Egg Nog
Although I don't think I've ever been near egg nog in all my 30+ years, reading the ingredients I immediately knew what it tasted like.
Milk, egg, sugar, cream, eggs are mean its basically a crème anglaise with flavoring. Which is fine cause whilst I've never made egg nog or tasted it, I've made and eaten crème anglaise in vast quantities. Sometimes I drink it straight up...I know disgusting, right ? but it's still an improvement over my old habit of drinking condensed milk straight out of the can. In 1000 years I may evolve to just having a refreshing glass of milk but don't hold your breath.
So I decided to start with a base crème anglaise infused with nutmeg. I did this in a water bath ( I know boring, right ?) but it can easily be done the standard way. Just chop of a bit of nutmeg and let it infuse in the pan. Cover with some cling film whilst cooking and leave covered once cool and leave over night for best results.
In addition to this I slow cooked and egg at 65oC for exactly 45 mins. Not a minute more or less. The result was this.
The runny white simply falls off and you are left with a perfectly cooked yolk soft on the inside but strong enough so you can throw it about a bit.
In order to do this you need a good fresh egg. Supermarkets are fine in fact I found the best ones at sainsburys in the end.
To tell how fresh your egg is simply look at the best before date. The date is there not because the egg goes bad on that date but because the egg has a natural immunity to bacteria for 28 days after it is been laid. Meaning that after 28 days you need to put it in the fridge, not chuck it out like my mum does.
So the date stamp will give you the exact date it was laid. I found one that was laid two day ago. I also found some in my all organic, all singing, all dancing, freshness guaranteed farmers market that were laid 20 days ago...tut tut.
The egg was rolled in a mixture of cinnamon and caster sugar then topped with some icing sugar for decoration.
The result was fabulous if a little messy to eat. And yes I have already finished of the rest of the creme anglaise, and yes I feel a little sick as a result.