The Seasonal Chef: A Tradition Born Out of Eggs

As spring creeps up on the Greenmarket, cooking begins to seem like a detour. I devour a few unwashed, thin-skinned carrots on the way home, crunching right up to the green-tinged point from whence their greens recently waved. I bypass pancakes, pouring myself a juice glass full of cool, thick buttermilk. And I cherish our farmer’s market eggs, with their clear whites, upstanding , rich gold yolks, hardy shells and, well, hefty price tag.

Around now, everyone seems to be hard-boiling away for Seders or Easter decorating, but I consider our eggs too superb to submit to the heat of a pan. I’m compelled to respectfully advise that you stop reading if you’re elderly, very young, immuno-compromised or simply disinclined to eat an undercooked egg. Because I suppose that even a very fresh egg from a small, local, cage-free farm could contain enough Salmonella bacteria to sicken a person, though I’ve not experienced this myself and consider the risk small.

To me, eggs are serendipitous. Karmic. Lucky. Perfect. And this is their time. In
fact, today, Thursday, April 21st, is Holy, aka Maundy, Thursday, the Christian Feast day when the Last Supper (a Seder) took place. According to some traditions, an egg laid on Maundy Thursday will protect you from illness. And according to myself and countless thrifty cooks like me, a recipe that calls for an egg white is best accompanied by a recipe calling for an egg yolk.

Lately, one of my and my husband’s favorite ways to spend an evening entails enjoying two concoctions — an orange flower-infused gin cocktail called a Ramos Fizz, and a garlicky dandelion green salad with Caesar dressing — using a single egg.

If you’ve never had a Ramos Fizz, chill a good bottle of gin immediately, since you’ll need to make your own: As Brooklynite and cocktail king Dave Wondrich points out in his canonical "Esquire Drinks" book, you’d best not order one out since “it’s fussy, dated, takes a long time to make and uses too many ingredients.” Notwithstanding Wondrich’s warning, this creamy, refreshingly frothy beverage bears comparison to an adult egg cream (except with actual eggs and cream in it), and it’s well worth the effort.

We shake up a couple Ramos Fizz using one glorious egg white, then drink them as we toss together a salad celebrating the yolk. It’s a light meal, overall, full of the flavors of the season — bitter greens, fresh cream, orange-flower water — and it’s become a festive personal tradition among the many traditions that mark the beginning of spring.

Ramos Gin Fizz
A lovechild of the recipes found in Esquire Drinks, by David Wondrich, and Canal House Cooking, vol. 2, by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton.
Room temperature citrus is best for juicing.
Serves 2

3 ounces dry gin (we love Junipero)
Fresh juice of ½ lemon and ½ lime
2 ounces (1/4 cup) heavy cream
1 fresh egg white
1 to 2 tablespoons superfine or powdered sugar, to taste
1 teaspoon Middle Eastern orange-flower water
Seltzer water (from a seltzer maker or freshly opened bottle/can)

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine all the ingredients except the seltzer. Shake like crazy for 2 minutes. Strain into tall glasses and fill to the top with seltzer. Drink them while they’ve got a nice thick head on them.

Dandelion Green Salad with Caesar Dressing
Serves 2

2 garlic cloves, preferably fresh, 1 halved lengthwise, 1 crushed
6 tablespoons mild, buttery extra-virgin olive oil (we’ve been using Frankie’s), divided
2 slices country bread, cut into ½-inch cubes
Kosher salt
1 egg yolk
Fresh juice of ½ lemon
Freshly ground black pepper
Four handfuls (6 to 8 ounces) tender young dandelion or other greens
Generous amount of freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 to 4 anchovies

1. Rub a large salad bowl all over with the cut sides of the garlic clove.
2. In a small, heavy skillet over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add both garlic halves and the bread cubes. Toast the bread, tossing a few times, until crisp and golden. Transfer the croutons to a paper towel—lined plate and sprinkle them with a pinch of salt.
3. In the garlic-rubbed bowl, whisk the crushed garlic, egg yolk and lemon juice with two pinches of salt and some pepper. Whisk in the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the dandelion greens, toss well, then add the croutons and top with plenty of shaved parmesan. Drape anchovies atop the salad and serve right away.