Thursday, May 1, 2008

Eggs: [Usually] Incredible and Edible

I really enjoy cooking with egg replacers (my favorite brand is made by Wilcox Farms, available in bulk at Costco). They have all the good parts of eggs without having the not-so-good cholesterol and fats. If you're looking for a little more protein, however, egg replacers just don't measure up to the real thing.

Egg replacers find their way into my diet most often in the form of scrambled eggs with melted fat-free cheddar. As I am cooking In Pursuit of Protein, however, I thought I might prepare real eggs in a manner that is outside my usual repertoire. I always enjoy a good hard-boiled egg, and they are easy enough to make a batch of and store, although the little buggers can sometimes be quite tricky to peel.

Enter the deviled egg. Ah, you feisty culinary creature. During my college lunch times, you could often find my friends and I sitting around a dining hall table peeling the shells away from hard-boiled eggs, whipping some mustard, mayo, and relish together in a bowl, and making deviled eggs. Easy, fast, and nutritious, you can't go wrong with these little guys.

I wanted to try something new, however, and put a little twist on the traditional deviled egg recipe. Musing about an eastern-style deviled egg (think curry and cinnamon tastes) or something a little spicier (chili pepper and cayenne, anyone?), I wandered over to The Leftover Queen message board and posed my questions to the lovely folks there. After some discussion, I decided to try out a Moroccan-leaning spiced egg.

After hard-boiling an egg, I sliced it in half lengthwise and removed the yolk. I mixed the yolk with 1 Tablespoon of quark (a sour cream substitute), a little vanilla yogurt, 1 diced dried apricot, a pinch of cinnamon, and a teeny dash each of cardamom and nutmeg. Once the concoction was thoroughly blended, I stuffed my egg whites with it and chowed down.

Sad to say, I wasn't all that impressed with the result. The yolk mixture felt a little dry, so I probably needed a little more yogurt or quark. The dessicated nature of the apricot probably did not help in this respect. Also, the egg lacked that lovely bite of tang that traditional deviled eggs get from the mustard and paprika. If I were to try this concoction again, I would probably include a little curry powder or mustard. However, as fun and fast early-morning cooking romps go, I am not completely dissatisfied with the adventure.

1 comment:

  1. JennDZ - The LeftoveMay 2, 2008 at 2:15 PM

    Hi Betherann!Thanks for sharing your results. I was curious!I agree, probably you need a spice or savory element to offset the sweetness of the various elements in there. Not bad for a first try though! :)

    ReplyDelete

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