153 replies to this topic

[Chris Amirault]

Every now and then since December 2004, a good number of us have been getting together at the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off. Click here for the Cook-Off index.

For our nineteenth Cook-Off, we're making eggs, beaten, with stuff in them.



All right, all right, so the name sucks. Feel free to pick your own favorite from among the other suggestions: "Souffles, Frittatas, Omelettes," my best shot but too European for my tastes; "Eggs, Filled, Folded, Fluffed," snowangel's variation on the one I went with; "Eggstravaganza!" -- a name we'll have to save for the Broadway musical adaptation of this cook-off.

What we're talking about here are egg dishes that require beating the eggs -- either en masse a la the omelette or yolk and white separately then combined a la the soufflé -- and then combining them with other ingredients. This is an admittedly wide berth, but you probably get the drift. Frittata? Yes. Deviled eggs? No (not beaten).

It seems to me like a good cook-off idea because eggs, beaten, with stuff in them appear throughout the cuisines of the world. We've got the eGCI course on omelettes here and the Q&A here. There are at least two solid threads on Italian frittatas here and here. Check out the chawanmushi in this tamago thread. My initial attempts at searching suggest that we're still in need of a definitive Bindae-dduk recipe (the Korean omelette), and I think that we may see a few egg foo yungs before the cook-off is over.

So fire up the skillets, people, and get out those whisks. This promises to be eggcellent!

Ok, I couldn't resist.

[Megan Blocker]

Best thread title - ever.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Beaten, huh? Sounds like S&M to me ...

Great idea for a topic .. very wide range possible with this ... looking forward to seeing what everyone prepares .. lots of pictures as well, I'll bet! I can smell the bacon crisping already and I keep kosher ...

[torakris]

I have almost 30 eggs in my refrigerator at this moment, the timing couldn't have been better...
Now to decide what to make.

[C. sapidus]

I suppose fried rice will have to wait for the "stuff, with beaten eggs in them" thread.

[Jason Perlow]

We spent our entire day doing this yesterday: Quiche.

[Chris Amirault]

Ok, I have a question. Is there a generic name for that Korean omelette dish? My first search turned up bindae-duk, but now I think that's wrong. The dish I love at our local Korean place is called haemul-pajun: a seafood and scallion omelette. Anyone know?

[Lori in PA]

I have an emergency spinach and bacon frittata in the oven right now. I say emergency because I just tasted the beef rendang I spent the afternoon making and realized 1-2 of my 3 kids are going to find it FAR too spicy for dinner. The menu:
Beef rendang
basmati rice
braised cabbage
salad with mango, onion, and spiced pecans
AND frittata

I want to make a souffle -- looks like this is my big chance. Bring on the advice and recipes, please!

[tejon]

Any thoughts on what to do with a bunch of egg whites? I have 10 sitting in the refrigerator, waiting for something interesting, and I'm just not up to quite that much meringue.

[Hiroyuki]

Ok, I have a question. Is there a generic name for that Korean omelette dish? My first search turned up bindae-duk, but now I think that's wrong. The dish I love at our local Korean place is called haemul-pajun: a seafood and scallion omelette. Anyone know?

Just "pajun", I guess.
See this post.

[purplewiz]

Oh, this one should be fun! Would I be thrown out, though, if I made the spam souffle again?

Marcia.

[snowangel]

Do sweet souffles and mousses count?

[mrbigjas]

Ok, I have a question. Is there a generic name for that Korean omelette dish? My first search turned up bindae-duk, but now I think that's wrong. The dish I love at our local Korean place is called haemul-pajun: a seafood and scallion omelette. Anyone know?

i don't, but that's not an omelette, or at least i should say, that's not how i think of one. haemul-pajun and bindaeduk are definitely more in the pancake universe, unless you want to define this cook-off as 'eggs, beaten, with stuff in them, including significant amounts of wheat and rice flour.' or in the case of bindaeduk, mung beans.

there is definitely a korean dish that is beaten eggs, usually served in a small heated stone bowl with some boiling water in it. and they put all kinds of things in them--bits of sausage, scallions, etc. but basically it's a steamed beaten egg dish, and unfortunately don't know the name of it.

[mrbigjas]

Any thoughts on what to do with a bunch of egg whites? I have 10 sitting in the refrigerator, waiting for something interesting, and I'm just not up to quite that much meringue. 

egg white souffle! there's a recipe in julia child for a cheese version, but you can totally make it with any kind of vegetable puree or whatever. no need for egg yolks in a souffle. i might make one myself this week--i have a bunch of egg whites in the freezer too...

