Braised Eggs Recipes

CREAMY POLENTA WITH BRAISED GREENS AND POACHED EGGS

Steps:

• Make the chile oil: Combine the chopped chiles, olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan over low heat and cook 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate up to 1 week. (You will have about 1 1/4 cups chile oil.)
• Cook the polenta: Bring 3 cups cold water, the milk, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Gradually whisk in the polenta; whisk constantly until the mixture is smooth and begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring often, until tender and thickened but still creamy, about 30 minutes. Add more hot water as needed if the mixture seems too dry. Stir in the butter and cheese.
• Meanwhile, make the braised greens: Heat the olive oil in a large high-sided saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the greens, season with salt and pepper and toss. Reduce the heat to medium, stir in 1 cup water, cover and cook until wilted and soft, about 20 minutes. Remove the lid during the last 5 minutes to cook off any additional liquid. Stir in the red wine vinegar just before serving.
• Poach the eggs: Heat 3 cups water with the white vinegar until simmering in a large high-sided frying pan. Break each egg into a cup, then gently add to the water. Poach until the yolks are nearly set, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the eggs from the pan with a slotted spoon to drain the liquid and place on a plate. Season with salt and pepper.
• To serve, spoon some of the polenta into bowls, top with some of the greens and a poached egg per bowl. Drizzle with the chile oil and garnish with the chopped parsley.

20-MINUTE BRAISED EGG BREAKFAST

Steps:

• Heat oil in a skillet or frying pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add onions and sauté for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and a pinch of salt and sauté for 30 seconds. Add corn and kale. When the kale has started to wilt, add tomatoes, and cook for a minute or two. Stir in the sumac and ras el hanout. You can also substitute these spices for whatever spices you have on hand.
• Move the vegetables in the pan to create 4 wells for the eggs. Crack an egg into each well. Reduce heat to low and cover the skillet with a lid. Cook the eggs until the whites are set, about 4 to 5 minutes. Check the eggs constantly to make sure that you don't overcook them. If you want sunny side up eggs, you can separate the egg whites from the yolk when you crack the egg. Drop the egg whites in one of the wells on the pan. Next, add the yolk on top immediately afterwards.
• Turn off the heat. Add more salt and pepper if you like. Serve with a side of potatoes or bread.

BRAISED EGGS

Steps:

• 1 Spray a non-stick frying pan (size to accomodate the number of eggs) with oil spray. 2 Place the pan over medium heat. 3 When pan and oil are heated, break eggs and place in pan with some separation between eggs. 4 When the egg whites begin to turn opaque (about 1 minute depending on how hot your "medium heat" is, pour water into the pan 5 Cover the pan tightly 6 Cook for 30 seconds before looking at the eggs 7 Cover the eggs after checking and cook until the eggs are the desired degree of doneness.

SHANGHAI RED-BRAISED PORK WITH EGGS

Steps:

• Hard-boil the eggs in a pan of boiling water, then cool and shell them. In each egg, make 6 - 8 shallow slashes lengthways to allow the flavors of the stew to enter. Smack the ginger and spring onion gently with the flat side of a Chinese cleaver or a rolling pin to loosen their fibers.
• Put the pork in a pan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil over a high flame and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse it under the cold tap. When cool enough to handle, cut the meat through the skin into 1 - 1 1/2-in (2-3cm) cubes (if your piece of belly is thick, you may want to cut each piece in half so they end up more cube-like).
• Heat the oil in a seasoned wok over a high flame. Add the ginger, spring onion, star anise and cassia and stir-fry briefly until they smell wonderful. Add the pork and fry for another 1 - 2 minutes until the meat is faintly golden and some of the oil is running out of the fat. Splash the Shaoxing wine around the edges of the pan. Add the hard-boiled eggs and stock or hot water, along with the light soy sauce, 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce and the sugar. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Pour into a pot or a bowl, allow to cool, then chill overnight. In the morning, remove the layer of pale fat that has settled on the surface. Tip the meat and jellied liquid back into a wok, reheat gently, then boil over a high flame to reduce the sauce, stirring constantly. Remove and discard the ginger, spring onion and whole spices. After 10 - 15 minutes, when the liquid has reduced by about half, stir in the remaining dark soy sauce.
• Shortly before you wish to serve, bring to the boil over a high flame and reduce the sauce to about an inch of dark, sleek gravy. Turn out into a serving dish. Then go and welcome your son back from his imperial civil service examinations!
• If you have any leftovers - unlikely, in my experience - you can reheat them with a little water and some dried bamboo shoot, winter melon, tofu knots, deep-fried tofu puffs or radishes. In fact, you might wish, like some of my Chinese friends, to red-braise odd scraps of fatty pork just to cook vegetables, because it makes them so delicious.
• Shanghai red-braised pork
• Omit the eggs and increase the amount of pork to 1kg. Use only 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp plus 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 2 1/2 tbsp sugar and 2 cups (500ml) hot water.

BRAISED EGGS

Steps:

• Over medium heat, crisp Serrano Ham in a saute pan and set aside. Crack three eggs into a small bowl. Do not stir. Heat oil in a skillet. Once the pan becomes hot, add the eggs all at once and cook over medium-low heat. After about 1 minute, add the water to the pan. After a few more minutes, top eggs with the Serrano, then sprinkle with cheese, chives, salt and pepper, and a dash of hot sauce. Remove from heat when the whites are cooked. Serve with dipping bread.

BRAISED EGGS WITH ZUCCHINI, FETA AND LEMON

Steps:

• Take one lemon and use a vegetable peeler to remove 4 strips of zest. Squeeze the lemon to get 1 tablespoon juice, then set aside.
• Add the oil, garlic, chopped red chile pepper, lemon zest strips and 3/4 teaspoon salt to a large, preferably nonstick sauté pan (for which you have a lid) set over medium heat. Gently fry for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until the oil begins to bubble. (Turn the heat down to medium-low if the oil bubbles too quickly.) Decrease the heat to low, add the zucchini slices (not the blossoms) and continue to cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until the zucchini slices are very tender and beginning to brown. Stir in the chard and cook for another few minutes, until wilted.
• Drain the zucchini and chard over a saucepan to collect the oil, then return the vegetables to the sauté pan. Stir in the herbs, reserved lemon juice and feta. Create 6 hollows with the back of a spoon and carefully break an egg into each hollow (take care not to break the yolks). Lay the zucchini blossoms around the eggs and drizzle them with a teaspoon of the reserved frying oil. Cover the pan with the lid and cook for 4 to 5 minutes over medium-high heat, until the whites are almost set and the yolks are still runny (the eggs will continue cooking once uncovered and taken off the heat).
• While the eggs cook, add the butter to the reserved oil and gently heat until beginning to brown and bubble, then drizzle over the eggs when they're done. Sprinkle with the Aleppo chile and a good pinch of salt and serve hot with juice from the remaining lemon squeezed on top.