Eggs

If you've never tried scrambling eggs in the microwave, now is the time to try. Microwave-scrambled eggs can be the fluffiest imaginable. And here's another advantage: If you're dieting, you can eliminate some fat, because scrambled eggs don't stick to microwave "pans" the way they do to a stove-top skillet. The cooking times given here are for refrigerator-cold, large eggs. Obviously, warmer, smaller or larger eggs will microwave more quickly or slowly. For best results, follow our recipe explicitly and abide by these guidelines: Always use the container size recommended.

While lawmakers' efforts to pass a state budget captured all the attention recently, another measure was passed to deal with something perhaps more important than spending and taxes - keeping eggs cool. Yesterday, Gov. Casey signed the measure into law. It is called the Egg Refrigeration Law. It requires that egg producers and sellers refrigerate eggs. Its purpose is to cut down on the problem of salmonella poisoning associated with eating eggs. Chilling them helps.

Few foods are as sensitive to heat as eggs; so special handling and techniques are required for cooking them in a microwave oven. Scrambled and poached eggs, omelets, quiches and baked (shirred) eggs are examples of egg dishes that translate to microwave cooking. Hard-cooked eggs in the shell, fried eggs and souffles should be cooked conventionally. Microwave egg cookery has two main problems: Because the egg yolk contains fat and the white does not, the yolk cooks faster, resulting in an unevenly cooked dish.

Quick! Can you think of a culinary basic that can serve as breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert? When all else fails, make an omelet. What you add to an omelet determines whether it's more suited to morning, midday or midnight. How you make it decides if it'll be fattening or not. And good news for cholesterol-watchers as well as calorie counters: Yolk- free frozen egg substitute made from the cholesterol-free egg white works every bit as well as whole eggs in omelet recipes. Here's a basic Slim Gourmet guide to omelet making the low-fat or no-fat way: How to Make a Low-fat Omelet: Be sure to use a non-stick skillet; the finish should be in good condition.

This is how it happens in Ethics Class. The teacher begins the morning with a carefully constructed and rather farfetched hypothetical case. Today, it's a doozie. Imagine, just imagine, says the teacher, that a couple comes to divorce court to split up their property. They are not wrangling over a house or a boat or car. What they each demand is custody of their seven pre-embryos, the creations of his sperm and her eggs that lie frozen at the in-vitro fertilization clinic. The class lets out a collective groan.

Green eggs and pan We haven't had great luck with nonstick pans. But our initial experience with Cuisinart's new "Green Gourmet" skillet was promising. Not only does it fry an egg without butter, but the cleanup is a cinch. Cuisinart says the nonstick surface is a petroleum-free, ceramic-based material, not the Teflon-style stuff said to harm the environment. Its other eco-friendly claims? The packaging is 100 percent recycled, and the pan needs less energy to stay hot. A subtle snap The cooler weather calls for these thin and crispy Swedish cookies, crackling with ginger, cinnamon and cloves.

In the realm of chocolate desserts, richness to the point of decadence is more a virtue than a vice. There are sophisticated cooking techniques for achieving such intensity, and thankfully, a few useful shortcuts. Classic baked chocolate custard and chocolate mousse are renowned for their exquisite richness. Traditionally, in these desserts the richness is supplied by chocolate and cream but also by eggs, which contribute structural stability. It's also eggs that can make these classics challenging to prepare.

No yolk: Egg-citing events (some good eggs-hibits, too) are planned for this weekend's fourth annual Great Egg Festival at the Academy of Natural Sciences. These include live animal shows starring different species hatched from eggs, and slide presentations about dinosaurs; performances from noon to 2 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday by Juggles the Clown with his unicycle, magic and egg-juggling tricks, and mosaics made from eggshells by Tom Sonnenberg. Prints in Progress, a nonprofit children's art group, will conduct workshops in egg art for youngsters 6 and older.

WHICH CAME first, eggless baking or the egg? Easy, right? After all, eggs have been part of cooking and baking traditions since antiquity, and with good reason, from a chef's perspective. Among the ingredients, they're handy multitaskers, contributing texture, structure and/or taste, depending on use. So, the recent bad news about eggs hit a lot of people right in the gut. It wasn't just the half-billion eggs that were recalled (another brand was named this past weekend)

"The economy remains soft, and growth is slow. But at least things are not getting worse. " "This will help protect more than 700 million passengers and pilots who travel our nation's airways each year. " - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, on new fatigue rules for airline pilots "The prognosis for the Center City hotel market is brightening and certainly is the brightest in the last two years. " - Peter Tyson, hospitality-industry consultant "At the moment, we can rule out a double-dip for the economy.

