Eggland’s best seasonal foodie event

I was invited to a seasonal event by the folks at Eggland’s Best at Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in NYC. I really love going to ICE because I looove large, industrial sized kitchens, not to mention an opportunity to learn something new in the cooking world. It was fun to meet new bloggers and reacquaint myself old ones.

According to the website, Eggland’s Best eggs contain 10 times more Vitamin E than ordinary eggs, four times more Vitamin D, 115mg of Omega 3, when compared to regular eggs.  And one Eggland’s Best large white egg contains just 175mg of Cholesterol compared to 215mg in an ordinary egg.

We learned that there is no nutritional difference between brown and white eggs. They also have regular eggs, and a different brand of organic eggs.

See photos of our scrumptious dinner after the jump!

We started off with some drinks and appetizers.

Appetizer #1: Japanese egg “tamago yaki” maki rolls with shrimp and edamame puree, wrapped in egg instead of seaweed. It was good, but I didn’t eat more than one.

Appetizer #2: Crostini with Serrano ham, smoked pimenton-deviled egg and roasted peppers. I thought the flavors went well together and enjoyed this one a lot. There was another appetizer that I didn’t get to try – baked truffled egg custards with gruyere and chives, garnished with black caviar.

After a brief introduction by President and CEO, Charlie Lanktree, we learned that we were going to be cooking seasonally from a menu that Chef Erica Wides created.

We all put on our chef hats and aprons, then broke up into smaller groups and started the cooking process. I ended up in the dessert station, chopping rhubarb and whisking the custard. (Or watching someone else whisk the custard, I should say). I loved the mirrors on top so you can see what other people are up to!

The making of fresh ravioli, filled with crab and lobster! And my favorite, poached eggs. They used this circular mold to keep it in place! Genius!

After working hard at our stations, we sat down for a lovely dinner. I was famished by then! Btw, have you ever used a bowl of eggs as a centerpiece?

First course: warm salad of asparagus, morels, baby carrots, sugar snap peas with slivers of duck prosciutto, toasted walnuts and champagne vinaigrette and a white wine poached egg on top. I loved the texture of fresh vegetables with the poached egg. I know that morels are super expensive, but I did not enjoy those at all.

Entree: Crab and lobster ravioli with fresh peas, fennel, leeks, golden beets, saffron and chives in lobster broth with prosecco sabayon. And radishes that were forgotten from the first course. The fresh ravioli was delicious! I now want to go buy a pasta maker.

Dessert #1: Lemon pudding souffles with mixed berries and rhubarb coulis. The souffle was light & fluffy, which went well with the fresh fruit. It was a great way to end the meal. But then…

I saw dessert #2: Assorted meringue cookies petit fours made from the egg whites we didn’t use for the souffle. It was amazingly light and melted in my mouth. I think I enjoyed the petit fours more than the souffle!

We each received this huge goodie bag full of some really great stuff! We got recipes for everything we ate that day. I might have to do a follow up post after trying out one of the recipes. But my favorite item in the goodie bag was this GIANT golf umbrella that can fit a family of 5. I do wonder if I’ll get cursed at by those walking next to me on the sidewalk though.

I don’t know a thing about planting, but I’m excited about this herb garden! Thanks to D, I will plant some of the seeds soon!

And check it out – already cooked and peeled eggs! The egg slicer(I forgot to include in the previous photo) came in handy as I made an egg salad sandwich the next day in 5 minutes. It was super easy and yum!

Disclaimer: I was provided with the opportunity to attend this event at no cost to me. No monetary compensation has been granted for writing a review. I do not write on behalf of anyone else; all thoughts and opinions are my own.