Guardian Service Water Bath Cooking: Eggs Baked in Ramekins

The Guardian Service Roaster platter and lid doubling as a stove-top water bath.

In her PBS series, "The French Chef," Julia Child devoted an entire episode to "Elegance with Eggs," bringing the egg beyond breakfast. She starts with simple baked eggs in ramekins in a bain marie or oven water bath.

We've adapted her method for the Guardian Service Ware oval roaster platter and cover, creating a stove-top water bath that yields eggs which are tender and infused with flavor.

As Child points out in the accompanying Mastering the Art of French Cooking, "eggs offer a variety of presentations and you can draw on practically your whole cooking experience for its saucing and garnishing." In other words: check the refrigerator for leftovers! For eggs baked in ramekins, Child recommends "minced mushrooms, asparagus, spinach, artichoke hearts, diced lobster, shrimp, crab, truffles and/or a slice of foie gras."

As it happens, a foodie Santa brought us not only a free-range goose to cook Guardian Service style for the holidays, but a bit of foie gras. I placed a slice of day-old polenta and a thin slice of foie gras in each ramekin, then topped with eggs and cream.

Eggs Baked in Ramekins
Les Oeufs en Cocotte
(Adapted for Guardian Service Ware from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking)

Individual servings of 1 or 2 eggs baked in porcelain, pyrex or earthenware ramekins. (Any variety of small baking dish will work, here we've used two FireKing lusterware handled ramekins).

For each serving:

1/2 Tbsp butter
1 ramekin 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter and about 1 1/2 inches high
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1 or 2 eggs

Variations:
Herbs, sauces, cheese, leftovers.

Some day-old polenta and a little foie gras dress up simple baked eggs.

1. Butter the ramekins, saving a dot for later. Add 1 tablespoon of cream and set the ramekin in the simmering water over moderate heat. When the cream is hot, break into it one or two eggs. Pour the remaining spoonful of cream over the egg and top with a dot of butter.
2. Cover with roaster lid and bake in simmering water bath for 7-10 minutes, less if cooking one egg per cup. The eggs are done when they are just set but still tremble slightly in the ramekins. They will set a little more when the ramekins are removed, so they should not be overcooked.
3. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.
4. The ramekins may remain in the pan of hot water, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes before serving. To prevent overcooking, remove from heat when slightly underdone.

NOTE: Alkaline substances can cause aluminum to darken, so boiling water may cause the aluminum to stain, depending on your water's pH. While the staining is harmless, you can prevent it by adding a tablespoon of vinegar or a few drops of lemon juice to the water bath.

Candied Orange Slices

Citrus in California is like zucchini in the midwest: abundant. In North Dakota, where I was raised, folks will warn you to lock your car in late summer for fear of finding bags of squash when you return. We're lucky to have a neighbor who leaves bags of oranges on the handle of our back door from time to time, and at this time of year, if we're not snacking on them or juicing them, we make a few pomanders to place around the apartment and some candied peel or orange slices.

I like to make batches of these candied orange slices and keep them handy for everything from cookie platters to garnishing salads, desserts or meat dishes. Candied slices won't keep as long as dried peel, but the method preserves more of the orange (and doesn't require as much drying time).

This simple recipe can be multiplied as you wish and can be used with grapefruit or lemon (adjust sugar to taste). I candied four oranges using the large Guardian Service fryer and reduced the remaining syrup for drizzling on pancakes or yogurt or mixing into cocktails or marinades, etc.

Candied Orange Slices

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup granulated organic sugar
1 organic navel orange, halved and sliced crosswise in 1/4 inch thick slices (about 10 per orange)

1. In a Guardian Service fryer, combine the water and sugar and bring to a boil. Add the orange slices and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, until the liquid is reduced to a thin syrup and the orange slices are translucent, about 20 minutes.
2. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the syrup thickens and the slices are tender but still intact, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the orange slices to a rack to cool.
4. Further reduce syrup to desired consistency and reserve for another use.
5. The candied slices can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Reducing the remaining syrup.

Marmalade syrup, cooling on the window ledge

Roast Turkey and Gravy

With Thanksgiving week upon us, I thought I'd again post the Guardian Service stove-top method for roast turkey and my own family's gravy recipe, adapted for Guardian Service Ware. A Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours—in Good Health, Pleasure and Profit!

Guardian Roast Turkey

1) Prepare the turkey (bring to room temperature, remove the neck and giblets from the cavity and rinse thoroughly, pat dry and salt the bird, inside and out). Lather with butter, stuff and truss. In a medium pan (we used the 2 qt dome cooker), roast the neck and giblets over a layer of celery and garlic for an hour, then add water and continue to simmer on low until you're ready to add it to the stuffing and/or gravy (see below).

