Egg Yolks

Q: For Valentine's Day, I am making my boyfriend's favorite dessert, lemon meringue pie. I have his family's recipe, and the last time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly. It looked great and tasted great, but there was one problem: The golden meringue pulled away from the edges of the pan, and underneath the meringue was very watery. Can you please send me another recipe and tell me how to prevent this mistake? Is there a way to fix the recipe I have? - Lynn H. No, it's not me weeping - all that sobbing is coming from your meringue.

Scientists in Wisconsin and Massachusetts are perfecting a process to remove more than 90 percent of the cholesterol from butter and 80 percent from egg yolks. Although the researchers are not making big promises, their work does raise the likelihood of easing consumer worries about cholesterol in those products - and could reverse a decline in their consumption. The process, "super-critical fluid extraction," does not alter the flavor, appearance or consistency of either product, say the scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Phasex Corp.

Ask 10 chefs how to prepare hollandaise sauce, and you could well end up with 10 recipes and a lot of disagreement. But each chef would concur that the hollandaise is one of the culinary world's most sumptuous and luxurious gifts. This rich and delicious sauce is a creamy blend of egg yolks, butter and lemon juice. It is generally served warm over a number of foods, including eggs, chicken, seafood and vegetables. The smallest dollop adds a dimension to both taste and, alas, the waistline.

Many desserts call for a sauce known as creme anglaise. The marriage of milk, sugar and eggs is the foundation for one of the most luxurious, silky sauces in the French repertoire. In plain English, we know it as cooked vanilla custard sauce. A Frenchman may have created the formula, but it took an American to simplify it. The recipe that I'm about to explain is a foolproof technique for your bag of cookery tricks. For many home cooks, making creme anglaise is fraught with risk.

When you make a salad dressing, you stir the oil, vinegar and seasonings together. But in a matter of seconds, the oil and vinegar separate; the ingredients seem to defy being combined. Each time the dressing is used, it has to be shaken or stirred. Any number of liquids, such as oil and vinegar, seem incapable of forming a stable mixture. As the old expression about water and oil says, they just won't mix. Not without some help, anyway. What's needed to get stubborn liquids together is a substance compatible with both.

8 poblano peppers 2 1/2 cups Monterrey jack cheese mixed with 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro 2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano 1 garlic clove, pressed 1 teaspoon ground cumin 8 egg yolks, cold 8 egg whites, room temperature 1/2 cup flour 2 tablespoons cold water Pinch sea salt Fresh ground pepper to taste Light olive oil Roast, peel and seed chiles, taking...

CHRISTIAN GATTI'S BAVARIAN CREME 1 ounce gelatin 2 tablespoons rum 2 tablespoons brandy 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier 1 quart heavy cream 1 quart whole milk 1 vanilla bean sliced in half lengthwise with seeds removed, or 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract Pinch salt 3/4 cup sugar 12 egg yolks 1 cup white chocolate, chopped (if using white chocolate chips, add 4 tablespoons vegetable oil)...

Forget those sticky, soggy, packaged powder puffs they call spongecake at the bread counter. Homemade spongecake is something else - golden on the outside, light and airy in the middle, thirsty for the tangy juices of whatever fruit you choose to use. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, pineapple - with a sunny summer harvest ahead of us, it's time to think of the most fruit-happy cake there is! A slice of spongecake piled high with strawberries or juicy ripe peach slices looks and tastes like a million calories.

Do you own a microwave? If so, then it's time to discover the In a Hurry casserole. Today's hot and hearty casseroles are considerably quicker to cook than their predecessors and are considerably better for the families they feed. Once a catchall for everything in the refrigerator and pantry, the casserole has become an easy way for nutrition-minded cooks to get family members to eat healthful ingredients that might otherwise be avoided. A particularly good example has ground turkey, rice and corn as the main ingredients, lots of good spices for flavor, and absolutely no extra cooking fat. The casserole is almost a meal in itself, but salad lovers might like to preface it with a salad that's an appetizing mix of fruit, nuts and vegetables.

Ever feel like revolting against the new food puritanism that's transforming pretzels into a vehicle for oat bran, making steak as tender as last month's whole-grain bread, and much the worst, making you feel like a reckless hedonist for buying high-fat premium ice cream? Makes you want to cheat, doesn't it? By eating avocado, for instance, just so you can savor its unctuous quality (face it, pureed broccoli just doesn't taste the same in guacamole) and to indulge in real ice cream, the kind made with eggs and cream, not skim milk.

