Thursday, October 9, 2014

Egg cups, Funny.

This morning I got an email with a picture of a boiled egg.boiled egg As you can see, it’s sitting in a cup. I started thinking about this and wondering why very few places “on this side of the pond” seem to have egg cups which is an item found in every household in Britain. I wondered why they didn’t cross the ocean with the original settlers.egg cups
I am sure there are some households which have them of course, but they are not common. I always remember a cousin who had spent time in the States coming home and cracking her boiled egg into a glass and eating it that way. Mind you I was ticked off because she left it for me to clean up. Both pictures at least appear to have buttered toast soldiers for dipping into the egg yolks. An essential item for this meal. I haven’t had a boiled egg and soldiers for years so now I want one. Could have one for breakfast but I just bought some scones at a local Scottish store so I'm eating those for breakfast at the moment.

Had to share this, it’s so silly it’s funny.
dinosaur

This sounds pretty tasty to me.


One-pot pork with orange, olives and bay

BBC Good  - Jane Hornby


Servings

Serves 6

A Provençal-style pork casserole with vibrant citrus flavours, sweet One Pot Porkshallots, new potatoes and sundried tomatoes

Ingredients

  • 85g sundried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped, plus 2-3 tbsp oil from the jar
  • 1kg pork shoulders, cut into chunky cubes
  • 2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned
  • 400g shallots (see tip, below)
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 bay leaves
  • few thyme sprigs
  • 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 400ml red wine
  • strip of zest and juice from 1 orange
  • 350ml chicken stock
  • 400g can chopped plum tomatoes
  • 800g large new potatoes, peeled and halved or cut into fat slices, depending on size
  • 70g pack dry black olives
  • Tip
    Soaking your shallots
    Soaking your shallots in just-boiled water for 5 minutes before peeling makes the job a lot easier. Once soaked, trim away the root end and peel from the bottom.
  • Tip
    Making ahead
    This one-pot is great for cooking a day ahead. The excess fat will be easy to lift away once cold, and the flavours will be even more intense once warmed very gently to a simmer. You may need to add a splash of water to loosen it a little.
  • Method
  1. Heat 1 tbsp of the sundried tomato oil in a large, flameproof casserole dish. Toss the pork in the flour, tap off any excess, then brown it in 2 batches, transferring to a large bowl once golden and crusted. Use a splash more oil for the second batch if needed.
  2. Tip 1 tbsp oil, shallots, onion, bay leaves and thyme into the pan and fry for 5 mins until golden here and there. Stir in the garlic and sundried tomatoes, cook for 1 min more, then tip onto the pork.
  3. Splash the wine and orange juice into the dish, add the orange zest and boil hard for 5 mins. Add the meat and onions back in.
  4. When ready to cook, heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Stir the stock, canned tomatoes, potatoes and olives into the casserole, then bring to a simmer. Prod the potatoes as far under the surface of the liquid as you can. Cover, leaving a slight gap to one side, then cook in the oven for 2½ hrs, or until the meat is tender enough to cut with a spoon. Spoon away any excess fat and let the stew rest for a few mins before ladling into shallow bowls.
Have a great day
Jo_thumb[2]

14 comments:

  1. My hubs introduced me to 'egg dippy' he called it with toast points and soft boiled eggs. We also had coddled eggs which are cooked in ceramic small containers in boiling water. I preferred the coddled eggs, over the dippy. We do have egg cups, likely because his dad had English background.

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    1. I've never eaten coddled eggs. I think I have heard soft boiled eggs being called egg dippy. Do you use your egg cups though?

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    2. We used to, not so much anymore. I used them a lot when our kids were little ones.

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    3. It's unusual that you even have them

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  2. My mom had a pan for poaching eggs. It had a flat divider with holes that little round dishes fit into. The water went underneath. She would just slide the eggs out on our plates when they were done.

    Love the 'toast soldiers.' I've never heard them called that.

    That pork recipe looks good.

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    Replies
    1. I had one of those many years ago, the little dishes in mine were non stick too. Don't know what happened to it. Now I just poach eggs the old fashioned way by tipping them into boiling water which has vinegar added.

      Yes, gotta try it soon.

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  3. Soft boiled eggs with the runny yolks & toast were served in a small bowl when I was growing up. I have, of course, heard of and seen egg cups but not many people use them. I myself prefer a hard yolk so I cook my soft boiled eggs almost to hard boiled.

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    Replies
    1. I love them soft and runny to dip my soldiers in to. But that was the thing, why didn't egg cups make it into general use on this side of the Atlantic I wonder.

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  4. Sounds like you are due for a boiled egg!

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  5. We always use egg cups when we were kids but I've never had them in my house. We eat our eggs poached or cold and hard boiled. Egg cups are so sweet and bring back so many pleasant childhood memories.

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    Replies
    1. I have a set of egg cups which belonged to a dinner service. I sold the service, kept the egg cups. I like them for mixing dry mustard in too

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  6. Are you serious? Don't they have egg cups in the states?!!! I can't imagine eating eggs without it.

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    Replies
    1. Not many to be found in Canada either Vanessa. I'd forgotten you live in Belgium, had to check it out. Do you live near the coast. I spent a lot of time in Ostend and round that area in my youth.

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