Dapur Kecil

Egg and Toast Soldiers with Love

 

Egg and toast soldiers adalah sarapan khas asli Inggris dan salah satu favorit anak-anak. Kirana dan Alisha senang sekali setiap kali saya menyarankan, " How about Egg and toast for breakfast?".  Langsung kedua semangat mengiyakan.

Telur dadar with love

Telur dadar atau bahasa kerennya omelette biasa menjadi andalan saya dan keluarga saat perlu lauk yang cepat, gampang, tidak repot, tapi enak dan bergizi.

Teknik membuat telur dadar atau omelette sudah pernah saya posting pada edisi lalu. Yaitu, dengan minyak yang sangat panas, as hot as you dare, ketika adonan telur dituang ke wajan. Tetapi begitu telur selesai dituang, langsung api dikecilkan.

Balado terung dan telur with love

Ini adalah lauk yang membuat saya makan nasi tiga kali dalam sehari. Biasanya saya makan nasi cukup sekali atau dua kali. Namun jika ada balado terong tidak tahan untuk tidak terus makan nasi, tiga atau bahkan empat kali!

How to make meringues

1. This must be the most popular egg-white recipe of all, whipped with fine sugar into tall, stiff, shining peaks, then very lightly baked so that the surface is crisp and the centre is soft and chewy.

The tricky bit is whisking the egg whites, but the way the meringues are cooked is important, too. The oven should be pre-heated to gas mark 2, 300°F (150°C) but do make sure you are not going to be using it for anything else, since the meringues stay in the oven until it is completely cold, so that they partly bake and then slowly dry out.

How to make mayonnaise

1. In the summer months one of the greatest treats of all is real, proper home-made mayonnaise; a thick mass of unctuous golden ointment, perfect for dipping asparagus into, or slices of raw vegetables (crudités).

It makes a perfect accompaniment to salmon, cold or hot, but it is also utterly sublime served with hard-boiled eggs in a classic egg mayonnaise.

It should be stored in a screw-top jar in the bottom of the fridge for no longer than a week.

How to make hollandaise

1. This classic French sauce goes particularly well with vegetables, like fresh artichokes or new season's asparagus.

The easiest and simplest way to make hollandaise is using a food processor or blender, because it is quicker and does away with the need to hand-whisk over hot water for 10 long minutes. It has to be said that a blender is best, but a processor works well, too.

So first place 2 large egg yolks, a pinch of salt and some freshly milled black pepper in a blender or processor and then blend thoroughly for a minute until they become thickened

How to separate an egg

1. If you want to separate the yolk from the white of an egg, the egg has to be as fresh as possible.

The protective membrane that encloses the yolk weakens with age and breaks more easily, and this can cause problems, because if even one speck of yolk gets into the white, it won't be suitable for whisking. So with eggs as fresh as possible there's much less chance of that happening.

How to scramble egg

1. For scrambled eggs for one, use 2 large eggs and ½ oz (10 g) butter, plus salt and pepper. For more people, just multiply the ingredients accordingly. The method remains the same but more eggs will obviously take longer to cook.

For scrambled eggs, the fresher the eggs the better, but up to two weeks old is fine. First of all, break the eggs into a small bowl and use a fork to lightly blend the yolks into the whites, whisking gently. Add a good seasoning of salt and freshly milled black pepper.

Now take a small, heavy-based saucepan and place it over a medium heat – this is really the only rule; if the heat is too high, the eggs will become dry and flaky. Add half the butter to the pan and swirl it around so that the base and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of the sides of the pan are moistened with it.

How to poach an egg

1. This method is not at all frightening or hazardous, but bear in mind that for successful poaching the eggs have to be really fresh – less than four days old. The key to a well-poached egg is to keep the water at a bare simmer throughout the cooking.

Place a suitably sized frying pan over a gentle heat and add enough boiling water from the kettle to fill it to 1 inch (2.5 cm). Keep the heat gentle, and very quickly you will see the merest trace of tiny bubbles beginning to form over the base of the pan.

How to make an omelette

1.   One omelette will serve one person and, because it is so quick to make, it's not worth cooking a large one for two. So, according to how hungry you are, use 2-3 large eggs per person.

For omelettes, the fresher the eggs the better, but up to two weeks old is fine. Just break the eggs carefully into a bowl and season with salt and freshly milled pepper. Blend the egg yolks and whites with a large fork – the number one rule is not to over-mix – no beating or whisking. At this stage you could add some snipped chives or perhaps 1½ oz (40 g) of grated cheese to the eggs if you like. These should be gently combined with the eggs using a fork.