Lisa Messinger's
Cookbook Corner

Country Egg, City Egg: More Than Five Dozen Recipes for New Egg Classics

by Gayle Pirie and John Clark (Artisan)

"Give us an 'E'; give us a 'G'; give us another 'G.' What does that spell? Egg. Go, egg. Yeah, egg." That could just as easily have been the chant from egg cheerleaders Gayle Pirie and John Clark as the raves they did write in Country Egg, City Egg.

"Eggs are the ultimate and purest fast food on the planet, and when we peruse the refrigerator and discover a dozen eggs, how rich we are! Nourishment is just a few minutes away; the meal possibilities endless," write the pair of what they refer to as their "affair" with eggs. This crush began before a single egg was cracked when the two wrote eclectic brunch menus for eight years at San Francisco's popular Zuni Cafe. Soon, the chefs were mesmerized by both the nutritional (it truly is nature's superstar since it's the most complete and balanced protein) and culinary strengths of eggs.

Unlike some cooks who just see the potential of eggs as comfort food (and do little more than scramble or soft-boil them), Pirie and Clark saw the gourmet possibilities as well. Hence, the title Country Egg, City Egg. The first half of the book is devoted to simple, cozy dishes and the second to "dressed-up," "uptown" fare.

If you're an egg lover, both provide some dazzling choices. For the country bumpkins: a caramelized apple omelet garnished with powdered sugar is about as comforting as comfort food gets; a close second is mashed potato-baked eggs in which eggs topped with grated Parmesan cheese bake in fluffy homemade mashed potatoes that are even better with the variation of added chopped bacon or ham; also charming are eggs in tomato nests in which eggs baked in hollowed tomatoes are topped with a fresh herb-seasoned bread crumb mixture.

City dwellers get some fine choices, too: If your wallet allows, there are recipes for slow-cooked eggs with black truffles and caviar and scrambled eggs in the shell; just as classy, but a little easier on the pocketbook is a smoked salmon, egg and asparagus sandwich; bagna cauda (a creamy garlic-anchovy sauce) scrambled eggs; chicken livers and red wine omelet; and eggs with gruyere, mustard and wine.

The preceding is a prime example of what Pirie and Clark mean by "city eggs," the recipes that don't just involve cracking eggs into a bowl and cooking them up in a pan. Although the recipe is not much more difficult than such country cousins, flavor-wise it comes up a winner. After you crack the eggs into a bowl and lightly whip them, they are added to a pan in which you've already cooked white wine and butter until the wine is reduced by half and added Dijon mustard and Gruyère cheese. The dish is served with butter-infused croutons you've made from a baguette.

If all their creative fare isn't enough, Pirie and Clark take things even further by cracking the mystery of different types of eggs in their informative introduction (which, of course, also goes over all the traditional egg cooking techniques). They describe how eggshell color is "not a distinction of quality, but of chicken variety." Later, however, gourmets that they are, they recommend Araucana eggs (from Araucana spotted chickens that produce eggs with splendid blue-green shells) for a "precious presentation" of their caviar and scrambled eggs in the shell.

There is lots more that's precious in this cute, 115-page, illustrated package, including "The After-Dinner Egg," a brief chapter of desserts like chocolate souffle, sabayon (the golden, fluffy treat made with champagne) and souffle fritters, crispy yet creamy (due to milk, butter and eggs) brandy-flavored gems. The real gems, of course, are Pirie and Clark: They're the ones who came up with all these innovative recipes.

RECIPES
—Bacon and Mashed Potato-Baked Eggs
—Eggs with Gruyère, Mustard and Wine

Visit the Cookbook Corner table of contents