Jane Donovan, "Essentials: Egg"

If you, like me, own your own chickens, then you are already sitting up a little bit straighter in your chair to learn that there is an "all eggs, all the time" cookbook.  Recipes just about eggs!  Seriously, I am only one person, and I'm getting four eggs a day this time of year.  And some morning the thought of Yet Another Homemade Egg McMuffin turns my stomach.

This is part of a series which also includes Chocolate and Tomato.  I am mildly intrigued by the thought of single-ingredient cookbooks.  As someone who is definitely not super-accomplished in the kitchen, I like the idea of walking through an exploration of all the different things you can do with a singe ingredient.

This is a somewhat slim book, as you might expect.  It clocks in at 80 pages, and there are a lot of big beautiful pictures.  It's about one recipe per page, more or less.  But that's just about right, considering the form.

One strange complaint I have to register is that the book smelled weird.  Maybe it's because I checked out a library edition, or maybe it's the paper, or maybe it's the binding, or who knows what.  But the physical book had a smell similar to a new shower curtain, or a pair of new automotive floor mats.  Like the smell of off-gassing vinyl.  

It's weird, and a little off-putting, and noticeable from even a foot or two away.  I only mention it because I noticed it, and I almost never notice the way a book smells.  I particularly make an effort NOT to smell library books, because then I think about all the other grubby fingers that have touched the book before me, and it sends me into a germophobic freak-out.

Okay, where were we?  Anyway!  

There is a broad variety of cooking levels and techniques shown in this book.  You can start easy, with egg cooking techniques including boiling, frying, and poaching.  (By the way, I poach my eggs for five minutes at a high simmer, then gently flip them over in the water with a slotted spoon and cook for another minute.  This gives you a poached egg which is mostly-solid, with just a little bit of runny yolk for your toast.)  

Scattered throughout the book you will find more advanced recipes, like Paella Croquettes (little balls of paella which are battered and then deep fried).  And Ham 'n' Egg Cocottes, which require you to fill ramekins with ham, sautéed mushroom, and egg, and then bake them in a bain marie until cooked.

This is a good thing, this broad spread of recipes.  But I do wish that the more complicated recipes had more explanation.  For example, the aforementioned Ham 'n' Egg Cocottes are a multi-step recipe if you ask me, but the directions are given in only 2 steps.  ("1.  Preheat an oven to 375 for 10 minutes prior to baking the cocottes.  Line four ramekin dishes with the ham.  Melt the butter in a small skillet and gently sauté the mushrooms for 2 minutes.  Drain on paper towels and place in the ramekin dishes.  Season with black pepper.")

If you are looking to broaden your horizons, this is a great book to keep at hand.  It may not be appropriate for beginning cooks, but it's a great book to browse through on a Sunday afternoon.