Eggs, Vegetables

Okay, I watched 3 episodes of the French Chef this morning. 2 on eggs and 1 on cooking vegetables the french way. I'm in heaven! Butter rules!

But the good thing about it is that if you use just a teaspoon of butter per serving, it only adds about 35 calories to your serving.

Let's talk eggs first. To make a french style omelet, you only cook the eggs 20 seconds. I've been cooking my eggs way too long! You don't add cream or milk either, only about a teaspoon of water per 2 eggs.

Then I watched her make baked eggs, which I have never seen anyone do before! Easy and it looked so yummy that I made them for Kristie and I this morning for breakfast. I like these eggs so much better than poached eggs because there's no water to contend with and the flavor is so much better. I'll be making this dish over and over now that I know its so easy. (To make baked eggs for a crown, you can use a muffin pan.)

Now let's talk vegetables. She cooked green beans, carrots, spinach and stuffed mushrooms. I had already make the stuffed mushrooms from her cookbook but it was nice to see her do it. The key to the green beans and the spinach is to cook them for 5 minutes in rapidly boiling water - LOTS of boiling water - we're talking about 2 gallons! Then drain them and "refresh" them in cold water. That can be done ahead of time, then simply heat them in a saucepan with a little butter and lemon juice, salt and pepper. for the spinach you can add butter and either stock or cream. Use the spinach as a later to put under fish or eat as is.

Carrots can simply be cut up and put in a small saucepan. The key is to fill the pan only about 1/3 the way up, add a tablespoon of water and some diced shallots. Cover and let cook for about 20 minutes. They're done when all the water evaporates and the carrots are tender. I'll be trying that soon!

This is the most fun I've had learning about food in a long time!

P.S. I'm still counting calories and have lost another 1.5 pounds...even cooking many dishes the Julia Child way! Yay.