Have you ever seen those ginormous ostrich eggs at the Greenmarket and wondered how to cook them? In this week’s Cooking with Bwog, our culinary correspondent Matt Powell, assisted by fearless photographer Amanda Tien and the rest of the connoisseurs in the Culinary Society, show you how to make the most of your egg.

First, you have to open the egg: Lay the egg on its side and whack it with the dull end of a butter knife until a soft spot forms. Chisel a small hole into the egg, and slowly carve away the shell around the hole. Pour the egg into a large bowl (the one pictured is 3 liters), and pick out any shell remnants. Now you’re ready to cook it!

Ostrich Egg Scramble with Fried Hen-of-the-Woods Mushrooms

Quite frankly, we didn’t know how to approach the ostrich egg. Naturally, the first thing that came to mind is a good old-fashioned scramble. Plus, we picked up mushrooms from my favorite person at the farmer’s market! Hen-of-the-Woods are the best!

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp. bacon grease
  • ½ red bell pepper, diced
  • ½ red onion, diced
  • 2 handfuls of arugula
  • About 3-4 cups of the ostrich egg
  • 4 oz. freshly shredded parmesan cheese
  • ½ lb. hen-of-the-woods (maitake) mushrooms
  • 2 tbsp. bacon grease or butter
  • Salt and Pepper

Directions

  1. In a large caldero, skillet, or other large piece of kitchen equipment for the stove, melt the tbsp. of bacon grease over medium-high heat. Add in the diced pepper and onion and sauté until soft.
  2. Add in the arugula and egg. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook until it is the consistency of scrambled eggs. (The arugula will wilt into nothing-ness.) Add in your parmesan cheese.
  3. In a separate skillet, heat the remaining grease. Lightly sauté the mushrooms until they are fragrant and crispy.
  4. Top the ostrich egg scramble with the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.

Challah French Toast

Rachelle, our upcoming Culinary Co-President, came up with this masterful and incredibly dessert-like recipe. It played nicely off of the ostrich egg’s natural sweetness. She rebuked me when I asked where the maple syrup was.

Ingredients

  • 1 Challah loaf, thickly sliced
  • ¾ C of the ostrich egg
  • ½ C heavy cream
  • 4 tbsp. sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp. vanilla
  • 6 tbsp. butter
  • 12 tbsp. brown sugar

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, layer the slices of Challah bread. In a separate bowl, whisk the ostrich egg, cream, sugar, and vanilla together. Pour this mixture over the Challah bread and allow it to soak.
  2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt the butter in the skillet. Place 2-3 slices of Challah in the skillet and allow one side to cook. While one side cooks, sprinkle about 1 tbsp. of brown sugar on the top. Once the bottom of the French toast is cooked, flip the bread. Allow the bread to cook through and the sugar to caramelize. Serve piping hot. It is acceptable to serve with berries, but please, no maple syrup.

All photographs courtesy of Amanda Tien.