Re: [london.food] Egg Whites

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From: Richard van Oorschot
Subject: Re: [london.food] Egg Whites
Date: 08:21 on 25 Aug 2006
> What should I do with them this time?

After making fresh pasta last weekend I had the same guilty feeling,
so I made some meringues. Whisk the whites up in a clean bowl with a
pinch of sugar until soft peak stage, then gradually add way too much
sugar for comfort (check any standard recipe) until very firm. Then
put them on a tray in a very slow oven (I used 60-75 C) for hours on
end until they've dried out completely, or a bit shorter if you like
the gooey bit inside.

I served them with some stewed fresh prunes that were screaming for
use. Halve and stone the prunes, heat a bit of butter in a pan and put
the prunes cut-side down. After a minute or so add orange juice (fresh
if possible) and cover it. Let it stew for some 5 minutes, then grate
some (10g?) dark chocolate over it. Leave it until you need it. The
chocolate binds the orange-prune sauce and gives it a nice full taste.

That said, I wasn't too happy with the meringues; they took too long
(about 4 hours), and the end result wasn't that special. I've heard
that you can dry out meringues in a few minutes in a microwave, but
I'm no big fan of all that nuking business, so haven't tried it.

Next time I have eggwhites left I'm planning on making a dutch
specialty called 'kokos macronen'; big cookies that basically consist
of whisked eggwhites, sugar and loads of grated coconut, put on rounds
of edible paper.

Richard

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