How To Dress An Egg: Surprising and Simple Ways to Cook Dinner

By Ned Baldwin and Peter Kaminsky

“This collection of varied and delicious suggestions for dressing up basic key recipes is recommended for home cooks looking to add some flair to . . . meals.” —Library Journal

Learn to cook one thing exceptionally well and you open the door to a multitude of possibilities, with no need for special equipment or fussy techniques.

Ned Baldwin, a home cook who taught himself to be an excellent chef, sees no reason why anyone else can’t do the same. By showcasing one ingredient per method, Baldwin introduces all the skills a cook will ever need to prepare endless pleasurable meals. Get a big, beefy hit from a hanger steak by cooking it in the oven; master salad-making with leafy greens; grill fillets of sea bass for crispy skin and moist flesh; roast an explosively juicy chicken; bake leeks to soft perfection; and more.

Each dish is elaborated on in different ways to expand the technique into unlikely, inventive recipes that are jumping-off points for endless creativity.

“One has to cook with precision and confidence to pull off ‘simple’ cooking. Ned’s common sense approach is evident on every page.” —Tom Colicchio James Beard award–winning chef and Emmy-award winning producer of Top Chef

“This book will make you hungry and happy.” —Ruth Reichl, James Beard award–winning food writer and editor and chief of Gourmet magazine

 

“Keep this book close—you’ll be consulting it often.” —Dorie Greenspan, James Beard award–winning author of Everyday Dorie

“A secret treasure, full of tweaks and twists for rendering familiar-seeming dishes into delicious food.” —Bill Buford, national bestselling author of Heat

 

“Instills confidence, and even injects a bit of fun into the food preparation.” —Booklist

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781328521842

Book preview

How to Dress an EggHow to Dress an Egg: Surprising and Simple Ways to Cook Dinner by Ned Baldwin and Peter Kaminsky, Photographs by Hirsheimer and Hamilton, Illustrations and Hand Lettering by Gerardo Blumenkrantz, A Rux Martin Book, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston New York 2020

Copyright © 2020 by

Loren Baldwin

and

Guardian Mountain Enterprises, Inc.

Photographs © 2020 by

Christopher Hirsheimer

Illustrations and hand lettering © 2020 by

Gerardo Blumenkrantz

Paper texture © mammuth / iStockphoto

All rights reserved.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to [e-mail] or to Permissions,Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

hmhbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Baldwin, Ned, author. | Kaminsky, Peter, author. | Hirsheimer, Christopher, photographer. | Hamilton, Melissa, photographer.

Title: How to dress an egg : surprising and simple ways to cook dinner / Ned Baldwin, Peter Kaminsky ; photographs by Hirsheimer & Hamilton ; illustrations by Gerardo Blumenkrantz.

Description: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019040521 (print) | LCCN 2019040522 (ebook) | ISBN 9781328521835 (hardback) | ISBN 9781328521842 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Dinners and dining. | Cooking (Natural foods) | Cooking (Eggs) | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX737 .B383 2020 (print) | LCC TX737 (ebook) | DDC 641.6/75—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019040521

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019040522

Book design by

Raphael Geroni

v3.0421

For Jordana, Hazel, and Irving

Thanks from the Chef

Jay Moskowitz, who taught me that if I don’t like something, I probably haven’t had it cooked properly.

Scott Carsberg, who showed me that I can make art that people put in their bodies.

Todd Ginsberg, who opened the door to the professional kitchen.

Gabrielle Hamilton, for turning an insecure artist into a confident egg cook.

Chris Pavone, for his invaluable advice on the art and practice of cookbook making.

The wonderful people of Orient, New York, who encouraged me to do what I thought I couldn’t.

