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egg porridge
Cooking a whole egg or an egg yolk into porridge gives it extra richness and creaminess – whisk it into the cold water or milk before heating. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian
Cooking a whole egg or an egg yolk into porridge gives it extra richness and creaminess – whisk it into the cold water or milk before heating. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

How to use up separated eggs

This article is more than 8 years old

The dregs of eggs often create a dilemma for the waste-conscious cook. How to use those remaining whites and yolks, that leftover beaten half-egg or that ageing last one in the box?

Anyone who, starting with a whole box of eggs, has ever made a meringue, a mayonnaise or one of those confounding recipes that call for half an egg, will know the vague sense of bewilderment that ensues – what do I do with all the resulting leftovers? The trick, of course, is to flip this sentence on its head – a meringue, a mayonnaise and one of said confounding recipes are excellent things to do with leftovers from previous recipes. Which is to say: never discard any egg. Cook columnist Tamar Adler says that an egg can turn anything into a meal. And this is true of even part of an egg.

Leftover mixed egg

One of the best uses for half a beaten egg is Yotam Ottolenghi’s full-of-herbs fishcakes. These dainty aromatic patties are likely culprits for my having half an egg lurking in the fridge to begin with, but that is only a reason to make more of them. Haddock, shallots and garlic are combined with lemongrass, ginger, basil, dill and coriander leaves and seeds, and held together with that splash of mixed egg. While the superlative results make sticking to Ottolenghi’s recipe worthwhile, the basic principle of just a little egg going a long way can be transferred to all sorts of other combinations for fishcakes, patties and fritters alike.

Another excellent use for mixed egg are Japanese kinshi tamago crepes: the thinnest sweet crepes (egg with a little sugar, salt and sake), julienned to pile on top of chirashizushi or mazesushi (deconstructed sushi in a bowl). Standard recipes will ask for 3-4 whole eggs, yielding 8-10 crepes, however I find that no matter how little egg I have to use up, the few resulting crepes are an excellent topping for pretty much anything, and not just with Japanese flavours either. Goodness bowls – a whole host of veg, herbs, pickles or ferments, nuts and seeds atop a grain of some kind – are delicious when garnished with a tangle of creped egg as opposed to its fried or poached relative. And soft or coarsely scrambled, this same sweetened egg mix works just as well.

Actually any irregular amount of egg can be scrambled – Damian Clisby of Petersham Nurseries makes his with kimchi, and that melding of egg’s creamy richness with some fizzing fermented spice is a heady one. Cooking a whole egg or an egg yolk into porridge gives it extra richness and creaminess – whisk it into the cold water or milk before heating.

Frittatas are the leftover medium of choice, welcoming every scrap of veg and cheese, any flurry of fresh herb and whatever amount of egg you have to hand. Serve with a generous helping of salsa verde, a squeeze of lemon, something spicy, such as harissa or sriracha, and a hunk of bread, and you’re golden.

Leftover egg whites

Albumen is a natural binding agent, as well as a means of getting air into mixtures when beaten. These two characteristics combined make the egg white a sweet-toothed eater’s best friend. Traditionally, Piedmontese panna cotta is made with double cream, sugar, vanilla and egg whites rather than gelatin, and baked in a bain marie – a beautifully simple dessert. Similarly, a good chocolate mousse needs no more than dark chocolate, egg white, sugar and a hint of lemon juice – see Raymond Blanc’s classic recipe.

Egg white is what every billowy candy – from meringues and macaroons to nougat and marshmallows – owes its billow to. Felicity Cloake has, obviously, perfected the meringue, so look to her for the goods on that front. Her recipe references Yotam Ottolenghi, Marcus Wareing, Leiths Baking Bible and Larousse Gastronomique: you will be in safe hands. For nougat, or more specifically nougat de Montélimar (and not nougatine, a much crunchier French treat), the Kitchn again has an excellent recipe: the egg whites are combined with sugar, vanilla, honey, pistachios and a whopping kilo of almonds. Coconut macaroons combine egg whites, flour, desiccated coconut, sugar and vanilla – the Joy of Baking has a recipe and a video showing you how. And homemade marshmallows are, simply put, a wonder to behold, and, according to David Lebovitz, they’re not that much of a faff: if you can whip egg whites, he says, you can make marshmallows.

If you like your morning cereal in clusters, an egg white or two in your batch of baked granola is what you need to make it clump. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

If you like your morning cereal in clusters, an egg white or two in your batch of baked granola is what you need to make it clump. Add the white to any recipe, once you’ve mixed all the ingredients together. Don’t stir while it bakes and leave it to cool completely before breaking it up. Egg white serves a similar clumping purpose in the making of candied nuts, and Smitten Kitchen points to Elizabeth Karmel’s sugar and spice pecans and walnuts as the best example of these around.

