Eggs make super, frugal meals

(Eggs are a perfect food when included in a balanced diet/Gannett News Service photos)

There was a time when eggs were much maligned — they’re bad for your health, loaded with cholesterol, the food police claimed. Let’s face it, they’ve gotten a bad rap.

But that seems to have changed.

After all the studies and research, when it comes to good food and health, the food your grandmother ate is probably the best diet plan to follow. I know my Grandma Rose ate only the basic foods — whole grain breads and pastas she made herself, lots of vegetables, especially greens and garlic, very little meat — and eggs, fresh from the chickens she kept in her yard.

Like all foods, moderation is key to a healthful diet. You certainly don’t want to eat eggs at every meal, but as part of a diversified diet, eggs can provide protein, minerals, vitamins and amino acids (www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/10-health-benefits-of-eggs.html). And they’re inexpensive!

I love a summer frittata, swirled with fresh herbs, greens and summer tomatoes. It makes for a satisfying supper or a stellar brunch.

Eggs take center stage on today’s Busy Cook in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

J.J. Kingery, executive chef of the Wild Eggs restaurants in Louisville, offers his recipe for spicy egg salad that was published in the magazine of the American Egg Board a few months ago. His stuffed French toast is also on the restaurant menu. Serving a lot of breakfasts and brunches, his kitchens go through between 15,000 and 18,000 eggs a week. Now that’s a lot of eggs.

Former Courier-Journal food editor Elaine Corn wrote an entire cookbook about eggs, “365 Ways to Cook Eggs” (HarperCollins, 1996). Her recipe for an elegant strata using sourdough bread and blue cheese is posted here.

I love the ease and frugal versatility of stratas (click here for more recipes on this blog). You can use leftover bread and set it all up the night before, then pop the dish into the oven for a delicious brunch the next day.

(This easy strata is made with tangy gorgonzola, celery and walnuts)

Gorgonzola, Celery and Walnut Strata

Elaine Corn describes stratas, one of my favorite types of egg dishes, as a “sort of savory bread pudding ... consisting of layers of eggs, buttered bread and fillings often created at whim the night before you serve it.”

1. 1 stick butter, divided
2. 2 cups celery, diced
3. 11⁄2 cups walnut halves or pieces
4. 6 slices French or sourdough bread
5. 5 ounces Gorgonzola or other blue cheese, crumbled
6. 6 eggs
7. 11⁄2 cups milk
8. 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
9. 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper

• In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. When it’s sizzling, add the celery and cook, stirring, until slightly softened. Add the walnuts, and toss to combine. Remove from heat, and let cool. Melt the remaining butter.
• Butter a 2-quart baking dish. Brush butter over the bread slices. Arrange three slices on bottom of baking dish, butter side up.
• Top with half the celery-walnut mixture. Sprinkle half the Gorgonzola over. Place rest of bread on top, buttered side down.
• Top with rest of celery mixture, and then the rest of the Gorgonzola.
• In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour slowly over bread, covering evenly.
• Cover with foil, and refrigerate overnight.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bake strata uncovered about 45 minutes, until puffed and browned.
• Serves 6.