How to Coddle Eggs (p. 90)
This sounds like a children's story....
Coddling eggs, in fact, is cooking them in coddlers (or in my case, ramekins wrapped tightly in foil) that sit in simmering water, first uncovered for four minutes, then once the heat is turned off, covered for another 4-7 minutes. Before the egg goes in, though, the coddler is brushed with butter and filled with a teaspoon of cream to keep the egg moist.
The finished effect is really quite adorable. It's like naughty soft-boiled eggs (naughty because of the added butter and cream). One of mine was cooked through, and the other was softer. I liked both, but I think this is better with a slightly runny yolk. Of course, it's impossible to judge how cooked your eggs are if you're using ramekins vs. glass coddlers, so you just have to guess. Or peek. I checked one at 4 minutes, but it looked undercooked, so I left them in for another minute or two.
Martha serves these with toast soldiers, so I did too. (I'm such a good student. Teacher's pet...)It's some extra effort to pull this off, but if you're looking for a cute twist on an egg breakfast, this is a good one.
Jeff: A
Martha: A
Until we eat again....
Whenever egg coddlers are mentioned, which is almost never, I remember when our house in California was robbed many years ago. They took a lot of stuff, including our small collection of egg coddlers. I used smile at that the thought of those thieves trying to figure out what they were. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. By the way, we put in parmesan cheese, a little tarragon, and a little red pepper. Yum!
ReplyDeleteJeff,
ReplyDeleteI love coddled eggs, so easy to prepare, and so different and--despite the clean-up--somehow easier than hassling with soft boiled eggs in the shell (or perhaps it's just that added butter).
And let's admit it, it's just too fun to say, too.
I usually add a fair amount of fresh ground pepper to mine, and like Annie, some grated parm. Yummy!
Hey, you should add egg coddlers to your Amazon graduation wishlist now that you getting closer to being done and the list is almost empty. :-)
Happy coddling!
Michael
Annie - Your coddled eggs sound very gourmet! Sorry about the coddler theft - that must have been a very impressive collection! I wonder how much they got for it on the black coddler market?
ReplyDeleteMichael- Having made these eggs, it definitely made me want a set of coddlers. And I checked out Amazon's selection, but they were not very well-reviewed. (I've become attentive to the customer reviews - I figure if people take the time to write, they must feel rather passionately about it.) I love that you're calling it my graduation wish list. :-) Thanks, as ever, for writing/reading.
Ah, I should have looked at their options before suggesting. Those they have do look pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it all the good coddlers are from British china sets? My dad bought mine for my mom in England. Royal Worcester, and they have never leaked.