[mizducky]

Cool. I am just beginning to learn how to work with egg substitutes for everyday cooking, so this would be a great excuse to see how many tricks I can persuade them to do.

(Don't worry, folks, I am not totally abandoning "real" eggs, but they have necessarily become a special-occasion treat for the time being.)

I was tempted to suggest that blintzes could conceivably fit with the "eggs, beaten, with stuff in them" template--okay, so you don't put the "stuff" inside the beaten eggs until after they've been cooked--but as I'm not really up for making blintzes anyway, for me at least it's a moot point.

[BryanZ]

Any thoughts on what to do with a bunch of egg whites? I have 10 sitting in the refrigerator, waiting for something interesting, and I'm just not up to quite that much meringue. 

egg white souffle! there's a recipe in julia child for a cheese version, but you can totally make it with any kind of vegetable puree or whatever. no need for egg yolks in a souffle. i might make one myself this week--i have a bunch of egg whites in the freezer too...

Ditto. Sometimes egg white souffles are better than the yolk-y version.

[purplewiz]

Cool. I am just beginning to learn how to work with egg substitutes for everyday cooking, so this would be a great excuse to see how many tricks I can persuade them to do.

I'm guessing that Impossible Pie counts, which is how I used up the last of the flavored mostly egg white egg substitute I had laying around (coupons + curiosity = some weird purchases). It made the best Impossible Pie to date - the egg whites gave it a far lighter and fluffier texture than real eggs, which we both agreed was very good indeed.

Marcia.

[jackal10]

I guess Double cooked souffles or Tortilla de Patata are in, but

What about chocolate mousse/molten/roulade/etc?
Indeed, roulades in general..Does the classification run to flourless cakes, or even genoise or Victoria Sponge?

Svoury custard? Creme Anglais? Petit pot de creme? Creme Brulle?

[Toliver]

Ever since reading about soft scrambled (large curd) eggs here on eGullet, I've been hankering for them.
This past Sunday morning I made them for breakfast. I started with some sautéed shallots and diced garlic beef sausage (which I get from a local grocery chain that makes it own sausages). In a small bowl, I cracked open three large eggs, added some milk (it may have been as much as a half cup or more...I just eyeballed it) and used my hand-cranked egg beaters to whip it all up into a frothy golden mess.
I poured the egg mixture over the shallots and sausage (I had turned the heat down to low) and slowly but methodically stirred up large curds of egg until almost all the liquid was gone. I added fresh ground pepper and a little kosher salt and some grated sharp cheddar cheese. I put a lid on the pan and removed it from the heat. By the time I poured my coffee and got the plate, the scrambled eggs were done, the cheese melted from residual heat in the pan.
Sorry I don't have a picture but take solace in the fact that they were quite good, a sort of comfort food from my youth.

[tejon]

Ever since reading about soft scrambled (large curd) eggs here on eGullet

There are other acceptable ways to scramble eggs? Sounds delicious!

[Restorer]

I made an omelette with shallots and parsley for lunch, but it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. The outside was too brown, and turning it was a pain. I don't have an omelette pan, only a crepe pan, and the little edge on that wasn't conducive to turning the omelette. I ended up using a spatula. The eggs did turn out nice and fluffy, though.

[Portia_Smith]

I've not actively joined a cook-off before - although I've read many of the threads with interest.

My question is 'Does Kaiserschmarrn count as a beaten egg dish with stuff in it?' The picture clearly shows eggs - and beating of aforementioned eggs so I hope this counts. I am worried some people might interpret it as more of a pancake type dish than an omelettey thing, although it does translate as emperors omelette and the version I intend to use contains five eggs - rather than the meagre three shown in the pictorial I've linked to.

Ja? Nein? Let me know please and I'm all over it!

[munchymom]

Today's breakfast was an omelette filled with some asparagus, ham, and a little bit of leftover cheese fondue. Unfortunately my pan was a bit too hot (I just switched from an electric to a gas cooktop and am still figuring it out) and the eggs got crunchy on the edges before the fillings were completely heated. A good mix of flavors though.

[Chris Amirault]

Always with the questions! Well, as William Burroughs wrote, "Be just. If you can't be just, be arbitrary."

