Major Nikon's egg quest got me thinking...

[Lucinda]

Are there any recipes that you are working to perfect?

I'm on V.2 of my Lemon Curd trials, which turned out even better than V.1... but i'm still not finished tweaking. I had to put the filling back in the pan again to give it more heat. It's hard for me to stand at the stove long enough for my current recipe. Both times, I didn't let it go quite long enough. Once I get the lemons sorted, I'm moving on to Indian Breads.

What about you?

[Warpy]

1. I've always found eggs to be temperamental suckers

that can best be dealt with by lowering the hob to its lowest setting. At least it gives you an opportunity to react if they start to complain about their harsh treatment and curdle or turn rubbery.

My non cook mother never did quite get the hang of cooking them so I've never been able to get them past my nose by themselves. Egg foo yong is my favorite preparation, the flavor of the egg mostly disguised by vegetables and seasoning.

These days, my eggs are powdered since I only use them in baking and I don't bake that much since I had to forgo wheat. The powdered eggs work just fine in recipes that call for eggs.

[Lucinda]

3. I still make my Asiago Dill Omelette, but otherwise I don't make eggs often

even though we love breakfast for dinner. Bill adds eggs to his skillet breakfasts, but they are in scrambled form.

[Major Nikon]

2. Pretty much any recipe I make more than once I am working to perfect

I keep detailed notes in a journal so I can go back and make changes or add alternatives. I have a number of different temperature reading devices (including a temp data logger if you can believe it). I try to work on consistency and then vary from there.

[Lucinda]

4. You have a much more technical approach than I do

and as a result you probably have more success! I really should journal my recipe creations. It would be fun.
I wing it more these days than I used to.

[Sentath]

5. Experimental Banana Bread

I've been working on this on and off for a few years. See what you think. (I think I've posted this to DU before, but not necessarily to DU3)

Experimental Banana Bread

1/4 Cup Butter
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Very well drained Apple Sauce (strainer lined with well rinsed paper towel overnight)
2 Med Eggs
1/4 Cup lowfat Buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 Cup lightly mashed Banana (divided)
1 Cup unbleached AP Flour
1 Cup whole grain Pastry Flour (can substitute rye or spelt)
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder (scant)
3/4 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 Cup Pecans (chunks are better than chopped which are better than halves)
additional pecan halves and candied or maraschino cherries for decoration

In large bowl cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. This will take a bit. Add liquid ingredients and blend several more seconds. Scrape beaters and switch to a spoon to stir in the first cup of banana. In smaller bowl thoroughly combine dry ingredients. Add the dry to the wet and stir until just moistened. Add the rest of the banana and the pecans, stir gently to distribute.

[Lucinda]

8. How long does it bake? I like the ingredients list

some great flavor there!

Are you still tweaking it, or is this close to what you were looking for?

[Sentath]

9. Oh Crud, sorry.

40-50 minutes in a 350F oven or until a knife or skewer comes out almost clean.

This is the best version I have been able to develop. I can't push the fat any lower without making it rubbery or dry and I can't up the whole grains and fiber without affecting the texture.

If anyone has any ideas I'll happily bake a loaf to try them out this fall once AZ isn't in the 100's.

[Lucinda]

10. Thankie for the cooking info! I haven't made a lot of banana bread

so I don't have a lot of expertise, but I think we have cooks here who do.

I will try and give it a test myself when the weather gets a little cooler. Sounds really good to me!

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. I made Scotch Eggs last night

It will take a few tries to perfect those.

I took a bunch of pics and I'll put up a thread about them later.

[Lucinda]

7. Very cool!

I've never made them and Bill would love them. Looking forward to the pics!