Contents

Basically Speaking

First Things First

Poultry and Meat

---

Roast Chicken

Brown-Butter Hanger Steak

Pork Shoulder Pot Roast

Roasted Rack of Lamb

Braised Beef Tongue

Seafood

---

Poached Cod

Crispy-Skin Fish Fillets

Gently Cooked Shrimp

Grilled Whole Sea Bass 
(or Other Fish)

Vegetables

---

Broccoli

Pot-Roasted Beets

Fire-Roasted Eggplant

Covered-Pot Carrots

Soft Leeks

Grilled Asparagus

Roasted Mushrooms

Leafy Salads

Soup and Eggs

---

Chicken Soup

Dressed Eggs

And for Dessert…

---

Chocolate and Cream (Ganache)

Prepping

Your cooking will be much less stressful (and much more rewarding) if you get all the chopping and slicing of ingredients done before you start working your way through a recipe. Once things are cooking, you don’t want to have to stop to prep other ingredients. Much better to do it before you cook. And it’s easier to follow a recipe without constant interruption. Having a lineup of little bowls at the ready—each with one ingredient or a mixture—goes a long way toward ensuring success. By making certain things ahead—like toasted nuts, flavored oils, spice mixes, and croutons—I always have ingredients on hand to add texture, aromas, and flavor that can transform a basic recipe into something more exciting yet not very complicated.

Please Taste

I’m a firm believer that the human palate, which evolved over millions of years to seek out good tastes, is a much better tool for assessing flavor than a list of gram-accurate quantities of ingredients on a page. The best cooks always taste their food from start to finish. They try the raw ingredients, the semi-cooked ingredients, the herbs, the butter, the vinegar, the oil. They taste partly out of curiosity and partly because it’s fun. Taste everything you cook while you’re cooking it, from the beginning right up to the end. How else will you know what you’re doing?

No Dice

In my early years in professional kitchens, I diced countless tons of vegetables into teeny, tiny cubes. However, in my own restaurant, we don’t do that, and I don’t ask you to in this book either. A good kitchen knife and the knife skills you already have will carry you through all of my recipes.

How I Measure

Can you have too much of a good thing? When it comes to fresh herbs, I think not. I love fresh herbs, and I use an abundance of them in my recipes. For me, herbs are seldom relegated to supporting-actor status. In fact, they are often the costars of the show. When I measure, I use the leaves and the small stems that come off the main branch of a sprig; these slender offshoots are tender and flavorful. I pack the herbs into a measuring cup, brimful and overflowing, then chop or mince them if my recipe calls for that. It’s not a precise way of measuring, and I’m fine with that. Rough measurements are fine. Err on the side of more rather than less.

How Much Salt?

People like different degrees of saltiness. Each person’s appetite for salt is subjective. In this book, I aim a bit low for my taste because of the old adage: You can always add salt, but you can’t take it away. So, take my advice with a grain of salt and taste your food as you go.

Starting Cold

I always advocate putting the oil or butter in a cold pan and allow it to heat up before adding other ingredients. If you put a pan with nothing in it over a hot burner, there are no visual cues or smells that tell you how hot the pan is. However, if you put oil or butter in a cold pan, it will tell you all sorts of things as it gets hot; its viscosity (thickness) changes, it moves differently in the pan, it shimmers, it smokes, it produces aromas. This is all valuable sensory information. So don’t wait until a pan is hot to add the oil or butter to it. Put it in at the start when the pan is still cold.

Taking the Temperature

Thermometers

Taking the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer is much more reliable than guesswork when you are roasting a chicken or cooking a steak or anything that requires a reasonably accurate temperature for judging doneness.

A laser thermometer is invaluable for checking the temperature of the oven before baking, roasting, frying, slow-cooking, or braising. These thermometers are not very costly—about twenty bucks. I also use a laser thermometer to check the temperature of oil or water heating in a pot on the stove. That way, I can easily tell when a pot of water reaches, say, the ideal poaching temperature of 160˚F or when oil for frying hits the crust-creating sweet spot of 350˚F.

