“I like eggs. Sticking your breakfast spoon into a boiled egg with a creamy yolk and soft, firm white is pure happiness,” writes chef Tove Nilsson in the introduction to Eggs: Recipes and Techniques, recently published by Col&Col. “They are an important part of my life, no matter how absurd it may sound. For breakfast, lunch or dinner, the egg is my most faithful friend,” the author continues in her declaration of love for the egg. We can only agree: only a few ingredients offer so many options, at a reasonable price and with a very interesting nutritional profile.
Nilsson begins by teaching basic techniques to perfect preparations that become a delicacy once you master a few tricks, starting from the simplest such as the French or country omelette, eggs fried in oil or butter, scrambled eggs or cooked in different ingredients . There are also more sophisticated suggestions like tamagoyaki, a Japanese omelet thin like a crepe and rolled on itself. Egg-based emulsions – mayonnaise in all its variations, hollandaise, gribiche and others – also have their own section (and lots of ideas for matching them with herbs, other sauces or pickles).
The book and homework are doneMònica Escudero
From here, Nilsson organizes the recipes according to the different scenarios and times of day we can eat eggs (basically all of them). Classic dishes like steak tartare in various variations – perhaps the only recipe I had problems with as it recommends mechanically chopping the meat – frittata, potato omelette, salads of all kinds, pasta and hamburgers as the main course. significant. It gives us suggestions to start the morning by preparing delicious muffins – with a very simple dough suitable for first-time users and also does not require an oven – with grilled egg, ham and cheese, burritos, eggs rancheros, all kinds of toast, Croque Madame, delicious Vietnamese soups and Chinese breakfasts like the one you’ll find a little further down (there are recipes from every continent and for every taste). There’s also a dessert section for those with a sweet tooth; with tricks to keep your soufflé or meringue from spoiling and cocktails to liven up your special days.
The author writes in a friendly and simple language and offers many options for quick and easy cooking with the basic ingredients of every pantry, but also others for giving away the more exotic ingredients that you bought once and never used again (if you have them). If you want to complicate your life, you can also make your own HP sauce – English brown sauce – or ketchup from scratch. Charlie Drevstam’s colorful photographs, focusing on a meal that stands out against simple, very appetizing backgrounds, make Eggs not only a great cookbook, but also a book that you can simply flip through for visual pleasure. Tove Nilsson says she used a total of 4,200 eggs throughout the entire process, from testing to styling: you’ll need a lot less to make the following recipes because her experience and knowledge is already there by default.
Eggs and tomatoes with chili oil
“This recipe is learned from childhood in many parts of China: egg, tomato and chili,” says Nilsson. “An unprecedented umami bomb and the perfect breakfast to wake up well on a weekend morning.” The author suggests trying it with one chili oil, which is very similar to the one prepared in this video.
The spicy note of the oil is the keyCharlie Drevstam / Col&Col
Time: 8 minutes
Difficulty: The production of chili oil
Ingredients
For 4 people
- 8 eggs
- 4 tomatoes
- 4 Chinese chives
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- Chili oil
- White rice to taste, as a side dish
instructions
1.
Beat the eggs. Heat a large skillet or wok. Add the eggs and a tablespoon of oil and mix until you have scrambled eggs with large lumps. Reserve on a plate.
2.
Cut the chives into slices and the tomatoes into wedges.
3.
In the same wok or skillet, add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, the tomato slices, and the chives until the tomatoes are soft. Add three tablespoons of water and salt.
4.
Add the scrambled eggs and serve immediately with white rice and chili oil.
Eto: sweet potato and eggs
In Ghana, this dish is eaten at weddings, birthdays and other celebrations: the original recipe calls for yam, but the author replaced it with sweet potatoes because they are easier to find. It can be eaten on its own or with a chicken or fish stew, which is why the amount of eggs varies.
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: The one who peels the eggs without breaking them
Ingredients
For 4 people
- 800g sweet potatoes
- 100g butter
- 3 to 6 eggs
- 3 red onions
- Salt
instructions
1.
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into pieces. Peel and chop onions.
2.
Cook the sweet potatoes in salted water until soft.
3.
Cook the eggs directly in boiling water – over very low heat – for five minutes so that the yolks remain runny. Stop cooking with plenty of cold water.
4.
Meanwhile, fry the onion in the butter over low heat until soft and slightly golden brown, about 10 minutes.
5.
Strain and mash the sweet potatoes. Add the onion with the butter and salt to taste: adjust the salt until very tasty. Serve with the peeled boiled eggs.
