egg | Michael Ruhlman

Came across this post from April 2013, on spoons, spatulas and the classic creme Anglaise. Has anything changed? I honestly don’t know.–M.R. The television personality and cookbook author Ted Allen stirred up a shit storm this week by calling me out on my hatred of the round wooden spoon, which he apparently has the hots for. He happened to mention our exchange at a City Harvest event to Eric Ripert, executive chef of Le Bernardin, one of the finest restaurants in the country, with whom I’ve worked closely, who added a little more caca to the pot by tweeting “Crème anglaise? Since the days of Escoffier, stir with a wood spoon, Ruhlman.” He then phoned me to further faire caca into my cell phone until he conceded that it was the wood, not a round Read On »

Thinking of the miraculous egg this morning and wanted to repost this on mayonnaise, hoping to encourage those who don’t ever make it to give it a shot. It’s one of those foods that you can’t buy—nothing is like homemade mayonnaise. Originally posted on May 21, 2008 Finishing up the revisions of a manuscript and going over some fat-based sauces has returned me to the mayonnaise. Like the popover, it’s the story of a great transformation. Yolk, lemon juice, salt, and oil. There simply isn’t anything like it when you make it yourself—you can’t buy this stuff. But I’ll bet you have everything you need to make it right now. I’ll include a recipe at the end of this post. Two things are critical to remember for those who have Read On »

(First published in Finesse, Thomas Keller’s superb magazine, earlier this year.) In the 1970s, the egg was bad-for-you food in America. After being a mainstay of the human diet for millennia, doctors here decreed that the cholesterol-laden yolk clogged arteries and resulted in heart attacks. Eat an egg if you must, nutritionists warned, but only in limited quantities. And after 30 years of telling us to avoid eggs and order up those egg white omelettes, the American Heart Association changed its mind—oops!—and declared that eggs, like an unjustly punished child, could once again return to the dining table. As I began to write about the egg, I realized the egg fatwa was no isolated event. Indeed, it came to symbolize for me what was wrong with the way we think about food and how we let others decide what we eat. Read On »

This is one of my favorite bistro staples, which I feature in Ruhlman’s Twenty. The recipe uses a classic red wine vinaigrette. Pairing it with a member of the onion family, abundant shallots, results in a great bistro dish, the preparation showcases the power of red wine vinaigrette to illuminate cooked cold vegetables. The quality of the vinegar is critical, so its worth buying a good one. The vinaigrette can also be made with a good Spanish sherry vinegar. Leeks Vinaigrette Serves 4 4 large leeks or 8 small leeks 1/4 cup/60 milliliters red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon honey Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 3/4 cup/180 milliliters canola oil 1/4 cup/170 grams minced shallots 4 hard-boiled eggs, yolks and whites finely chopped 1 tablespoon sliced fresh chives Trim the roots Read On »

Down in Key West on my annual boondoggle to cook for my cousins Rob and Ab and their merry band of sailors as they narrowly hang onto second place in their J-111 class, and their son, Ryan, skippers the 88, with his sister cousin Maegan aboard. And so, in honor of place, I’m posting this recipe from my book Egg: An Exploration of the World’s Most Versatile Ingredient: a key lime tart. It is indeed one of the finer desserts I know, custard made with yolks, topped with sweetened, whipped egg whites that are lightly browned. It’s been a week of fun food, fish tacos (using beautiful yellow tail snapper), a lobster night which is always something of a celebratory meal (with leftover strip steaks), last night an easy protein for me, D’Artagnan’s most excellent duck Read On »

Posts Categorized: egg

Classic Sauce:
Creme Anglaise

Make Your Own Mayo

Please, Consider the Egg

Leeks Vinaigrette

Key Lime Tart