Toasted Seeds and Nuts

Toasted seeds and nuts are among my fundamental pantry items. I add them to everything from a salad to a cake to a roasted fish. I prefer to fry most seeds and nuts in oil rather than roasting them dry in the oven. Frying in oil produces uniform crispness. As the nuts or seeds fry, they infuse the oil with their flavors, so when you’re done, you have both toasted nuts and nut-flavored oil. I store the oil in the refrigerator, which helps preserve its flavor.

1 cup unsalted nuts or seeds

2 cups canola or grapeseed oil

Kosher salt

Combine the nuts or seeds and oil in a small pot and set over medium-high heat. Set a strainer over a heatproof bowl and keep nearby. Stir the nuts or seeds as the oil gets hot so that everything cooks through at the same rate. Continue stirring, adjusting the heat as necessary so the nuts or seeds fizz and gently bubble in the oil. The tiny bubbles are water escaping from the nuts or seeds, making them crunchier. When they are ready (3 to 7 minutes, depending on size; see page 18 for visual cues), they will smell toasty. Carefully pour the nuts or seeds and oil into the strainer, then spread the drained nuts or seeds on a plate lined with a paper towel. Season lightly with salt to taste. Let the oil cool, then refrigerate. Store the nuts or seeds separately.

Toasting Seeds and Nuts in the Oven

If you’re more comfortable toasting seeds and nuts in the oven rather than frying them in oil, that’s fine. The cooking time will vary depending the size of the seed or nut, but regardless of their type, toast them in a 325°F oven.

Spread the seeds or nuts on a baking sheet in a single layer so they toast evenly and slide them into the oven. Start checking after 10 minutes, then continue to check at 3-minute intervals, until the seeds or nuts darken in color and emit a wonderful toasty smell.

Toasted Mixed Seeds

To finish salads and cooked vegetables, I always have a supply of mixed toasted seeds for crunch, flavor, and an interesting accent.

⅓ cup pumpkin seeds, toasted (page 17)

2 to 3 tablespoons sunflower seeds, toasted (page 17)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted (page 17)

1 teaspoon nigella seeds (sometimes called black onion or black cumin seeds; optional, but I love them)

Combine the seeds and keep around.

Some Visual Cues for Toasted Nuts and Seeds

Almonds are sold roasted; raw with the skin on; blanched, skin off; slivered; or sliced. I mostly use skin-on raw almonds, but you can avoid a lot of chopping if you buy slivered or sliced almonds. It’s up to you. In any case, when almonds are toasted, the nut meat turns from ivory to light khaki. Even when they are sold roasted, almonds usually benefit from a little more time in hot oil or in the oven.

Hazelnuts are sold both skin on and skin off. I always buy blanched, skin-off nuts. I usually crush them with the flat of a knife before frying. A toasted hazelnut takes on a light honey color, with a few golden spots. If you can only find hazelnuts with the skin on, the great baker Alice Medrich once showed Julia Child how to skin them quickly: Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a small pot, add 3 tablespoons baking soda and 2 cups nuts, and boil for 3 to 5 minutes, until the water turns black. Drain the nuts in a strainer and cool under cold running water. The nuts should slip easily out of their skins when you pinch them. Dry them well on paper towels.

Pistachios will show patches of gold, pale green, and cedar brown. You may find they toast faster than other nuts.

Green Pumpkin Seeds (pepitas) go from deep green to pale green with mahogany blushes.

Sesame seeds are available already roasted, and I’m fine with that—go ahead and take the shortcut. If you have untoasted seeds, however, they can go straight onto a baking sheet and into a 375°F oven, no oil necessary. Check at 4-minute intervals, giving the pan a shake each time. If you see a bit of color, set the timer for 2 more minutes. It’s important to use a timer: Speaking from experience, it’s easy to forget that the seeds are in there until you smell them burning, and by then it’s too late.

Sunflower seeds will turn from a dull gray to a light mahogany.