Coddled eggs - mostly harmless

Prepare to enter an alternate universe.

This is a recipe I used to make in the early 90’s, but have no recollection of where I found it. In the interests of accuracy, I began an innocent search online where I found an entirely hidden (in plain sight, where all the best secrets are kept) world of people who are into all things egg-coddleable.

If you thought the Jane Austin fan-club were a tad other-worldly, believe me, they are considerably more C21 than those whose lives have room for the matching of egg coddler patterns and swapping of recipes arcane. For me, in an entirely non-non-judgemental mind-set, I was nearly tipped over the edge by the requirements for those selling on their unwanted egg coddlers, to be clean and – oh dear, I’m losing the will to live!
http://www.egg-coddlers.com/

An example of an egg coddler (not to be confused with egg caddies, egg cookers or egg warmers)
Oops! Having basked in the warmth of the belief that I am apart from such concerns, I scrolled further down the egg coddler site to find that I am in possession of an (almost) proscribed kitchen implement.
Apparently to call these objects egg coddlers is “pushing the envelope too much”. However, I feel quite unabashed at being judged by someone willing to use such a trite cliché. My perfectly adequate excuse is that my mother bought a set of these plastic implements and deciding that her life was too short to microwave eggs, foisted them off onto me. I suspect they still languish all but forgotten in a cupboard in my kitchen.

Actual Coddling
Coddling eggs could not be simpler. Grease a ramekin dish, unless you actually possess an actual egg coddler (in which case do you want to swap for a completely unused, almost unique modern, plastic, hygienic egg cooker that is dishwasher proof and microwaveable?); break an egg into the container of choice, surround with single cream, carefully place as much Gruyere cheese as will fit on top and season to taste. Place in a Bain Marie in the oven for less time than you think while making toast from your favourite posh bread.

I should say, that even though the tenor of this leans towards scathing, the egg coddlers site does have a heart-warming story about its raison d’être. And in a free world, why shouldn’t those so inclined divert their attentions from the present day and all our political struggles into something that, to borrow a phrase from an equally unlikely universe, is ‘mostly harmless’.

Nae-pressure cooking

I made the first lentil soup of the season today. It marks the passage of the seasons when I dig out the pressure cooker, look it over to see if wear and tear means a trip to the hardware shop for a new gasket or other little fiddly bits. But it seems to have survived the last few months in its cupboard.

Pressure cookers are a great long term investment. This is only my second in thirty years and I can't begin to calculate how much gas and electricity I've saved by using this form of cooking in preference to boiling soups conventionally.

Its not just soups I make this way, but steamed puddings, suet puddings (using vegetable suet of course) and baked custards. My favourite is Stovies a traditional dish which is made quite differently depending where you live. There is yet another Scottish east /west divide here as some folks make it with only potatoes and onion, maybe with a little gravy; some add corned beef so that it becomes some odd Pictish version of corn beef hash, while those who grew up in the centre of the central belt do it the correct way with potatoes, onion and sausages.

This presents a challenge for a vegetarian. Most veggie sausages don't have the texture for this, so I use a combination of Linda McCartney sausages and vegetarian burgers in a ratio of 2:1. So my veggie stovies in the pressure cooker is a process of frying the sausages and burgers then cutting into pieces, chopping potatoes into cubes and chopping some onion. I only use half an onion but that is easily adjusted to taste. Put everything into the trivet with some water and cook according to the pressure cooker instructions. If doing this on the hob, it takes ages and needs a lot of stirring so nothing sticks, but creates a softer texture to the dish.

As for lentil soup, everyone has their own recipe, but mine is made with vegetarian stock, red lentils and anything I feel like putting in that day. Of the few foodstuffs that would temp me away from the veggie straight and narrow, it would be my Granny's lentil soup even though she made it with some dead beast or other - probably ham bones. I still miss her soup even after three decades.