Dr. Seuss, whimsical word smith and children’s book author, would have been 108 years old today.
Creator
of fanciful creatures like Hinkle-Horn Honkers and Tizzle-Topped
Grouses, Dr. Seuss’ books are loved by children and adults alike. His
work is alive and well long after his death, with his story “The Lorax”
hitting the big screen this year.
Let us celebrate Dr. Seuss
today by whipping up one of his creations — a dish near and dear to
our hearts — green eggs and ham! We’ve included two recipes for you — a
traditional one from CDKitchen and a more modern approach from the FoodNetwork. Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday in style!
Original Green Eggs & Ham
— 1/4 teaspoon green food coloring
— 5 tablespoons water
— sliced ham
— 2 eggs
— non stick cooking spray
Mix
food color and water, set aside. Separate egg white from egg yolks.
Place two teaspoons of food color with egg white and mix. Put two
tablespoons of food mixture with egg yolks. Brush ham with food color
and fry ham until cooked, remove from pan. Place egg whites in fry pan
and cook just until they start to set.Place egg yolks on top of
the egg whites. Add an additional teaspoon of color mixture to egg to
help steam eggs. Put a lid on top of fry pan and finish steaming eggs
until done.If the children prefer scrambled eggs, you may want
to add two teaspoons of food color mixture to eggs and scramble. When
cooking scrambled eggs, cook on medium heat stirring briskly until done.
Rachael Ray’s Green Eggs & Ham
— 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
— 1 tablespoon butter
— 2 large shallots, finely chopped
— 1 (10-ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted in microwave and liquids drained
— 1/3 to 1/2 cup heavy cream, eyeball it
— Salt and freshly ground black pepper
— Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
— 8 slices deli ham or prosciutto di Parma
— 8 eggs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In
a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the extra-virgin olive oil and
the butter and sweat the shallots a few minutes. Add the spinach and
stir in the cream, season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a
little grated nutmeg. Cook the spinach, stirring occasionally, until the
cream has thickened, 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning to your taste.Fold
each slice of ham or prosciutto in half and line the nonstick cups with
1 slice of meat each. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the cooked spinach
into each of the cups, then crack an egg into each, making sure it stays
whole (hint – if you’re worried about breaking the egg yolk, crack the
egg into a small bowl first, then pour it into the muffin cup). Season
the tops of the eggs with salt and freshly ground black pepper and bake
in the oven until set, about 15 minutes. Allow the baked eggs to cool in
the muffin cups for a couple of minutes before removing them from the
pan. Serve immediately.
