Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Savory Egg Roulade


The day before Christmas I posted a recipe for chocolate roulade.

A sweet dessert, roulade can also be savory, as long as you leave out the sweet ingredients.

Because I'm featuring light, post-holiday meals this week, with eggs at the center of those meals, I thought I'd share a savory version of roulade.

Light and fluffy like the souffle omelet I featured on Monday, an egg roulade is simply the yolks (pic left) and whites beaten separately (to aerate them), and then folded together.

Once folded, the egg mixture is baked on a oiled and floured oblong tray, just as we did with the chocolate roulade (pic below).

As the baked roulade cools, prepare a filling of your choice. We filled the chocolate roulade with whipped cream. Tasty fillings for a savory roulade might be one of the following:
  • Cream cheese beaten with pieces of baked or tinned or smoked salmon.
  • Mashed or chopped avocado moistened with olive oil and lemon juice and mixed with watercress.
  • Tuna, egg or potato salad bound with mayonnaise.
  • Ricotta cheese mixed with wilted spinach and pieces of crispy bacon.
You get the idea -- any combination of savory mixtures that you can spread over the roulade before rolling it. Keep in mind that your filling shouldn't be too hot or too liquid-y otherwise it'll cause the egg roulade to disintegrate.

Savory Egg Roulade
1) Separate 6 large eggs -- yolks in one bowl and whites in another.
2) Beat yolks until they're light and fluffy (pic above) with salt and pepper. If you have herbs growing on your winter windowsill you might like to add sage or thyme or oregano.
3) With clean and dry beaters, beat the whites until they're stiff.
4) Turn the whites into the beaten yolks and fold the two together either with a whisk or a spatula.
5) Refer to the chocolate roulade steps 12-22 for baking and rolling tips and tricks.
6) Before you roll your roulade, spread it (pic to left) with one of the savory fillings above or a mix you've created.
7) Lift the savory roulade onto a platter and decorate with sprigs of a fresh herb of your choosing.

To Serve: Because roulades look so spectacular, present it on the platter and cut it into 1 inch pieces at the dining table. Spoon slices onto plates and serve with any number of sides.

On Monday I suggested several winter vegetable sides and then last night, I made for the second night in a row a delicious combination of colorful winter vegetables (pic below).

Substantial and tasty, you might like to try a hearty side like this with your light, savory egg roulade.

Wilted Purple Cabbage with Pumpkin
1) Toss a chunk of peeled and chopped ginger and the same of garlic into a lightly oiled skillet; saute on low.
2) Chop up a chunk of purple cabbage, pumpkin or acorn squash; add to skillet and stir about on low heat.
Note: I added some turkey bacon, but that's optional.
3) Pour in half a cup of stock and put the lid on the skillet, cooking the veggies till the pumpkin is soft.
4) At the last minute, I tossed in two chopped spring onions; you could also add chopped kale or spinach for color and additional nutrients.

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