Someone shared a Russian video about making these fabulous looking egg nests on my facebook page. I was absolutely enchanted the moment I saw them and thought: I wanna try. The tricky part is that I have to be in the mood for breakfast for lunch or dinner and that might take a while (there’s no making an elaborate breakfast for, *gasp* breakfast). I also had to figure out what they were called to search for them in English… and then Pinterest saved me. Someone pinned a recipe for it and viola… and experiment was born! Even better: it was based of a French recipe (I have a not so secret love of French cuisine and anything to do with France).
Now, usually, I whip egg whites by hand; a carry over from my days working at a living history site, but I live in this wonderful 21st century and decided to make my life easier. I used my hand held mixer that has a whisk attachment. Boy, was that so much faster and easier. I’ve been converted…for now.
The recipe I found calls for grated Guyere cheese and this writer used parmesan, but I had none of these. I usually do have some parm. but not today. Digging in the frig, I found some shredded cheese I use for tacos, fajitas, etc. I wasn’t sure if it would work and if it would be too heavy so I went light on the cheese, just two pinches. I’m going to have to find some Guyere and give that one a try.
Nid d’oeuf! So yummy! Forgive the blurry quality. The tremors in my hands were bad today.
I followed the directions, though I used cooking spray rather than parchment or the mat. My yolks did break so I was worried, but never fear. You only put them in for three minutes so it doesn’t mess with the yolks too bad, depending on how badly you broke them. While I fretted for the combined total of 6 minutes (you split the cooking time), I didn’t need to; they came out beautifully.
They taste just as good too! Like eggs over easy, but the whites are airy and light. I’m horrible at flipping eggs (I always, always break them), so this alternative is brilliant. I don’t have to compromise that yummy yolk sauce and the whites are delicious and filling. This one is a keeper. Actually, this might be a good ‘show off’ recipe.
The Weekly 52 