Eggs On a Cloud

My second International Incident Party - the theme this month is *Eggs* and the party's co-hosted by Penny of  Jeroxie and and Trix of Tasty Trix. Wonderful, the culinary intepretation of this theme is greater than our outer galaxy (custards, souffles, cheesecake, French toast, creme brulee, bla, bla, etc), so how do I go about this? Thanks Penny, the egg theme has really made me think... hard.

Okay, so this is it. I decided to depict the humble egg in as narrow an intepretation as I could muster - it still looked very much like an egg. Have you ever tried the breakfast dish, Eggs On A Cloud? Not the French version of oeufs à la neige (snow eggs or floating islands on crème anglaise), no, that's way too hard/early for breakfast. Mine is an easy, breakfast eggs-on-toast version and it looks... interesting.  And more than a little pretty. I mean, can you just imagine cutting through a runny, half-baked egg yolk sitting amidst an airy, cloud of egg-white? Mmmmm.... I definitely can.

Eggs on a Cloud with Tomato-Pear Stack topped with Buttered Mashed Potatoes

I started with the bread, and reckoned that since the egg was going to be light, the base has got to be quite sturdy and filling. Multigrain wholemeal bread seemed to fit the bill, so I went ahead and baked a lovely loaf. What can I say? I had time to kill.

I lurrrve my bread fresh!

Tomatoes usually feature in this type of breakfast dish, so I sliced some, coated them in white rice crumbs (gluten-and-everything-free; it's my recent great find!) and toasted them under a grill. There was this pretty Forelle pear sitting forlornly in the fridge and so like a fairy Godmother-wannabe, I decided it should join the Eggs party. Skin on, cored and sliced, I stacked the pear up alternately with the tomatoes and topped it all with some (very runny) mashed potato. Not even an oil drop in sight, and if that's not a healthy breakfast, I don't know what is.

If you're wondering what Eggs on a Cloud tastes like, well, it tastes very much like egg. LOL, well what did you expect? Saying that, texturally the airy egg cloud feels much like cotton candy does in your mouth! That's the best description I can think of. Thanks again to Penny and Trix for being the perfect hosts of this eggstraordinary party. Now go and check out what the other participants did with their eggs (scroll right down to the bottom for the links).

Tomato slices encrusted with white rice crumbs

Tomato-Pear Stack

 

Before and after

Eggs On a Cloud

Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Eggs
4 slices bread
4 large eggs, separated
salt and pepper, to taste

Stack:
4 tomatoes, sliced thickly
2 large pears, cored and sliced across
2 large potatoes, sliced, boiled and drained
2 tablespoons butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

2. Prepare the stack first. Dip the cut sides of the tomatoes in white rice crumbs and toast under a hot grill for about 10 minutes until the crumbs turn golden. Remove from the oven and stack the pears in between the crusted tomatoes.

3. Blend the hot, boiled potatoes with the butter and spoon on top of the stack. If it is still hot, it will be runny. Cool slightly if you want it to stay on top of the stack.

4. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites in a mixing bowl until fluffy and stiff peaks have formed. Spoon egg whites and shape into pretty "clouds" on each slice of bread, forming a dent in the center. Slide an egg yolk into the center of each egg white well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to season or if you want, some grated Parmesan or chilli powder for a bit of spiciness!

5. Place bread and egg slices on a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes until the egg whites are lightly golden and egg yolks are just set. Remove tray from oven and using a large, sturdy spatula, plate Eggs on a Cloud immediately. Serve warm with the tomato-pear-potato stacks.

Fennel~Anise~Caraway Meringue Tower, anyone?

What a peculiar combination of flavours for a dessert, you might wonder? Well, maybe not really, since I was inspired to make this meringue whilst drinking an equally peculiar but delicious brew called (surprise!) Fennel-Anise-Caraway Herbal Tea. Yes, the mix came packaged in lovely, green 'teabags' which was a bit of a misnomer because there wasn't really any tea in there. Next time though, I'll go out and get handfuls of these seeds so I can blend them to the proportions I want myself.

I really liked the liquorice-ish flavour of these three spices, and they have proven health benefits too, such as easing menstrual cramps, flatulence, indigestion - all those tummy region discomforts. Back to the dessert, the meringues were great on their own but I found them very sweet so I paired them up with some sour cherries to balance the sweetness. Yes, it's all about balance, people. That, and beauty, oh, and pleasure. Always try to feel pleasure when eating a great dessert!

What I love: The blended seeds gave a crunchy, liquorice-like taste to the meringue biscuits. Chic!

What I hate: Making the meringue part. Egg-whites, I think, hate me. They rise to an airy perfection when first beaten, then deflate defiantly as soon as I add sugar into it. As a result, my meringue mixture was a bit on the runny side, however, everything worked out well in the end. There, there's my disclaimer. Somebody out there please teach me the correct technique for next time.

The spices blended with sugar

That's how many teabags I desecrated to get this amount of spices!

~ Love me, love me, saaaayyy that you love me! ~

Have them plain.....

 

....or all dressed up to the nines.

Beautiful, even in devastation!

Fennel~Anise~Caraway Meringue Tower

Ingredients:

• 4 large organic egg whites, at room temperature
• 115g caster sugar
• 115g icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons fennel, anise & caraway seeds
• Whipped cream and sour cherries, to decorate

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 110°C. Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking paper (meringue can stick on greaseproof paper and foil).

2. Tip the egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl (not plastic). Beat them on medium speed with an electric whisk until the mixture resembles a fluffy cloud and stands up in stiff peaks when the blades are lifted.

3. Turn the speed up and start to add the caster sugar, a teaspoonful at a time. Continue beating for 3-4 seconds between each addition. It's important to add the sugar slowly at this stage as it helps prevent the meringue from weeping later (my bad!). Don't over-beat. When ready, the mixture should be thick and glossy.

4. Grind the spices finely together with the icing sugar, then gently fold in this mixture with a big metal spoon or rubber spatula. Continue to fold in the icing sugar a third at a time. Again, don't over-mix.

5. Scoop up a heaped tablespoonful of the mixture and drop them into rough rounds on the tray. Bake for 1 ½ -1 ¾ hours until the meringues are crisp and are a pale coffee colour. Leave to cool on the trays or a cooling rack. (The meringues will now keep in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for a month.)

6. Serve three meringues together with a generous dollop of whipped cream and pitted sour cherries sandwiched in between.

Remember, pleasure is not a sin, so enjoy!