Eggy Muffins!

I'm horrible about updating this blog, but I have an excuse. My health took a significant turn for the worse just as I started grad school. Since I had very limited mental resources, I decided that writing copious amounts of papers and reports on rocks was more important than writing blog posts, or even cooking. I do apologize for the absence, and my health has recovered a bit now that we discovered one of the biggest problems: Gluten! Did you know gluten is in almost everything? It's been a challenge to relearn to eat, and try to figure out what I can and can not have. I still have moments of depression when I wonder if things will ever get better, but for the most part, I am getting better about it.

I do admit, I fell off the low carb wagon once I got sick. I wasn't cooking for myself, and it was much easier to eat whatever was given to me. Also, we got a Mexican restaurant in town, and I am a sucker for homemade chips and salsa, and it was so much easier to order from them than cook when I was too sick to really stand for long. However, after talking to the owners, and expressing my health issues (and since they know we eat there at least once a week) they have actually come up with some low carb, gluten free options for me! They make fajitas now with seasonings and marinades that contain zero gluten and zero sugar. They also confirmed with their masa supplier that the corn tortillas have zero wheat products. (Yes, I know they aren't low carb, but one or two in the grand scheme of things is me learning moderation!)

So, one thing I've learned? Ask! If you are a regular customer somewhere, don't be afraid to ask what they use, what they can do, and how you can have a healthier meal.

Now, onto my new recipe. This is a variation on Cleochatra's famous Oopsie Rolls. I had read the recipe a few months ago, and filed it into the back of my mind. I had even tried to make it once, but didn't get my egg whites beaten sufficiently, so it ended up being a goopy mess. I ended up salvaging them by toasting them, but it still wasn't that great.

However, I was watching Cooking Channel yesterday, and one of the hosts was making a souffle. It dawned on me that Rev Rolls and Oopsie Rolls were, in essence, a souffle. So after a bit of research and thought, I decided to try to make muffin style Oopsie Rolls. I tweaked the recipe, and in the future, I plan on tweaking it a bit more with spices. I have dubbed these Eggy Muffins. I used more egg yolks than whites because I found it gave a more substantial roll.

Ingredients:

4 egg yolks

3 egg whites

3 ounces of neufatel cheese (often sold as reduced fat cream cheese, is lower carb than cream cheese), very cold

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp salt (next time I am going to use more)

1 package of stevia

Equipment:

A muffin pan that will hold at least 7 muffins

mixer with an egg beater attachment and and a mixer attachment

two bowls

an oven

1/4 cup measuring cup

Beat your egg whites and cream of tartar until they form stiff peaks. My good rule of thumb is to beat them and once you think you have stiff peaks, beat them for another 60 seconds. You want them as absolutely as stiff as possible. This will form the body of your muffin.

After your eggs are beaten, mix the remaining ingredients and mix until WELL blended. Once again, mix about 60 seconds longer than you think you need to mix.

Gently fold the yolk mixture into the eggs about a half at a time. This is a HUGE thing. I tried it the other way (whites into yolks) and it absolutely messed it all up. So trust me on this. Don't over mix it. If you still see some white and some yellow, it's okay!

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour the batter into greased muffin tins. I didn't use papers, but I likely will next time. This made 7 muffins for me, but depending on your muffin tin size, you might have more. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, turn the muffin pan and then bake for another 15 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

Now, this is the most important step of the whole process - Take the muffins pans and place them on a rack and leave them for at least an hour. After that hour, remove from the pans and put them back on the rack for another 12 hours. Make it 24 if you can stand it. The muffins need a chance to dry. After this, store them in an OPEN plastic bag on the counter.

These are a bit bland, I agree, but this morning I split one in half, added a tiny bit of cheese and some bacon, microwaved it for 30 seconds, and it was as close as I've ever come to an egg mcmuffin in a LONG time. I think next time I am going to add some more salt, and some spices. I think that cheese could be added reasonably well, maybe garlic and cheese and make some faux Red Lobster rolls? The possibilities are endless, really.

Nutritional:

Each Eggy Muffin has .8 carbs (I count them as 1) and 59 calories.