Sunday Feast № 45 | Sabayon or Zabaione, or an exercise in tenacity

After making potato and onion frittata, I was left with egg yolks. Unusual situation for me, since majority of the time it is egg whites, and I know what to do with those; add to them an egg or two and have eggs your way, sunny side up in my case, for breakfast, brunch, or lunch. I haven't made dessert in a while, and that is where egg yolks are used the most. I looked around and found an egg yolk based one in “The Little Paris Kitchen” by Rachel Khoo - champagne sabayon. I had prosecco though, which makes me wonder if this is now officially zabaione, the Italian version. However, as it turns out, that was the least of my worries.    First time around I took "To test, draw a figure 8 in the mixture with the whisk. If it stays put, then sabayon is ready." too literally, was too heavy handed, and most of all missed the timing when to take the mixture off the heat, and ended up with rather tasty and sweet and smooth but scramble. I overcooked it. Truth be told, I needed to research the required consistency when cooking as I knew that the final product was too thick and lacked the expected volume all that whisking should produce. Time to learn.    This YouTube video at 5:09 showed me what I should be looking for, and I tried again. To say that I was gun-shy next time around is an understatement. I kept on taking the bowl on and off the heat, and kept on whisking furiously. When it seemed to head in the right direction, I took the sabayon mixture off the heat and "threw" it into the fridge, then proceeded to deal with leftover egg whites.    When I came back to it, it decreased in volume and liquefied under a layer of breaking froth. I undercooked it. Yes, I took it off heat too quickly. To save it, off I went whisking over the heat again and persisted and watched till the consistency was definitely right, this is why I am not telling you how long the whisking takes. I have no clue. Also, serve immediately. While whisking, I thought how this is too much. All that changed after having a serving with raspberries and prosecco with raspberry syrup. I will master.

Sunday Feast № 1 | Eggs in Pots

Happy New Year, and if your December was full of boozy festivities or you topped it all off with a New Year’s Eve celebration that carried into the weekend, by this Sunday morning hangover and you may be well acquainted frenemies. It’s time for breakfast, to end that relationship and to ease into New Year, provided you can get up, stand up, and hold your food.       This is usually when I hear of cravings for greasy anything and “hair of the dog” remedy, and maybe there is credence to both, but personally I subscribe to a steady trickle of water and toast with honey, followed by an indulgence that will not weigh down my already suffering innards. No thanks to running, dripping grease fest, but eggs are good. Very good. Hello œufs en cocotte! Yes, you will challenge yourself a tad beyond quick frying or scrambling, treat that as part of the recovery process, but at a leisurely speed, which you will appreciate while you are hydrating, while that toast with honey is making you sweeter (oh, angel you!), and while your loved ones are asking for attention you literally do not possess this morning. Focus. You can stumble through it. If you have an oven with a glass door and a light, treat it like TV – just like the real thing, staring is welcome, in fact encouraged, as you get to know the water temperature and the time it takes to set the eggs to taste, so you can repeat not as a hangover breakfast but as part of weekend feast to start the day. The cream with eggs will hug your tummy just right.       The recipe is adapted for one egg from “The Little Paris Kitchen” by Rachel Khoo, so you can multiply it as needed and, just like Rachel, if you do not have ramekins, use ceramic cups instead.