Seriously Good Eggs

The coolest thing about cooking with eggs is their complete culinary flexibility.

They lend themselves to the most basic and filling peasant dish. At the same time, they can be the backbone of some fa-lala-tra-lala fancy egg concoction like Egg Benedict or a Clafouti.

Further, the sheer variety of egg dishes found across the globe is mindboggling.

Kiddy fave Eggie Soldiers and meaty Scotch Eggs out of England.

Cilbir from Turkey, with its paprika and yoghurt accents.

India's Egg Curry and Bhurji that's hot, hot, hot.

Shakshuka hailing from north Africa that dresses up fried eggs with a tomato sauce and peppers.

Bonito and kelp-seasoned eggy custard Dashimaki Tamago all the way from Japan.

Soy-flavoured Steamed Eggs made in China.

Uova In Purgatorio that's whipped up in Italy with tomato sauce.

Oeufs En Cocotte of France, which are soft-baked eggs.

Senfei, with its mustardy sauce, belongs to Germany

Russian Devilled Eggs that are very Russian because they are spruced up with caviar.

Egg Benedict, a kind of poached egg, served with sauce and spinach, that was conjured in America in New York City.

The list is endless.

Eggs are a popular choice for a meal because they are packed with nutrition, economical and so easy to make, fitting into any kind of cuisine. Anyone can be a gourmet egg cook.

Every time you step into the kitchen it's quite possible to create a version of eggs that's far tastier than the last time you made eggs.

I decided to make eggs over rosti (hash browns) with a sauce drizzled over it. I had read about this concoction off a menu in an Auckland restaurant called Pink Broccoli. But instead of using Hollandaise Sauce, I opted for a white sauce (bechamel) and cheese.

Fried Eggs Atop Rosti With Bechamel Sauce

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• ¾ cup grated cheese
• 1 cup white sauce, warmed (please see the note below)
• Dash or two Tabasco, for garnish
• Chopped greens of spring onion, for garnish

For the rosti:

• 4 medium potatoes, peeled, grated
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup maida or all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

For the rosti:

• Squeeze out excess water from the grated potatoes.
  Add in the salt, pepper, egg and mix.
  Add enough flour to firm and coat the grated potatoes so they hang together.
• In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and spread enough grated potato batter to form a not-so-perfectly-round rosti about 6-7 inches in diameter.
  Fry on each side till reddish and repeat for the rest of the batter so you roughly get 4 rostis.
  Keep aside.

For the eggs:

• In the same frying pan fry four eggs one by one and remove.
• Keep aside.

Assembly:

• On a plate, place a rosti and top with a fried egg and sprinkle a generous handful of grated cheese.
  Then drizzle the warmed white sauce and finish with a few drops Tabasco and the chopped green onions.
• Serve with a side of buttered toast

Zelda's Note: You can also opt to garnish with a few baby spinach leaves or rocket leaves.

Please find the recipe for white sauce or Bechamel Sauce. 

• REDIFF FOOD