Regarding meringue (following the raw egg/salmonella discussion), while I,
personally, would first use powdered, dried (pasteurized) egg whites (Deb
El Food's "Just Whites"), here is a recipe for safe meringue using fresh
egg whites. I have made meringue cookies and angel food cake using Just
Whites and am soooo impressed I really just wanted to put that out as an
alternative as well. I did not taste it as raw meringue, though .. doesn't
appeal to me, for some reason. I have whipped Ener-G Egg Replacer to what
looks like whipped egg whites (stiff enough to pipe from a pastry bag, but
I did not like the taste at all.
The New Safe Meringue
(from Alice Medrich's *wonderful* "Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts")
2 t. water
1/8 t. cream of tartar (important)
2 egg whites
4 T. sugar (can safely use1 T. per egg white .. will heat to 160 F 30-40%
more quickly .. be careful not to overcook .. though you can use up to 1/4
c. per white if recipe calls for it)
Work time: 7 minutes
1. Bring 1 inch water to gentle simmer in large skillet. Combine the 2 t.
water with cream of tartar in 4-6 cup stainless steel bowl. Addt he egg
whites and sugar and whisk together briskly to combine ingredients
thoroughly and break up the egg white clots (which have a tendency to
scramble first). Place instant read thermometer nera the stove in a mug of
very hot tap water.
2. Set bowl of egg whites in skillet. Stir mixture briskly and constantly
with a rubber spatula, scraping the sides and bottom often to avoid
scrambling the whites. After 1 minute, remove bowl from skillet. Quickly
insert (instant-read) thermometer, tilting bowl to cover stem by at least 2
inches. If less than 160 F, rinse thermometer in skillet water and return
it to mug. Replace bowl in skillet. Stir as before until temperature
reaches 160 F when bowl is removed. Beat on high speed until cool and
stiff.
This technique will achieve what is says: safe meringue. There is more
clear and very responsible info about safe meringue/raw egg whites in her
book on pages 138-141. I HIGHLY recommend this book and at least suggest
that those interested in meringue read this at a library or book store.
Hope this helps someone,
Katja
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