Recipes: Fresh-Herb Pickled Eggs and Enchilada Strata

365 Ways To Cook Eggs

Eggs are filled with protein, cook quickly and are the perfect staple. Eggs bind, leaven, thicken, glaze and clarify. They go with almost everything, are hearty enough for any meal of the day, and are available all year round.

With 365 Ways to Cook Eggs (HarperCollinsPublishers/June 5,1996/$18.95) by Elaine Corn, learn hundreds of new ways to use this versatile favorite. Whether you like them deviled, poached, scrambled, fried, flipped into an omelet, sandwiched between bread, layered in a strata, whipped into a souffle, or baked into a cake, you'll discover a new ways of making recipes you've always known. Egg-ceptional ideas include Fried Egg Pesto Sandwich with Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Crab Quiche in a Spinach Shell, Egg and Brie Baked in Tomato Cups, Shrimp and Avocado Stuffed Eggs, and Apple Rum Custard Cake.

365 Ways to Cook Eggs includes an informational chapter on using egg whites only, as well as tips on storing eggs, separating eggs, and facts on eggs' nutritional value and safety risks.

None of the recipes call for the use of egg substitutes or egg look-alikes. The emphasis is on real eggs laid by hens. Eggs are simple to cook, nutritious, and delicious. And if you don't know that already, here are 365 Ways to show you.

About The Author

Elaine Corn is former Food Editor of the Sacramento Bee and author of the award-winning Now You're Cooking: Everything a Beginner Needs to Know to Start Cooking Today and Gooey Desserts. She lives in Carmichael, CA.

Fresh-Herb Pickled Eggs

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: None
Chill: 1 week
Makes: 12

12 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
2 sprigs of fresh marjoram or 1/2 teaspoon dried
2 sprigs of parsley
1 garlic clove
1 small dried red chile or 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon honey
3 cups white wine vinegar or rice vinegar

Preparation

Place half of eggs, shallots, thyme, marjoram, parsley, garlic, and chile in each of 2 wide-mouth 1-quart canning jars or in a 2-quart crock.

Stir honey into vinegar and pour over eggs. Cover tightly with lids and refrigerate at least 1 week before serving. Refrigerate up to 2 months

Enchilada Strata
with Red Chile, Cheese, and Onion

Prep: 10 minutes
Chill: overnight
Cook: 45 minutes
Serves: 6

1 (14-ounce) can red enchilada sauce
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
8 corn tortillas
3/4 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 medium onion, finely minced
6 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preparation

Butter a 9-inch square baking dish. In a mixing bowl, combine enchilada sauce with garlic, cumin, and oregano. Mix well. Ladle about 1/2 cup sauce onto bottom of baking dish. Arrange 4 tortillas, overlapping, in sauce.

Spoon half of remaining sauce over tortillas. Top with half of cheese and all of onion. Repeat with a layer of tortillas, than remaining sauce and cheese.

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Slowly pour over layers, making sure top tortillas and cheese are submerged. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake strata, uncovered, 45 minutes, until puffed and richly browned.

Recipes from:
365 Ways To Cook Eggs
by Elaine Corn
$18.95/hardback
HarperCollinsPublishers
June 5, 1996
ISBN: 0-06-017138-3
Reprinted with permission

This page originally published as a FoodDay article in 1997.