Egg tart with bacon
This cake is the pride of the Skåne region of Sweden: it is made with cold-smoked bacon as it has a sour note that contrasts well with the egg tart. However, if you don’t have it on hand, you can also use it with cured bacon. (Note to foodies: You can easily find cranberry jam for 50 cents at this little Swedish shop with couches, chairs, and hot dogs.)
A powerful breakfastCharlie Drevstam / Col&Col
Time: 25 minutes
Difficulty: Finding the Bacon (But There Are Options)
Ingredients
From 4 to 6 servings
- 400g cold smoked or cured bacon, sliced
- 8 eggs
- 90g flour
- 300 ml whole milk
- 350 ml cooking cream (approx. 18% fat)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 25g butter
- 275 g cranberry jam
instructions
1.
Fry the bacon in a frying pan over medium heat until crispy. Reservations.
2.
Whisk eggs with flour, milk, cream and salt.
3.
Melt half of the butter with the leftover bacon in the hot pan and then pour in the batter.
4.
While the dough is setting, use a spatula to pull the edges toward the center so that the raw dough falls to the bottom of the pan.
5.
Reduce the temperature and let the cake set.
6.
When almost set, transfer to a plate and toss like an omelet.
7.
Melt a little more butter, slide the cake from the plate into the pan and brown until it has completely set.
8th.
Place the bacon on top to warm up a bit and serve hot with cranberry jam.
Prime rib hash
It is the equivalent of the Swedish pyttipanna served in American restaurants and barbecue pits, very filling and with mashed potato pieces. It is important to choose a good beef with a lot of marbling – infiltrated fat – such as: B. high loin, sirloin steak, ribeye, picaña or fillet.
Potato socarrat improves everythingCharlie Drevstam / Col&Col
Time: 35 minutes
Difficulty: Find the right meat
Ingredients
For 4 people
- 800 g firm meat potatoes
- 500g beef
- 2 onions
- 3 stalks of celery
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce or ketchup
- 1⁄2 teaspoon Tabasco
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary
- 4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- 8 small or 4 large eggs
- butter
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
instructions
1.
Peel the potatoes and boil them in salted water until soft. Strain the water, let it cool slightly and cut into cubes.
2.
Cut the meat into cubes about two by two centimeters in size.
3.
Fry the peeled and sliced onions and the sliced celery over low heat with plenty of butter for about 10 minutes. Store with the potatoes.
4.
Fry the meat in butter in a very hot pan for about three minutes – or depending on your taste. Season.
5.
Add potatoes, onions, celery, hot sauce, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary and parsley. Let everything cook together for about five minutes. Then let it rest in the pan without stirring so that the potatoes remain crispy on the bottom.
6.
Crack two eggs at a time if they are small and place them in a small bowl. Heat a large frying pan with butter and fry them together as if they were one (if they are large, fry them normally).
7.
Season to taste. Serve with the eggs and additional hot sauce.
Creme brulee
Caramelizing the brûlée in the oven with the grill doesn’t produce good results because the cream also heats up, says Nilsson. “The result should be a solid, cold cream with a hard surface of caramelized sugar that you can only get with a blowtorch.”
Crispy yes, spicy noCharlie Drevstam / Col&Col
Time: 80 minutes
Difficulty: You will need a blowtorch and some patience
Ingredients
From 4 to 6 servings
- 300 ml whipped cream (at least 35% fat)
- 200 ml whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean
- 6 egg yolks
- 100g white sugar
- 100g brown sugar
instructions
1.
Preheat the oven to 125°C and place a bowl of water over medium-high.
2.
Pour cream and milk into a saucepan. Scrape the vanilla bean and add it along with the leftovers. Bring to a boil.
3.
Mix egg yolks and white sugar in a bowl. Without stopping beating, add the hot cream and milk mixture to the eggs.
4.
Fill four to six ramekins or ramekins with the mixture.
5.
Cook in the oven in a water bath for about an hour. The cream should set and be silky. When you shake the baking dish, it should be firm, but the center should wobble a little. When cooled and refrigerated, it becomes even firmer.
6.
Allow them to cool to room temperature, then store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
7.
Puree the brown sugar in a food processor until pulverized or crush it in a mortar.
8th.
Gradually sprinkle the brown sugar over each crème brûlée. Roast the sugar with a blowtorch. Let it set and repeat the process.
Advice
The crème brûlée tastes better when two layers of sugar are toasted, creating a hard, crunchy layer on top of the soft vanilla cream.
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