Eggs!

Fact:  6.5 BILLION eggs are produced in the US every single month.  6.5 Billion.  Wow.  Those chickens have got to be tired.

Eggs are one of God's perfect foods and you would be amazed at the numerous ways those babies can be cooked. Tonight we learned  few things that have me thinking about having friends over and trying out some new recipes.

But first....I've kindof been having the pips about school (for those of you who aren't Muellers...the 'pips' is my mom's way of describing what is commonly referred to as the 'blues.'  You know, when you are kindof down in the dumps but just don't know why....the pips).  So, I'd been having the pips about culinary school because I want to be the 'best' and know how to do everything before class, blah, blah, blah, and finally, after having a few talks with myself and some of my girlfriends who really know me and aren't afraid to tell me like it is, I decided to have an attitude adjustment.   You don't go to school to learn something because you already know it...you go to learn because you don't know it.  Duh!

Anyway, armed with my new attitude and a hope that the Rangers would win the game tonight to keep the World Series alive, I headed off to class ready to learn all about eggs.

For the few people who've been reading this blog, you already know that I perfected my omelet making skills during the first Brunch of the semester, so I wasn't worried at all about making another omelet.  After the omelet, which, thank God I nailed, it was off to over-easy and then over medium eggs.  Now, mind you, we get the non-stick pan to work with.  No flipper, no egg turner, no spatula.  Nothing but the pan.  Waffle House, here I come.  I can cook an egg on the stove top because I am a mom. Some things you just don't forget. That, and you have to commit to the 'flip.'   It's really not that tough if you have enough clarified butter in the pan to keep the egg loose.  It's actually pretty cool. 

Our table then moved on to prepare the recipes we recieved at the beginning of class. We gathered all of our ingredients (in the world of French cuisine this is referred to as "mise en place" which simply put, means to have everything in front of you prior to cooking in order to keep the process moving along).  It really is important.  So we "mised" out everything and then strated on our recipes: Grits and Cheddar souffle, Chocolate Souffle, Scotch Eggs (more on this in a moment), Shirred Eggs with Ham.

The Grits and Cheddar souffle rocked...I'm already thinking of when I'm going to make this again knowing that Mr. Man will LOVE it if I add a few peppers or onions or anything else to spice it up. Amazing and so easy it's laughable. The chocolate souffle needed a few more moments in the oven, but again, so easy.

If you know what a 'Scotch Egg' is, you have spent far too much time in  Great Britain.  It is described as: "A Popular snack or picnic food in Great Britain; a hard-cooked egg, wrapped in breakfast sausage (think Jimmy Dean), then dipped in egg and then bread crumbs, deep fried and then cooked.  They make an excellent buffet or brunch item because of their good keeping properties."

Who is kidding who here?  Although it looked intriguing, it was actually quite disgusting. I had to give it up for our table because we had a perfectly cooked hard-boiled egg, a nice, thin layer of sausage wrapped around the egg, and it was cooked perfectly.  However, I really hope it is the only item I have to spit out during my time in school because it was just to horrible to finish.

Sorry.  Truth in blogging here.

All in all...great night.  Too bad about the Texas Rangers loosing it in Game 5.  My hope in myself attending Culinary School is revived, all because of the egg.