Breakfast of Champions

They're all-a-tizzy about Eggnog on Television Food School these days. Something about making and serving anything with a raw egg in it. Oh, for the innocent days of "Rocky", when you could become a manly-man, do daily victory laps from Po-boy land to the now iconic steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art - by downing a dozen raw eggs mixed with other healthful, but non-steroid and non-alkaloid ingredients. Proving, "Rocky" was fiction even unto fiction, straying as it did from the dark reality of professional sports and the original boxing script. No one gets to be someone without paying homage to the great alkaloid and steroid game.

Back to Eggnog TV and their food wars. What alcohol goes into "real" eggnog recipes that "serves 16"? For me, it's an inexpensive brandy I get at a discount food supply that caters to restaurants. You try getting a reservation for 16 at someone else's house while dictating VSOP only. You'll likely be directed to the nearest hoi-polloi restaurant. Whose service personnel I see scrounging the same alcohol aisles with moi.

I took a recipe for "Puerto Rican Egg Nog" and modified it to balance it to the Tastewheel(c), and to use our local ingredients.

I shall suggest: do refrain from the requisite taste test, warm from the pot, prior to complying with the final instruction, "chill well and serve". My batches rarely make it that far, unless I hide some, only to find, come Holiday mornings, this eggnog warmed up and served over cornflakes. Breakfast of Champions.

This serves 2, four times I think.

3 C water
3 lumps of Mexican sugar or Indian sugar
(Piloncillo or Jaggery - these should have molasses)
Orange juice 2 Tb and orange zest
--or--
Lime juice 1 Tb and lime zest
The Holiday alcoholic spice band
2 large egg yolks
1 Can evaporated milk
1 Can Coconut milk
1 C inexpensive Brandy or Rum

Heat water, sugar and cinammon sticks. Add orange or lime stuff, and the spices. Boil, cook down to 1 cup. Strain. Cool slightly.

Place two egg yolks in saucepan, over LOW heat add some milk, and start whisking. Never stop. Add all the milk, and prepare to whisk for 20 minutes but never boil, until the mixture thickens and coats a spoon. If you have a thermometer it'll register about 140, boiling is 212. Trust me, it takes forever to get it to 140, and like 2 seconds to go from 140 to 212, so watch it. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

To the sugar liquid add the coconut milk and mix well, then combine this with the yolk mixture and the brandy or rum. Top with just nutmeg. Taste with restraint. Chill well and serve.

Taste Values:
Level 1:
Level 2:
Level 3:

[Interpretation of Taste Values from the XYZ Tastewheel (c) 2006 All rights reserved]


Health Values:
Depends on your personal constitution, season, geographical location, and current state of body, spirit and and mind!