Whites can also serve in place of whole eggs, proving that whites make for delicious savoury dishes – from omelettes and scrambled eggs, to frittatas and fritters. Jordan Sclare, executive head chef at Chotto Matte, makes banana fritters for family weekend brunches: semi-whisked egg whites mixed with crushed overripe banana, a little flour and honey.

For egg white omelettes and scrambles – the very definition of lean – you want lots of added flavour: herbs, spices, fragrant veg or cheese (if it’s really too lean for your liking). The most arresting idea I came across is Steve Groves of Roux at Parliament Square’s bobotie-inspired version, filled with spiced mince and sultanas. Garnished with fresh herbs and a dollop of apricot chutney, that would make a mean brunch any time of the week. Egg white, it should be noted, is also what you use to clarify a consommé. As author Michael Ruhlman explains, the albumen serves as a filter during the cooking process: a fascinating bit of technical culinary know-how.

Leftover egg yolks

By far the most elegant of solutions when you’ve taken only the whites from a box of eggs is to make confit yolks: it’s the cheffy thing to do. It’s also very easy. You will need intact yolks, so always be sure to separate eggs with care, just in case. Carefully slide the yolks into a roasting pan filled with enough olive oil to cover them completely, then cook in the oven on the lowest heat possible for about an hour. The resultant golden baubles will take any dish usually topped with a poached egg to a whole new level.

Yolks that haven’t been quite as carefully excised from their whites make a marvellously rich, almost decadent scramble, as Niki Segnit puts it in her Flavour Thesaurus, “the bon vivant’s answer to the egg-white omelette”.

Pasta alla carbonara calls for the pasta to be dressed in guanciale, pecorino romano, egg yolks and black pepper only. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

And then there’s proper pasta alla carbonara. The truly traditional Roman way calls for pasta – spaghetti, most often, though fettuccine, rigatoni or bucatini appear too – to be dressed in guanciale, pecorino romano, egg yolks and black pepper. And that’s it. Often each serving will be topped with an additional egg yolk – because, frankly, why not? Rachel Roddy, Cook’s favourite Roman resident, describes how it’s done.

Further coating in egg yolk comes with Jordan Sclare’s excellent herb crust for roasted meat or grilled fish: a mixture of yolks, breadcrumbs, sea salt, fresh herbs, chopped olives and a glug of olive oil packed on to your cut or fillet before it’s cooked.

A mayonnaise of some kind might be the obvious use for a leftover yolk or two, but you could definitely do worse. Homemade mayo, when done well, shuts any shop-bought version down in a hurry. The same goes with homemade hollandaise and béarnaise. The fact that the Guardian alone has at least 15 recipes for various sorts proves this – from Nicholas Balfe’s anchovy affair to Fergus Henderson’s aioli (which uses a whopping 20 garlic cloves), the range of what you can with an emulsion is broad, to say the least.

Custard, of course, is mayo’s dessert cousin, an emulsion of altogether sweeter proportions, and the pudding to turn to when yolks abound. Felicity Cloake has again done the groundwork, with a recipe calling for 6 yolks, a pint of whole milk, one vanilla pod, 2 tbsp of caster sugar and 1 tbsp of cornflour. See also her take on the classic creme brulee, an even simpler mix of cream, yolks, vanilla and sugar, these two perfect puds proving that mediocrity does not necessarily follow ubiquity: if you have a few yolks, you are halfway to happiness.

If you have many, many yolks, there’s a nifty Peruvian treat to try: yemellicas are small rolled candies made with at least 10 yolks, an inordinate amount of sugar and a dash of whole milk. Double the amount of sugar and your yemellicas become little caramels. In the Violet Bakery Cookbook, Claire Ptak explains how Pierre Hermé taught her what a dramatic difference a yolk can make to a dish. He made a cookie with egg yolks, she writes, that was rich and delicious and had a beautiful texture. Ptak’s own egg yolk chocolate chip cookie is her coconut macaroon’s beautiful sidekick; together they ensure no part of each cracked egg goes unwanted. And that is precisely how you should think of your eggs: within each lies not just Tamar Adler’s means towards a meal, but also a solution and a beginning. Leftover egg is potential itself.

How to store separated eggs

Both whites and yolks keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Egg whites also freeze well, and as The Kitchn in their excellent egg quick tips points out, when frozen, they keep forever. They recommend having a container in your freezer specifically for that purpose. Make a point of noting on the container how many you’ve added, so you know when you have enough for a specific recipe. Another Kitchn idea is to freeze one or a couple of egg whites in ice-cube trays. Yolks are another matter altogether – they begin to gel when frozen, which can be avoided with the addition of salt or sugar, depending on their future usage. To every 4 yolks, add a pinch of salt for savoury uses, or 1 tsp of sugar for sweet ones: keep in clearly labelled containers in your freezer.

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