On July 19, 2008, I was first introduced to the concept of Huevos Haminados. I know it was this date because I went around and bookmarked three different sites/recipes.
Huevos Haminados, which means "baked eggs" in Ladino, a Judeo-Spanish language spoken by Sephardic Jews, are served primarily on Pesach, when eggs are so important to the meal. But because of their long, slow cooking time, they work for any Jewish holiday because of all the prohibitions on cooking/lighting fire.
There are various recipes available, all of them use onion skins and some use coffee grounds. I used this recipe from the Kitchn blog which had the coolest illustrations. I went to the grocery store and asked for onion skins...voila, they gave them to me! And so we proceeded....
First we sorted out some pretty cilantro leaves and David helped me to press them onto the eggs.
and then tie them into old pantyhose, tightly. (Tight is key, I've learned, and skip the seams if you can.)
Put all the onion skins into a pot, add water to cover, and bring to a boil. That was the longest and hardest part....waiting.
After it comes to a boil, add peppercorns and salt, a few glugs of white vinegar, and the eggs. Drop to a simmer. Cover the water with a few glugs of olive oil. Cover and cook for HOURS. We started with one or two and it ended up being three hours before we turned off the stove (I would have left it longer but we were going out) and then I left them sit there while we went out for dinner. When we came back, I couldn't wait any longer - I was hoping they'd be cooled off but they weren't really. It didn't matter....
This is what it looked like:
And this is what came out of that mess:
Tomorrow we're going to taste. I was given advice to serve them with lemon.
I think they might be the coolest looking thing I've ever made.
Pesach is here tomorrow!
May this celebration of freedom bring joy and peace to you and your family...and to the whole world.
