Eggcellent

Spring finally chases away snow and the first plants make their apparition in the vegetable garden: green mounds announce the gracious arabesques of garlic and when summer comes, a bounty of heads. No other object symbolizes these miracles more than the simple egg favored at Easter, and its astonishing properties. Because the egg’ s shell is permeable, it absorbs the salt in the boiling water. For the same reason, to impart the perfume of truffle to an omelet, it is advised to store the raw egg in its shell with a truffle in a closed box. As acid attacks the shell, to facilitate its removal once the egg is boiled, use a bath of cold vinegar water. As to prevent breakage while cooking, you can try piercing the egg with a pin on the round bottom side prior to plunging it in the water: as the water boils, you will see bubbles of air exit through the hole. I have to say that the averages do not work for this so called scientific method recommended by a PHD. One out of two eggs broke while boiling whether pierced or not. However it did not affect the outcome, as the egg once shelled looked as good. Rather than a strong boil, favor a slower one: the texture of the cooked egg white will be just tender. Finally to center the yolk, roll gently the egg during the 10 to 12 minutes it takes to cook.
To go along with the eggs, simply add raw or barely cooked vegetables and the occasional shrimp and scallop. The earth deity, Demeter, rejoices in the presence of her daughter Proserpine on a six months release from her husband Pluto’s somber realms. Thanks to her good mood the seeds we nurture in our window boxes will be ready in eight weeks for transplanting outside. Even sooner, as the earth crumbles in our finger we shall plant directly in the ground peas, beets and radishes and collect asparagus and rhubarb. But for now we still have to make do with winter vegetables even if we dress them in bright colors.
Each recipe serves 4.

Leeks vinaigrette (Easy, Preparation time: 15 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
4 leeks
2 eggs
1teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of vinegar
4 tablespoons Dijon vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Material:
Board and paring knife
Wooden spoon
Steamer, 4-quart pan and its cover

Pour water and salt in the 4-quart pan and bring to a boil over the high setting of the gas range. Lower the gas. Place each egg delicately with a spoon in the softly boiling water. Cook them for 12 minutes, turning them occasionally with the same spoon to insure that the yolk will remain perfectly centered. Retrieve them from the boiling water and place them in cold water perfumed with the spoon of vinegar while you attend to the leeks.
Cut away the green part of the leek, about 2 inches or 6 centimeters and slice away the bottom root. With the knife, form a cross on the top, and immerge the whole leek in cold water. Any sand or earth trapped between the leaves will sink to the bottom. Prepare the vinaigrette.
Cut the leeks longitudinally and then slice them. Steam them for about 5 minutes or until soft. Place in the salad bowl. Add the vinaigrette.
Shell the eggs. Slice, and cut the eggs into smaller pieces. Place on top of the salad.

Foolproof Dijon vinaigrette (Easy, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
¾ cup (125 ml) olive oil
¼ cup (60 ml) red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon (14 ml) Balsamic vinegar
1tablespoon (14 g) Dijon mustard
1 shallot peeled and thinly sliced

Material:
Glass preserve jar and its cover

Pour all the ingredients in the jar and close the lid tightly. Shake well. All the ingredients will mix and turn into a thickened yellow emulsion. Use what you need and store the rest in the fridge until the next usage. Shake before pouring.

Mushroom Salad
(Easy, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
10 oz (280 g) white whole mushrooms
1tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 oz (28 g) Parmesan cheese
Chives washed and cut thinly.
3 tablespoons Dijon vinaigrette

Material:
Vegetable peeler
Paring knife and board
Salad bowl

Wash the mushrooms in cold water. Slice off the bottom. Turn the mushroom on its side and slice thinly. Place the slices in the salad bowl as you work and pour the lemon juice on top to prevent them from blackening. Pour the vinaigrette over the mushrooms and mix. Using the vegetable peeler, garnish with thin slices of Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the chives on top

Egg surprise (Easy, Preparation time: 15 minutes 1 hour before cooking time: 20 minutes, Reasonable)

Ingredients:
4 artichokes raw or canned artichoke hearts
½ oz (14 g) dried chanterelle mushrooms
4 raw shrimps
8 bay scallops
4 eggs
4 tablespoons crème fraîche

Material
1 8-quart pan
1 salad bowl
4 individual soufflé molds

Put the dry chanterelles in a salad bowl. Cover with warm water and soak for an hour.
Set a pot of water over the high setting of the gas range and bring to a boil. Add a tablespoon of salt. Drop the artichokes in the water. When the boil resumes, turn the artichokes over and cook for another twenty minutes, or until a leaves break off easily from the body. Bring to room temperature. Remove all the leaves and keep for eating on their own with vinaigrette. If you are using canned artichokes heart, drain the water and rinse the artichokes.
Preheat the oven at 360 F (180 C)
Slice the hearts and place in each soufflé mold. Peel the shrimps, remove the tiny black intestines by pulling on them, cut in three and place in each mold. Add two bay scallops each. Divide the mushrooms in 4. Crack carefully one egg in each dish without breaking the yolk and add a tablespoon of cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Bake for 20 minutes. The white should be firm but the yolk still runny. Serve with sweet potato fries, to dip in the yolk (recipe follows).

Sweet potato fries (Easy, Preparation time: 20 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes or yam
4 tablespoons duck or goose fat (see December 16th, 2008)
1 garlic clove, unpeeled
1tablespoon (30 g) butter
1teaspoon crystal salt
1 tablespoon freshly minced parsley

Material:
1 peeling knife
1 paring knife and board
1 4-quart saucepan

Peel the sweet potatoes with the peeler. Cut each potato in two lengthwise. Quarter each half to obtain thick fries. You should have about 24 fries when you are done dividing.
Place the fat into the saucepan, and heat it up over the high setting of the gas. When it smokes, throw in the potatoes and the unpeeled garlic clove. Lower the gas setting, and turn occasionally the fries over to insure an allover golden tone, for 15 minutes. Remove the fries from the grease on a paper towel. Save and refrigerate the remaining fat. Wipe off the grease from the saucepan and set back the potatoes in it, on the low flame of the gas stove. Add the butter in dots. When the fries have absorbed the butter, sprinkle the salt and then the parsley.
Dispose 8 fries around each soufflé dish.