2) Over a medium burner, heat 2 Tbsp. fat and 2 Tbsp. butter in roaster and coat pan well. Place turkey in roaster and sear, browning all surfaces of the bird, 90 seconds per plane so that the skin caramelizes. (This keeps the juices inside the turkey as it cooks). Be bold! We used two large spatulas, rolled the bird in the pan, and grabbed it with a clean towel. Properly trussed the bird can take some handling. Remove turkey from pan; pouring off and reserving excess fat. Place turkey on its breast on roaster rack and lower into roaster. (Optional: we added two whole jalapeños to the roaster to scent the bird and compliment the Californio theme of our stuffing—see below). Cover with lid and cook over both burners at low heat for 15-20 min/lb.

3) Halfway through the roasting period, flip the bird—that is, turn it to  distribute the juices. Remove the roaster lid and invert it as a resting tray, then remove the rack from the roaster and place turkey in the lid. Turn the turkey on its back, reposition on the rack and return it to the roaster to continue cooking. 

4) The turkey is done when its juices run clear, the wings give and the thigh meat reaches 165℉. Now comes the fun part, finishing by browning the turkey using the deflected heat of the Guardian Service stove-top browning technique. Set roaster to one side of stove, remove lid and position it so it channels the heat over the turkey. Now you are a knight using his shield to roast his catch over an open fire! Turn it any way you please, letting each side of the turkey get a good toasting. Meanwhile baste well to give a healthy brown glaze. 

The Lee-Peterson-Robinson Gravy

My mother's family's method for making gravy is a long-held tradition passed down through my great grandmother Ruth Lee Peterson, as Yankee a Puritan as they came. The method is simple, but requires patience and diligence, for which you'll be rewarded with unparalleled flavor.

1) Over medium heat, reduce the roaster pan drippings until they caramelize and stick. NOTE: It can take 30-40 minutes for the sugar in the drippings to properly caramelize and the fat to separate and run clear. During this window it is crucial that you ignore your nagging doubt and the hand-wringing of loved-ones who think you're burning the gravy and wondering why dinner is getting cold and why you're ruining this festive occasion... Patience—and DON'T SCRAPE the bottom of the pan.

2) When the fat separates from the browned turkey drippings, pour off all but a Tbsp or two of the excess fat and return the roaster to a low heat. NOTE: Because the Guardian Service pan heats evenly, it's harder to get drippings to really hold to the bottom of the pan*. (We used a free-range bird which has very little fat—just enough for the following step, the roux—but if you're cooking a Butterball, you may need a gravy separator for this step).

3) Whisk 2-3 Tbsp. of flour into the giblet stock and add gradually to the roaster, de–glazing the pan and blending continuously until smooth and thick. Salt and pepper to taste and serve. (Note: You can also use leftover water from boiling potatoes (or  pasta) to de-glaze the pan, in which case there's no need for the extra flour—but if you're using the "waterless method" to cook your potatoes, you may not have any starchy water handy!).

Optional: for a heartier gravy, use a blender to incorporate the roasted neck and giblet meat (first removing meat from the neck bones) into some of the giblet stock and add to gravy as well.

*Don't fear a clean-up nightmare—the even heating of the Guardian Service cookware means an easier clean up than cheaper enamel pans which are more likely to scorch.

Roast Pork and Vegetables with Buttermilk Mustard Sauce

I found an early edition of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" for two bucks at a local a thrift store this week and was happy to add it to our cooking library at last. Juila Child has always been an inspiration, though few food bloggers could claim to know her work as intimately as Julie Powell. Still, I'm happy to rediscover Child and her fellow authors' philosophy on roasts (particularly pork) is in perfect harmony with the Guardian Service Way: 

"... we think pork is more tender and juicy if it is browned in hot fat, then roasted like veal in a covered casserole. This slow, steamy cooking tenderizes the meat and renders out the fat very effectively."

This casserole or "waterless" approach appears in our posts on roast poultry and lamb and is simply this: brown the roast on all sides in hot fat, then cook on a vegetable rack.

