts or dried fruits can be used. 3 cups/600 grams plus 1 tablespoon sugar 1

⁄3 cup/100 grams light corn syrup

½ cup/120 milliliters water 1 cup/300 grams high-quality honey, preferably local to you 3 egg whites Pinch of salt 3 to 4 cups toasted unsalted nuts and dried fruit (a mixture of almonds, cashews, pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts, dried cherries, cranberries, or anything else you choose)

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Combine the 3 cups/600 grams sugar, corn syrup, and water in a high-sided saucepan, bring to a simmer, and cook till it reaches 298˚F/148˚C, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. In a small saucepan, bring the honey to a simmer and cook it till it reaches 257˚F/125˚C. Remove the pan from the heat. Place the egg whites and salt in the clean bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on high speed. Once a foam has begun to form, add the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Continue to beat the eggs until firm, glossy peaks form, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-high and slowly pour in the warm honey. Whip the whites for a few more minutes. Slowly pour in the cooked sugar mixture and continue mixing until the mixture cools to the point that you can hold your hand against the bowl, 15 to 20 minutes. Replace the whisk attachment with a paddle attachment and paddle in the nuts and fruit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and

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Nougat

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James Beard Award–winning author Michael Ruhlman explains why the egg is “a miracle of natural design” and the key to the craft of cooking. For culinary visionary Michael Ruhlman, the question is not whether the chicken or the egg came first; it’s how anything could be accomplished in the kitchen without the magic of the everyday egg. Ruhlman begins with recipes for perfect poached and scrambled eggs and builds up to brioche and soufflé. Readers learn to make their own mayonnaise, custards, quiches, and cakes, mastering foods from sweet to savory, from light-as-air meringues to quick breads and homemade pasta.

More than 100 recipes are grouped by technique, and range from simple (Egg Salad with Tarragon and Chives) to sophisticated (Seafood Roulade with Scallops and Crab). Multiple step-by-step photographs guide the home cook through this remarkable journey, which truly unlocks the secrets of the egg. A removable illustrated flowchart is included with the book, perfect for consulting while reading or for decoration.

“A naturally curious and intelligent cook, Michael has amassed a vast amount of culinary knowledge through his many years being around and writing about food.” —Thomas Keller, chef/owner of the French Laundry “I’m not sure if Michael Ruhlman is a great writer who cooks or a great cook who writes, but either way he always manages to make my favorite thing: good sense.” —Alton Brown, host of Good Eats and author of I’m Just Here for the Food

LEARN TO MAKE: * perfect scrambled eggs * homemade pasta * mayonnaise * Crème Caramel * eggs sous vide * Crunchy French Meringue * tempura batter * Chocolate Sponge Cake * much, much more!

Michael Ruhlman started writing about the lives of chefs twenty years ago, and he soon became interested in training as a chef himself. His innovative and successful food reference books include Ratio, The Elements of Cooking, and Charcuterie, and he cowrote The French Laundry Cookbook and Ad Hoc at Home with Thomas Keller. Ruhlman has appeared on food television shows numerous times, notably as a judge on Iron Chef America and as a featured guest on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. He lives in Cleveland with his wife, Donna Turner Ruhlman, the photographer for many of his books, including Ratio, Ruhlman’s Twenty, and The Book of Schmaltz, and the sole photographer for his blog, ruhlman.com. MARKETING AND PROMOTION • Online advertising on Facebook and Blogads (food sites) • National media campaign, including print, online, and radio interviews • Author tour: New York; Seattle; San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; Cleveland • Digital marketing/publicity campaign, including features and reviews, specialized blog outreach, videos, and downloadable excerpts • Social network campaign, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Goodreads, and ChapterShare Copyright © 2014 by Ruhlman Enterprises, Inc. Author photograph by Donna Turner Ruhlman

This is uncorrected proof. Not for sale.

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On-sale date: April 1, 2014 Cookbook Hardcover: 978-0-316-25406-9 $40.00 US / $44.00 CAN 8 x 10 • 256 pages 200 4-color photographs Ebook: 978-0-316-25407-6 $19.99 US / $19.99 CAN Little, Brown and Company littlebrown.com

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