Tricks & Cheats

How a person learned to separate eggs usually says a lot about how they learned to cook- possibly someone took great care in showing them around the kitchen, offering valuable basic along the way, they might be self taught and were forced into a maddening period of trial and error, perhaps they watched patiently while a certain family member did all the cooking in their formative years. Whatever the way, learning to separate eggs is a little cooking rite of passage, marking a key moment when a person moves from occasional tourist to frequent kitchen flyer; if a person separates eggs with ease they either cook or bake quite often or enjoy it enough to learn some good, basic technique. If you find yourself mucking it up more often than you’d like, here are some tips you can try:

*Eggs separate much easier at room temperature. You can save yourself a lot of fussing by simply taking them out of the fridge about 15-20 minutes before you begin.

*Crack your egg gently on a flat surface like a plate or hard counter, NOT on the edge of something. You will get a cleaner shell crack this way and then can simply pry the shell apart into two even shell halves. You are also less likely to break the yolk during cracking.

*Always separate each egg white into its own small bowl, then transfer into larger bowl containing the other egg whites. This way, if you break one yolk, you haven’t ruined a whole batch of whites. Place yolks in a separate bowl and if not using immediately, save for another use (or visa versa if using yolks but not whites).

*If you accidentally end up with a bit of shell in the bowl it is easily scooped out using another, larger piece of shell. Make sure you use a piece of eggshell that has a clean edge so you don’t end up adding bits of shell instead!

There are two techniques I find easiest.

Option one: Shell-to-Shell.

Crack the eggshell and then, over a bowl, open into two halves. When pulling shell apart, angle the shell so the entire egg is in one half. The egg whites will overflow into the bowl while the yolk remains in the shell. To separate the remaining whites, gently move the yolk back and forth from one shell half to the other, allowing the whites to fall into the bowl while the heavier yolk remains intact in the shell. Be careful not to break the yolk on the shell edge while transferring back and forth.

Option two: Hand-held.

Over a bowl, crack the shell and break open so that the egg falls gently into your hand. Your hand should be cupped slightly to hold the egg, with your fingers open just enough to let the whites slip through without losing hold of the yolk. With your free hand, reach under your fingers and delicately pull any dangling whites into the bowl. Place the yolk in a separate container.

If you are using only one part of the egg here are some ideas for the leftover yolks/whites beyond frying up breakfast (although that’s a great, healthy option for the egg whites). Both yolks and whites will keep for up to two days refrigerated in a sealed container.

Yolks

Custard/Pudding
Ice Cream
Lemon Curd
Pasta Sauce
Creme Brûlée
Mayonnaise

Whites

As a glaze for breads, pies, tart edges, etc.
Meringue
Mousse
Frosting
Coconut Macaroons
French Macarons
Frittatas
Fizz cocktails

Now get cracking! Yup, I couldn’t help it.♥

A common view for me – the empty chair across the table.

Perhaps it’s because I was raised an only child or maybe it’s the gypsy heart in me but whatever the reason, I have always loved going out for a meal on my own.

Eating alone at a restaurant takes courage. Even as a seasoned soloist I still find myself having the occasional bout of insecurity as the hostess leads me to my table for one. Will people think I got stood up? Do they think I don’t have any friends? Oh GOD…will people think I’m hoping to be hit on?!

The only place where I am truly immune from these fears is New York City where I am mercifully not an anomaly. In my, now native, Los Angeles however, you’d think no one had ever seen a woman eat alone before. Dine solo at a cool spot on a busy night and the reactions multiply exponentially. On the bright side, I’ve lost count of the amount of free drinks I’ve been sent and have even gone to pay the bill a few times to find a stranger has “taken care of it.” Presumably they do this out of pity but hell, I just scored a free meal!

On the off chance that you find yourself needing to grab a bite sans back-up, here are a few helpful hints I’ve picked up along the way:

*Sit at the bar. Being alone at the bar is way less conspicuous and a good place to start if you don’t normally eat alone and aren’t particularly comfortable.

*Bring a book. A book on the table says, “I didn’t get stood up, I knew I was going to be alone.” I used to actually read a book even when I didn’t want to, just to take the sting off the “that poor girl’s eating by herself” looks. That eventually became just placing it visibly on the table, and now I don’t bring one at all (unless of course I genuinely want to read).

*When a place is busy don’t be picky. In my experience being friendly and easy to seat makes a host/hostess more inclined to find you a good spot. Sometimes I end up cramped at the end of the bar and sometimes I find myself being led past other wait-listers to a prime bar stool or table.

*Look nice. This may seem superficial and that’s because it is. I simply feel more comfortable eating alone if I’m lookin’ sharp. I mean, someone who dresses that cool could only be eating alone by choice, right?

*Have a fully charged phone battery. Like me, you might hate the idea of texting or doing sudoku while you eat but trust me, if insecurity hits there is no better pacifier than looking busy on your phone. Just don’t talk on the phone the whole time- people will hate you and I can’t disagree with them.

*Talk to your waiter/waitress. Not as a crutch or in a needy “I’m alone way” but just because how often do you really get to? Now, they might not want to engage with you and that’s fine but in my experience (both as a waitress and as a customer), staff is generally used to being treated as such, and any real human connection is appreciated. I have incredibly fond memories of getting to know the wait staff at my neighborhood haunt or late nights spent drinking in foreign cities with awesome servers who go unappreciated by hurried tourists.

Over the years I’ve come to realize that there are people who are inherently at ease dining alone and those who aren’t. For those of you that are, you don’t need my encouragement but to those of you that aren’t I’ll offer this: Try it! As daunting as it may seem at first, the payoff is epic. Taking yourself out for a great meal can be a true delight. Also, you’ll never have a bad date ; ) ♥

Pass the Butter

Cooking, foodie adventures, restaurants, musings. Everything food.

SEPARATION ANXIETY

TABLE FOR ONE