Rôti de Porc Grand'Mère

(Casserole-Roasted Pork with Potatoes and Onions)

Adapted for Guardian Service Ware from Volume One of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Juila Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck

Serves 4-6

2-3 lb boneless pork loin, marinated with Marinade Sèche, see below

4 Tbsp rendered pork fat, lard or cooking oil

2 sweet potatoes

3 potatoes

2 medium onions

2 carrots

2 garlic cloves, whole

a medium bouquet garni: parsley and thyme sprigs and bay leaf

2 Tbsp butter

2-3 apples, cored, peeled and sliced

1/3 cup cider vinegar

Marinade Sèche

(Salt Marinade with Herbs and Spices)

"Fine for all types of fresh pork. This is our favorite, as it tenderizes the pork and accentuates its natural flavor"

Per pound of pork:

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/4 tsp ground thyme or sage

1/8 tsp ground bay leaf

Pinch of allspice

Optional: 1/2 clove mashed garlic

Mix all ingredients together and rub them into the surface of the pork. Place in a covered bowl. Turn the meat 2 to 3 times if the marinade is a short one; several times a day if it is of long duration.

1. If moist from the salt rub marinade, pat meat dry with clean dishcloth or paper towels. 
2. Heat 4 Tbsp fat or oil in the Guardian Service Roaster over medium heat, coating bottom of pan well. Add the roast, searing each side for 90 seconds. Remove roast to the serving platter.
3. Add vegetables and garlic to the roaster, cover and shake to coat vegetables with remaining oil. 
4. Remove vegetables from roaster, add butter and return to medium heat. Layer sliced apples across the bottom, coating in butter. Return roast on top of apples and surround with vegetables. Top with herb bouquet and sprinkle with cider vinegar.
5. Cover and cook over medium low heat for 1 hour or more, depending on desired temperature of the finished roast. Allow to rest for 15 minutes, carve and transfer to the Guardian Service Roaster platter. Garnish with roasted vegetables and cover until ready to serve.

A pork loin on a roasting rack of apple rings in the Guardian Service Roaster

After the pork has been cooked and placed on a platter, kept it warm for 10 to 15 minutes while preparing the sauce:

Sauce au Babeurre-Moutarde avec Poivre Vert

(Buttermilk Mustard Sauce with Green Peppercorns)

an adaptation of "Sauce Moutarde à la Normande" 

1/3 cup cider vinegar

2-3 dozen green peppercorns

1 cup buttermilk

2-3 tsp dry mustard

1-2 Tbsp softened butter

1. Strain the meat and vegetable juices into a bowl. Degrease, if necessary.
2. Reduce vinegar and green peppercorns until about 2-3 Tbsps of liquid.
3. Pour in meat and vegetable juices and boil down rapidly until about 1 cup.
4. Reduce heat, add buttermilk and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring in salt to taste.
5. Whisk in dry mustard and simmer 2 to 3 minutes more. Sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. Correct seasoning.
6. Off heat and just before serving, swirl in the butter by bits, then pour the sauce into warmed Guardian Service gravy boat.

Cranberry Walnut Oat Scones

I recently sent some friends a Guardian Service 15" Service Tray as a wedding gift, knowing that they'd come to value it, as I do, for the wonderfully crispy crust it produces on homemade pizza. But because the tray, purchased online, arrived from a third-party seller and I couldn't be there to explain, they put it into use just as its makers intended: as a beautiful serving tray. Indeed, all Guardian Service ware was intended to go directly from "stove to table," with its part Arts and Crafts/part Space Age–Streamline esthetic.

But the tray was never marketed as I've come to use it most, as a baking sheet. Part of the cookware's pitch was its "top-stove" technology—baking on a burner, from quick breads in the Duplex Utility pan to layer cake in the Kettle/Canner—yet the service tray is perfect for traditional oven baking: the thin, rough-textured aluminum resists sticking and distributes heat evenly, creating crisp crusts for pizza or the perfect finish on an eggy holiday gougères.

So in honor of my friends' wedding, here's another recipe well suited to the 15" tray: scones.

I prefer the heartier, Scottish–style scones and the tray is just the right size to bake up a half-dozen large triangle scones. Variations are endless, from savory herb and cheese combinations to the fruit and nut sort featured here.

Cranberry Walnut Oat Scones

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup rolled oats

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. sugar

Gently pat dough into round.

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup dried cranberries

2 tsp. orange zest

1/4 cup butter

2 eggs

1/4 cup half and half

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF.
2. Mix dry ingredients and cold cut butter into flour mixture until the size of small peas using a pastry blender or two knives.
3. Beat eggs in separate bowl, reserving 2 Tbsp. to brush tops of scones before baking.
4. Add half-and-half to remaining eggs.
5. Make a well in dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and as Irma Rombauer cautions us, "Combine with a few swift strokes. Handle the dough as little as possible."
6. Turn dough out onto the tray, pat into a large round (approximately 2 inches thick), then slice into six equal wedges with a silicone knife or other scratch-proof tool.
7. Brush triangles with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until browned.

Separate with a scratch-proof tool such as this silicone knife.

Brush tops of scones with reserved egg.