Last Sunday, I found myself in a most unlikely situation.
We had a table of guests who were staying overnight, and one of them ordered - wait for it - a spinach and egg white omelette.
This is Edinburgh. We like to eat fatty good things here, not new-fangled New York kind of food.
But, after much head-scratching, we obliged. And it got me thinking about egg whites, and what else we could do with them.
So, on Tuesday, I started experimenting. I started whisking up egg whites and adding in things like cheese, pepper, and paprika. The result was a kind of savoury baked Alaska, which was delicious.
But how could we make this sweet?
I give you my muesli meringue. It's as healthy as orange juice and a hundred times more delicious.
Recipe serves four
For the meringue
8 egg whites (save the yolks - cover them with cling film and put them in the fridge)
2 oz icing sugar
Pinch of salt
1 Whisk whites with a Kenwood mixer (or a strong husband. Or a wife, come to think of it.)
2 Slowly add the icing sugar and the salt
For the muesli
8 sultanas
8 hazlenuts
8 dates,
8 apricots
Handful of oatmeal
A small pot of yoghurt per person
Any of the following things work too: coconut, pistachios, and currants.
1 fold in carefully to omelette with a spatula and add the oatmeal
2 Line a greaseproof tray, pour in the mixture and cook for 15 mins at 180c.
For the sabayon (a light Italian mousse)
8 egg yolks
Glass of cheap and cheerful dessert wine
1 oz sugar
2 tablespoon warm water
1 Combine all the ingredients and whisk in a round-bottomed bowl over a bain-marie
2 Keep taking the mixture away from the heat - you don't want the sabayon to be scrambled
3 When the mixture is three times the volume with air, after about 8-10 minutes, it's done. It should be light and creamy coloured
4 Take the muesli meringue and lightly spoon the sabayon on top of it
5 On top of the sabayon, sprinkle toasted almonds with gay abandon
Serve with any sort of sugar-coated biscuit.
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