Today’s #letslunch theme was eggs. Now, I did eggs last time when I was supposed to be doing green food (yes, I am always a step ahead, right?) so this time, I wanted to do something a bit different and a bit more challenging.
Hubs got me a molecular gastronomy kit last year for Valentine’s Day. Yes, for Valentine’s Day and being as weird as I am, I have to admit it’s the best V-day gift I have ever received, but I digress. I decided to make faux eggs – just because. I still need a lot of practice apparently. I have gotten pretty good at the faux caviar but that’s probably the easiest thing to do. Spherification of larger blobs of food is still a bit challenging for me. So join me on my journey as I tried to bring science to my kitchen & snap pics along the way. Not an easy task for someone who can’t walk & chew gum at the same time!
I start by creating a sodium alginate mixture with plain water using immersion blender. So far so good. Set this aside for 15 minutes. I like when I can set aside. Gives me a chance to screw up my courage for the next steps.
Next I simply heat milk with agar agar, to a boil & stir it into some plain Greek yoghurt. This will become the ‘egg whites’.
Then spread the mixture onto a plate & set aside to set for 15 minutes. See, there’s that ‘set aside’ part again. I love that.
Next I pureed some papaya with sugar and some calcium lactate. I didn’t have any mango on hand, which would have made a more yellow looking ‘yolk’, let’s just say that my chickens were raised on a lot of beta carotene!
Then you gently drop them into the sodium alginate bath and let them hang out for about 3 minutes. Then using a slotted spoon you ever so gently, lift them from the sodium alginate and place them into a fresh water bath to rinse.
Then place them atop your ‘egg whites’ & top with a little shaved chocolate. I would have liked to add some chocolate covered bacon strips but by this time my kitchen is a disaster & nearly every plate and spoon is dirty. So eggs is all you get!
Someone told me they loo lie tiny spaceships so I think I have to go back to the drawing board but at least I have a healthy lunch!
This is amazingly cool! Well done!
ReplyDeleteHow fun! We attempted to do the spheres for a pie competition. Our submission was a margarita pie, and we wanted little grand marnier caviar on top. Something about the way the alcohol reacts in the sodium alginate bath didn't work. Sadness.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm excited to see someone else playing around with and blogging about their adventures!
Keep at it. The eggs are a fun idea!
Love this! You get the Myrhvold award for most involved #LetsLunch project!
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to be critical when I said they look like space ships, they're adorable! Great to see you having fun!
ReplyDeletehahaha - that's OK, I took it as a joke. I still have a lot of practice to get good at this. Besides, aliens for lunch could be a cool #letslunch theme!
DeleteI'm with you, a molecular gastronomy kit is an infinitely better V-day gift than flowers or jewelry! Those "eggs" do look surprisingly realistic--good stuff!
ReplyDeleteAmazing and cool. While I will not be making these any time soon (no MG kit in my past or future), I am fascinated. What an April Fool's Day breakfast treat these would be.
ReplyDeleteSuper cool -- you could get a little creepy and put a spot of "blood" in each one, too! Maybe for Halloween... Next up: faux bacon on the side, right?
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