Showing posts with label egg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label egg. Show all posts

Thursday, May 19, 2016

GREEN EGGS AND HAM, NATURALLY

 

Do you like green eggs and ham?
I do not like them  Sam-I-Am.  I do not like green eggs and ham.

If you're like that snotty unnamed character in the best-selling children's book by Theodor Seuss Geisel a.k.a Dr. Seuss, you might find green eggs appalling. I hope to change your mind because colored eggs are as fun to make as they are to eat!

And if you've got kids, it's also an exciting way to teach them about the science of cooking.

INGREDIENTS
- Eggs
- Red Cabbage
- Butter (or oil)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Red cabbage to make green eggs? Seriously?
 

TO MAKE

Wash and cut the red cabbage into quarters. Take out the tough fleshy part in the middle then cut the  into smaller strips about 1/2 inch wide.

Microwave the red cabbage for about 5 minutes (high setting). It should be wilted and its juices leaking by the time you're done. Let it cool.
 

Get an unbleached muslin cloth or coffee filter and use it to squeeze the juice out of the red cabbage. You won't get a glassful of purple juice but it's okay, you only need a small amount.

 ***
An alternative to get the cabbage juice is to cook it in boiling water and use a strainer.
 
 

***

While you're waiting for the cabbage to heat up and cool down, separate the egg yolk from the whites.

Gently whisk the cabbage juice into the egg white and add a little salt. Watch the purple juice magically turn green right before your eyes!

***
But it isn't magic, it's science. Red cabbage contains anthocyanin, odorless and flavorless water-soluble pigments that occur naturally in plants like the red cabbage, berries and red corn. Plants use anthocyanins to make their leaves, fruits and flowers more attractive to animals so they get eaten,  dispersed and pollinated naturally.

***
Heat up the pan and get your ingredients ready.

Pour in the whites (or greens, if you want to be technical about it).
 

Pour the yolk in position, carefully making sure not to break it.

Let the egg cook in low heat.

Serve with slices of ham.

*** 
 I also made a scrambled egg version. It needs a little sprucing up unless you're serving it as a  halloween treat.

***

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

EGG MYSTERY, UNSCRAMBLED

Can you unscramble an egg? Not yet. But recently, scientists have figured out how to unboil an egg. At least the white parts.

After the publication of their study, Chemistry major Stephan Kudlacek  and Gregory Weiss, a professor of chemistry and molecular biology & biochemistry at the University of California at Irvine, confirms, "Yes, we have invented a way to unboil a hen egg.”
Photo courtesy of UCI News
 How?

They boiled egg whites for 20 minutes and returned lysozyme, a key protein in the egg,  to pull apart tangled proteins that would allow the egg whites to refold or go back to a structurally correct shape.  I'm not so sure if it is edible as they used urea (which you could also get from your pee) to liquefy the solid, cooked egg whites.

Why?

Yes, why would anyone want to uncook an egg? They're not really into the raw food craze but the researchers believe that this "could transform industrial and research production of proteins" which would be helpful for cheese production and cancer research.