Baked eggs for sandwiches

 15 June 2021

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, January 2021

This is one of the oddest, and simplest, recipes I've tried and written about. It's a method for making the main ingredient of an egg sandwich, the eggs, and a clever way to prepare them at that. I was intrigued when I read the article. I like sandwiches but I rarely eat egg sandwiches. In part because this recipe was so easy I gave it a try.

Eight eggs were whisked in a bowl with a little table salt. Then, ⅔ cup of water was added and whisked until combined. The egg mixture was poured into an 8x8-inch baking pan that had been sprayed with vegetable oil. This was placed on a rimmed baking sheet then 1½ cups of water were poured onto the baking sheet. The eggs were baked in a 300° oven until they were set, about 34 minutes. After cooling, the baking sheet was inverted to remove the baked eggs. The baked eggs were cut into pieces and used as part of sandwiches with ham, cheese, salad dressing, and tomato. Total time was about one hour.

These eggs were a nice addition to sandwiches and we had them several times for dinners and lunches through the week. The egg was smooth and custardy and did not have a strong eggy flavor. We were not very adventurous and had only ham and cheese rather than trying some of the other ingredients suggested in the magazine.  The eggs did not release cleanly from the baking pan but they released well enough that this was not a major issue. We tried freezing some of the egg but this did not work. After thawing, the eggs leaked copious amounts of water and had an odd texture. It was a nice change for dinner and good for warm summer days when no one wants to do a lot of cooking.

Cast Iron Baked Chicken

 25 May 2021

Recipe from Cook's Country, February 2018

This recipe is from the Cook's Country TV show from a few years ago. I must have liked what I saw as I made a note of it and have recently gotten around to making it. It is a relatively quick recipe that makes a fair amount of chicken without a large investment of time.

I broke down a whole 4-pound chicken though the recipe calls for bone-in chicken pieces. I'm comfortable breaking down a chicken and it is more convenient and less expensive than buying pieces. A cast iron skillet was placed in a cold oven which was then turned on and set to 450°. Paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder were mixed. The chicken pieces were patted dry and seasoned with the spice mixture. When the oven reached 450° the hot skillet was removed. Butter was placed into the skillet and after it had melted fresh thyme sprigs were added. The chicken was added, skin side down, and returned to the oven for 15 minutes. The skillet was then removed and the chicken pieces flipped over. It was returned to the oven and baked for 15 minutes. At this point the chicken had exceeded the target temperatures of 160° for the breasts and 175° for the thighs and drumsticks. After cooling for 10 minutes the chicken was basted with the pan juices and served. 

This was good chicken and very easy and quick to prepare. The herbs provide a nice flavor. The skin was a little crispy and edible, though we are not fixated on producing crispy skin. The breasts were a little dry, I need to check the temperature a little earlier than I did. For the modest investment of time and effort this is certainly chicken worth having again. It provided four dinners for the two of us.

Corn Muffins

 25 May 2021

Recipe from The Cook's Illustrated Baking Book, America's Test Kitchen, 2013, p. 48; also available online

I have tried various recipes for corn bread: the northern version and the southern version and a hybrid version and my favorite, an Alton Brown version. However, searching back through the blog, I haven't tried corn muffins. A muffin would seem to be a convenient size as a dinner side dish or leftover for breakfast. Their smaller size, too, should cook faster and more evenly. All these are good things, but would they have a good texture and the right level of sweetness? I found a recipe in one of my cookbooks and subsequently found that it had been presented, with a few small changes, on the "America's Test Kitchen" TV show way back in 2004. 

This recipe used what Alton Brown referred to as the "muffin method", dry ingredients and wet ingredients are mixed separately then gently combined to form the final batter. All-purpose flour, stone-ground cornmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill medium grind cornmeal), baking powder, baking soda, and salt were whisked together. In a separate bowl, eggs were whisked, sugar was whisked into the eggs followed by melted butter. To this mixture, half of the sour cream was whisked in, then half of the milk, followed by the remainder of the sour cream and them the milk. The wet ingredients were added to the dry and mixed gently with a rubber spatula. The batter was portioned into mounds in 12 greased muffin cups and baked at 400°. Total time, excluding the short cooling time, was just 50 minutes.

These are good corn muffins, worth making again and a good alternative to corn bread. They have a good sweetness level. They are a little gritty, but not too gritty, a problem that could be solved by using a finer stone-ground, whole-grain corn meal. They are easy and quick to make, all of the mixing is done by hand with a whisk and spatula and they bake for less than 20 minutes. They cool quickly so can be eaten warm shortly after they come from the oven. They also keep well and are good to eat after a quick re-heating in the microwave.