Saturday, February 26, 2011

Fancy a good brunch

Often on the weekends I get to cook a good breakfast. Mainly because I have time but most often prompted by my brother's request for an omelet. This morning it will be an egg sandwich because my brother is at work this morning.

I like the egg. It was one of my first culinary bucket list challenges (sometimes still remains). As a kid I learned how to make scrambled eggs very quickly and learned how to cover them in ketchup just as quickly. I thought I didn't like eggs, it turns out I just didn't like my mother's eggs.

When I grew up i found myself cooking a lot. It's a passion and at times a missed career path. I remember the first time I had scrambled eggs cooked differently was at a relatives house after sleeping over. They were fluffy, moist, seasoned well. Namley, they weren't my moms dried and over peppered eggs. The difference I later found out was water instead of milk, a little cheddar cheese, and salt.

I often found new forms of egg devotion when sleeping over someone's house. In junior high I learned how to make an egg mcmuffin at the house. A skill that has been perfected many times over. I learned the differences between sunny side up, over easy, over hard and how to cook each one. Once, with several women at the breakfast table I was cooking morning eggs. I asked a much younger woman how she liked her eggs. Another woman, older than I laughed and remarked "She didn't know." The younger woman said, she took what ever she was given before. That is a travesty I said and made her an over easy egg, some salted fresh avocado, a tomato & toast.

I've perfected a french fold omelet, know how to poach an egg, can create Hollandaise by hand whisking or the blender, can make a soft or hard boiled egg, and I am still working on making a coddled egg, shirred eggs, scotch eggs, and making Huevos rancheros.

Breakfast always seemed to be easier to make than most fancy dinners and for awhile I stuck primarily to breakfast cooking. It allowed me to gain confidence. I knew I could bake but I didn't know if I could cook. I still have daydreams and fantasies about clear plastic squeeze bottled filled with sauces that I make on the weekends to use throughout the week. I think about making fresh pasta and fresh sauce. I'm still working on my salting as tenderizing beef skills. I want to make a brick or stone oven outside this summer for pizzas and breads. I want to be that foodie in your neighborhood who invites you and your partner over for good food and you bring over good wine in return. Yeah, I'm a nerd. A foodie nerd.

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