It's a beet, minus the root. Chard is a relative of the beet, but puts its energy into producing tender leaves and crunchy stalks instead of its root. Generally, any flavor that works well with spinach will partner with chard: butter, lemon, cream, garlic, shallots and vinaigrette. Try it in this easy quiche. Rainbow Chard, Bacon and Brie Quiche Makes 6 servings 1 prepared uncooked pie crust 8 ounces bacon, cut into small chunks 1 small yellow onion, diced 6 cups chopped rainbow chard (about ?

16 ounces fresh baby spinach or 1 (12-ounce) bag thawed frozen leaf spinach 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 onion, preferably Vidalia, finely chopped 6 ounces mixed mushrooms (such as cremini, chanterelle, morel, shitakes, white button) thinly sliced 1 clove garlic, very finely chopped 1/3 cup heavy cream 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 large eggs 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano chees (?

Much as I love a big, beefy steak on the grill, sometimes I need something lighter. My new favorite is cauliflower — sliced into two thick "steaks. " In this recipe, I've topped them with poached eggs and truffle oil, creating a delicious sauce. Grilled Cauliflower Steaks With Poached Eggs and Truffle Oil Makes 2 servings 1 large head cauliflower Olive oil Salt, ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 tablespoon vinegar 2 eggs Truffle oil (or truffle-flavored olive oil)

Live chickens sharing cages with mummified remains of dead birds. Thousands of chickens dead of dehydration thanks to a water source malfunctioning. A carpet of dead flies so dark that workers in a poultry house needed headlamps to see. Those were some of the things the Humane Society of the United States says its undercover investigation found at a large Lancaster County farm that supplies eggs to ShopRite and other stores. The Humane Society said the conditions its investigator found and videotaped at Kreider Farms in Manheim evidenced the need for a federal law governing treatment of hens in commercial farms.

This classic pairing of asparagus and poached egg is such a lovely weeknight dinner, especially as a herald to spring. It's not something I would make on a weeknight for the kids, I will confess, too challenging to poach all those eggs. But it is perfect supper for one or two. Though it is a few steps, the results are well worth the effort. This recipe, from Jane Hornby's newest offering, Fresh & Easy: What to Cook & How to Cook It, adds a sauce of balsamic vinegar and butter to the asparagus, for a spot-on finishing touch.

An Egg Harbor Township police officer had to be rescued using the Jaws of Life on Saturday after his patrol car collided with a Volvo station wagon that appeared to have crossed the double yellow line on a two-lane highway in the township's Bargaintown section. Egg Harbor police said Patrolman Ed Bertino, 35, a nine-year veteran of the force, was traveling south on Spruce Avenue near Ninth Avenue when his 2006 Ford was struck and pinned against a guardrail by a 1989 Volvo being driven northbound on Spruce by Alexandro Doukopoulos, 18, of Linwood.

An Egg Harbor Township police officer had to be rescued using the Jaws of Life on Saturday after his patrol car collided with a Volvo station wagon that appeared to have crossed the double yellow line on a two-lane highway in the township's Bargaintown section. Egg Harbor Township police said Patrolman Ed Bertino, 35, a nine-year veteran of the force, was traveling south on Spruce Avenue near Ninth Avenue when his 2006 Ford was struck and pinned against a guardrail by a 1989 Volvo being driven northbound on Spruce by Alexandro Doukopoulos, 18, of Linwood.

An excerpt from the blog "My Daughter's Kitchen. " From the first time I discovered it in the south of France, Salade Nicoise has held favored-nation status in my world of salads. My first encounter, as a 20-year-old college student traveling abroad, was an introduction met with sheer gratitude. I was a not-too-adventurous eater, trying to get by on a meager budget, and was thrilled to find something made of ingredients I actually recognized. Tuna, hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, olives, onions, tomatoes.

A year and a half ago, Evan Prochniak was sweet-talked into buying the company that had been crafting Zitner's Easter eggs for nearly a century. The chocolatier was on the market, and a deal to sell the building - without the business - had broken down. There was a chance Zitner's might be sold to another candy company, and its North Philadelphia factory vacated. The broker representing the owners, Thomas S. Bond, convinced Prochniak that Zitner's was fabulous, a beloved mom-and-pop with room to grow.