In general, I think that we should stick to things that are recognizably egg-based. So while many cakes could be described as "eggs, beaten, with stuff in them," I would say that they shouldn't count. And I don't see why we should stick to retrograde pre-21st century categories of savory and sweet, right?

So, keeping in mind that my court has neither an appeals system nor any means of enforcement ():

Oh, this one should be fun! Would I be thrown out, though, if I made the spam souffle again?

You would not!

Do sweet souffles and mousses count?

Yes they do!

i don't, but that's not an omelette, or at least i should say, that's not how i think of one.  haemul-pajun and bindaeduk are definitely more in the pancake universe, unless you want to define this cook-off as 'eggs, beaten, with stuff in them, including significant amounts of wheat and rice flour.'  or in the case of bindaeduk, mung beans.

To me, the haemul-pajun retains the quality of an egg dish even with some flour added. (After all, some soufflé recipes include a bit of flour for stability.)

I'm guessing that Impossible Pie counts, which is how I used up the last of the flavored mostly egg white egg substitute I had laying around (coupons + curiosity = some weird purchases). It made the best Impossible Pie to date - the egg whites gave it a far lighter and fluffier texture than real eggs, which we both agreed was very good indeed.

What's Impossible Pie? The judges need more information on this one.

I guess Double cooked souffles or Tortilla de Patata are in, but
What about chocolate mousse/molten/roulade/etc?
Indeed, roulades in general..Does the classification run to flourless cakes, or even genoise or Victoria Sponge?
Svoury custard? Creme Anglais? Petit pot de creme? Creme Brulle?

Um, see above! I'd want to say yes certainly to anything that retains its eggy-ness, Jack. What do you think?

My question is 'Does Kaiserschmarrn count as a beaten egg dish with stuff in it?' 

Ja!

[I_call_the_duck]

This thread has been up for about two days, so where's the King of Eggs, percyn?

[purplewiz]

What's Impossible Pie? The judges need more information on this one.

I just did a little research, and this one may be on the cusp.

Going through my collection of Bisquick cookbooks and pamphlets, in "So Quick With Bisquick" cookbook (1967), impossible pies were unknown. There are quite a few recipes in "Bisquick Family Favorites" (1991), and by 1993, "Bisquick Classic Recipes" has an entire section dedicated to them.

The category has apparently more recently been renamed, and is now called Impossibly Easy Pie. The basic mixture calls for 1/4 cup of Bisquick (or baking mix) to one egg, with most recipes calling for 3 to 4 eggs. This gives a remarkably quiche-like texture, and some of it browns to form a "crust" on the bottom, which gave rise to the impossible name. I believe that the amount of Bisquick in the standard recipe is still less than the amount of flour in a quiche crust.

I have to admit that before looking this up I had completely forgotten that the official ratio of egg to Bisquick was so high, since I tend to use 1/2 - 1/3 cup Bisquick to three eggs - not only because I like the texture, but I tend to use the Bisquick as more of a stabilizing agent (high altitude, you know).

Anyway, I submit to the judge the following classic recipes for evaluation and judgement:

Impossibly Easy Bacon Pie
Impossibly Easy Ham and Swiss Pie
Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie, the perennial classic

And getting back on to the subject of eggs, beaten, and stuff, the spam souffle was planned for tomorrow but unfortunately it looks like we're going to have a long visit with Lowe's, as one of our bathroom sinks unexpectedly rusted through this evening. So it's dinner out, but since eggs are on sale at 50 cents/dozen at Safeway Friday - Sunday, the souffle WILL get made!

Marcia.

[Chris Amirault]

Over here in the charcuterie thread, I've been making lop yuk or Chinese bacon. This morning, I decided I couldn't wait for dinner to make Naw Mai Fon, so.... scrambled eggs!

[Chris Amirault]

Dave the Cook forwarded this link from Amazon to me: big discounts on Calphalon non-stick omelette pans.

[Jason Perlow]

Omelette for lunch, using our leftover quiche filling (Spinach, chopped salumi, mushrooms, shallot) and feta cheese:

[Fat Guy]

Chris, is it okay if the stuff in the scrambled eggs is eggs? I've recently noticed a few dishes in different books -- most recently Jose Andres's tapas book, and also in some books of Mideastern recipes -- that are variants on this theme: you cook some scrambled eggs and then towards the end of cooking you crack some whole eggs over them. This creates not only a dramatic presentation but also you get the curdy scrambled eggs and the gooey texture of a fried/poached/soft-boiled egg at the same time as the yolks run all over the scrambled eggs.