I was first introduced to Michael Ruhlman through what I like to call Library Serendipity. I was browsing in hoopla and came across his first two books which I talked about in a previous blog post in May. I liked his stuff and had never heard of him, so imagine my surprise when I looked him up in our catalog and found he has written bunches and bunches of books!

O happy day!

I haven’t explored them all yet, but the first one I tried was called Egg and I am loving it. Part cookbook, part history book, here Ruhlman talks about anything and everything you want to know about eggs. Brief history, Ruhlman is a CIA (Culinary Institute of America)-educated journalist and sometime Iron Chef America judge. But his books break down cooking techniques into simple steps for the moderately-talented home cook. I say moderately-talented because if you have issues with toast and boiling water, this book may be a little advanced for you.

I’ve looked at a lot of cookbooks in my time and this is the first one in a while that I’ve wanted to jump in and make a lot of the recipes. Challah bread, homemade pasta, and deep-fried eggs are just some of the items I am going to make before I have to bring the book back and share it. The first recipe I actually pulled the trigger on was the Mollet Egg with Asparagus. My husband loves both eggs and asparagus, so I knew I’d get him on board if I tried this.

But what in the world is a mollet egg? I’ve never heard that term before.

According to Ruhlman, mollet is somewhere between soft-boiled and hard. The egg white is cooked solid, but the yoke is still kind schmoopy (that’s my technical term, thank you). There are easy directions to follow on how to make them. After cooking the eggs to mollet stage, you cook the asparagus, puree part of it and save the tips. Then you roll the egg in panko and fry it until golden brown.

This is what my finished dish looked like (and yes, I totally planned the plate to match. I’ve seen Chopped, I know how it works):

Not bad, huh?

To make it better I need a stronger blender. Mine left the asparagus puree a little chunkier than I expected, but it had good flavor – with red onions instead of shallots due to the price difference. The eggs were awesome! Next time I’ll cook them less at the mollet stage because they were a little more done than I thought they’d be after frying. My husband absolutely loved it, though.

So if you’re not scared of words like mollet or panko, check this book out and explore the Incredible Edible Egg. I can guarantee you that you’ll find something in here to like. (Unless you’re Guy Fieri because everyone knows how much he hates eggs…which is good, more for me.)

Happy cooking and I hope you Savor Summer!