eieieomeote: goldenrod eggs

goldenrod eggs: buttered toast, with an eggy cream sauce, topped with a grated hard boiled egg. a staple of home economics classes everywhere--at some point, anyway. its appeal for the junket set junta is that not only does it teach an addled adolescent how to boil an egg, but also how to create a cream sauce, temper an egg yolk, and use a grater efficiently.

i think i originally learned how to do this in summer camp, as home economics had been discarded from the curriculum in favour of japanese photography or spanish sex ed (doubling up on subjects meant saving time, money, and for a whole heckuvalotta hilarity); later, i found a more palatable recipe in marion cunningham's "breakfast book". if you are interested in a more authentic home ec experience, there is a recipe in a free e-book, originally published as a textbook in 1920, "Corner of Washington's Kitchen at Mount Vernon School and Home Cooking" by Carlotta C. Greer Head of the Department of Foods and Household Management, East Technical High School, Cleveland, Ohio. *whew*.

here's the home ec lesson, with my revised recipe, by way of bill granger and marion cunningham:

hard boiled eggs: place two eggs in a small saucepan, cover with cold water then bring to a boil on high heat. reduce to a simmer, then cook for another 5 to 7 minutes (up to ten if you have more eggs). set aside eggs.

cream sauce: heat 1 tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan until melted. add 1 tablespoonful of flour to the butter, stir and cook over medium heat for a minute or so. add 3/4 cup of whole milk and stir or whisk until the sauce has thickened. separate an egg yolk from a room temperature egg, and place in a small bowl. add a tablespoonful of the hot milk sauce into the yolk and mix briskly. now carefully add this to the rest of the sauce in the pan and incorporate it. cook further for 1 to 2 minutes, then take it off heat. season with salt, pepper, a shot of hot pepper sauce, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

toast bread. butter generously. place on plate. spoon warm sauce over the toast. use a fine grater to grate a hardboiled egg (or two) over the toast and sauce. garnish with chives, olives, or whatever takes your fancy.