CHRISTIAN GATTI'S BAVARIAN CREME 1 ounce gelatin 2 tablespoons rum 2 tablespoons brandy 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier 1 quart heavy cream 1 quart whole milk 1 vanilla bean sliced in half lengthwise with seeds removed, or 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract Pinch salt 3/4 cup sugar 12 egg yolks 1 cup white chocolate, chopped (if using white chocolate chips, add 4 tablespoons vegetable oil)...

1/2 small head savoy cabbage, cored and thinly sliced 3 tablespoons lime juice 2 teaspoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions, whites and greens 1 tablespoon sour cream 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon minced serrano pepper (optional) 2 to 3 tablespoons toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) (optional) In a medium bowl, combine the cabbage, lime juice, sugar and salt. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Whiskey adds myriad subtle flavors in cooking. And what would holiday egg nog be without it? EGG NOG 8 large eggs 4 egg yolks 1 cup granulated sugar 5 cups whole milk 2 cups bourbon 1/2 cup blended Scotch 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs, egg yolks and granulated sugar until smooth. Pour into a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in milk, gradually, blending well with each addition.

Makes 12 (6 servings of 2 pancakes each) 1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. 2. In another bowl, combine buttermilk, cream, egg yolks, and butter. 3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or cast-iron frying pan over medium heat. When a drop of water beads up and sizzles on the griddle, it is hot enough. 4. Combine the two bowls of ingredients and stir just until blended, but lumps remain. 5. Whip the egg whites to a medium peak and fold them in gently.

If you're trying to signal, as chef-owner Mitch Prensky currently is, that your sophisticated, "urban farmhouse" of a restaurant - Supper, by name - is tweaking its menu, tilting more toward farmhouse and less toward urban, what might be a good visual to start? Well, the deviled egg (albeit with a hit of wasabi or touch of chevre) might fill the bill: "Nobody," Prensky says, "doesn't like a deviled egg. " So it has come to pass that not only is Supper going to offer one starting next Wednesday at happy hour (5 to 8 p.m.)

Could a concept as enlightened as seasonal, healthful cooking possibly exist at the Cherry Hill Mall? Yes, I know we're talking about the hallowed ground where the first climate-controlled indoor mall east of the Mississippi was born nearly half a century ago. I know we're talking about a town so thoroughly infested with big-box commercialism that any hopeful sprout of independently owned-restaurant spirit is often squashed by the cheesecake weight...

Try a few of these Julia gems, recipes she and her friends compiled during her formative culinary years in France. Hollandaise is a delicately flavored sauce, good with vegetables, fish and eggs. This Boiling Butter Method is easier than some - a "Hollandaise without tears" that uses standard butter and takes about 5 minutes to make. HOLLANDAISE 2 teaspoons lemon juice (or for a more strongly flavored sauce, reduce the following to 2 teaspoons: 2 tablespoons wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons water or dry white wine and 1 teaspoon minced shallot)

Q: For Valentine's Day, I am making my boyfriend's favorite dessert, lemon meringue pie. I have his family's recipe, and the last time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly. It looked great and tasted great, but there was one problem: The golden meringue pulled away from the edges of the pan, and underneath the meringue was very watery. Can you please send me another recipe and tell me how to prevent this mistake? Is there a way to fix the recipe I have? - Lynn H. No, it's not me weeping - all that sobbing is coming from your meringue.

8 poblano peppers 2 1/2 cups Monterrey jack cheese mixed with 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro 2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano 1 garlic clove, pressed 1 teaspoon ground cumin 8 egg yolks, cold 8 egg whites, room temperature 1/2 cup flour 2 tablespoons cold water Pinch sea salt Fresh ground pepper to taste Light olive oil Roast, peel and seed chiles, taking...

For a show-stealing appetizer or hors d'oeuvre, cook up a batch of savory cheese fritters and serve them piping hot. Unlike sweetened fruit fritters, savory types are boldly flavored - like the two recipes here, both using full-bodied cheeses, fresh herbs, and other assertive seasonings. Savory or sweet, unfilled or stuffed with meat, cheese, vegetables or other fillings, fritters take many forms. But all of them begin with a thick batter based on flour and eggs. When cooked in hot oil at the right temperature, the batter crisps beautifully and turns golden-brown.