Friday, October 9, 2009

Night-time soother


There is nothing so comforting as sipping this ambrosial drink from your favorite mug, cuddled in your warmest robe, after everyone is in bed. Ah, peace! This is a twist on traditional egg nog, but suitable even for those individuals who don't like eggs...or milk for that matter. I promise no eggy taste! The near-raw yolk will provide wonderful beneficial enzymes, fully-available nutrients, and will help restore the natural mucus lining to your digestive tract (trust me, this is a good thing). I must mention for those of you haunted by visions of salmonella that you should only consume raw or under-cooked eggs from pasture-raised chickens from a reliable source -- no $1/dozen eggs for this recipe, please! Eggs from healthy, properly-raised chickens do not carry salmonella and will pose no threat to your health.

Simply whisk one egg yolk (you may use the whole egg, but uncooked whites are sometimes difficult to digest, so I leave them out) in a bowl, then pour in about 10 oz. of the most natural milk you can find (raw from grass-fed cows is best, next best is grass-fed pasteurized but unhomogenized -- if you can't find these but still enjoy having milk in your diet, then use regular organic whole milk, never ultra-pasteurized). Add 1 tsp. maple syrup, a spoonful of butter, and warm very gently just past lukewarm in a small pot (the butter should just be partly melted). Pour into your mug and top with a sprinkling of nutmeg. Sip, relax, and text message your best friend if you like -- and I promise you will have found a wonderful way to feel both young and old (in a good way!) at the same time.

2 comments:

  1. Now that I've acquired the right kind of milk and eggs, I felt ready to try this. Very good, very sweet! I think the butter, milk and maple syrup took away the egg-y taste (I didn't use the egg whites either). I would probably use a bit more maple syrup next time and a little less nut meg- also I need to mix the nutmeg in really well so that I don't taste its bitterness. Thanks for this great recipe, Hannah!

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  2. Great -- glad you gave it a try! Be sure not to cook the milk & egg mixture too much -- it should really just be barely warm. If you heat it a lot or boil it you will lose the benefits of the egg yolk and the milk (which are extremely nutritious in their raw or gently heated forms and not as much in their cooked forms). Also, at first 1 tsp. of maple syrup will not seem like much, but if you keep trying this a few times you will see that it really is pleasantly sweet and doesn't need to be sweeter. This recipe is not supposed to be an excuse to drink something really sweet, but rather a good way of relaxing before bed. :) I find it helpful to measure out any added sweeteners I use so I know what I am actually consuming and can gradually decrease my dependency.

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