When I make ice cream, mayonnaise or aeoli or bearnaise sauce there are always egg whites left over that either get fed to the dog or go into zip lock bags in that never-never place called the freezer. There they get to stay until I do the annual freezer clean out just before Christmas and then they get fed to the dog.
In search of what to do with egg whites I have come up with a few solutions.
Royal icing mixed in different colours, put into zip lock bags, a tiny piece of the corner cut off and used with kids to decorate any flat biscuit or if I have time, a batch of ginger bread men.
Spiced Nuts, coat in egg white and sprinkle with spices, bake in the oven for an additive to ice cream, in with salads or just on their own.
Of course there is meringue – can be made into a pavlova, a tray of meringue, small meringues or anything that can be smashed and used as Eton Mess, a wonderful concoction of smashed meringue, strawberries and cream.
Angel Food Cake is a wonder in itself – a logic defying, pure white cross between a sponge and a meringue and a recipe that uses 12 egg whites. It looks a lot harder to make than it really is. It is just scary the first time because it is like no other cake that I have baked (and that is not too many as I am not a baker).
Today, faced with more egg whites I had to find something that would be savoury and within our diet limitations. We have gained so much weight this year, having had 3 holidays and numerous celebrations that involved eating we need to regain our health and with Christmas only 2 months away we have to be serious.
CRACKERS – Paleo?
Ingredients
- 1 cup of egg whites
- 1 cup of almond flour
- 1 cup of mixed seeds and nuts (I used our nut muesli which is already chopped, chia seeds, and pumpkin seeds because that is what I had)
- various herbs or spices or both, choose from za’atar, sumac, cumin or whatever rocks your boat or suits what it is going to be served with. eg Cumin would go well with carrot hummus.
- salt if necessary – taste the raw mix
Method
- Whisk the egg whites until well mixed, add the other ingredients and stir until mixed.
- Spread out on baking paper that is the size of the baking tray. Use another piece of baking paper on top and roll out thinly to fit the tray. The second piece of paper stops the mix sticking to the rolling pin.
- Slide the paper onto the tray, remove the top piece of paper and bake at 150°C for a couple of hours.
- When the base looks like it is beginning to brown turn the slab over to cook and dry out on the other side. It doesn’t matter if it breaks into a couple of pieces at this stage as it gets broken up into pieces for serving.
- It is a good idea to taste it during the cooking process and stop cooking when it has reached the desired ‘doneness’.
EGG WHITE SNACK
This is a strange little snack that would go well to fill a bit of a gap between meals or as part of an antipasto plate. It tastes a bit eggy but also is flavoured by whatever spices are used in it. I think it is better warm but next time I will try further crisping it in the oven if it happens to be going.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of egg whites
- seasoning – za’atar
- salt – 1/2 tsp
Method
- Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold in the the spices.
- Heat a large fry pan and add some butter, coconut or other oil, and when melted spread in the egg white mix. You may need 2 or cook it in 2 batches.
- Leave it to cook until the base has browned then turn over, at this stage start squashing it down or it will taste and look like a huge white omelette. Cook it on the second side until browned and then, if necessary, turn it again trying to get it quite crispy but not burned.
- When ready remove from the heat and slice into squares and serve.