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.Time for some holiday eggnog or that amazing Caesar salad - or maybe not. The risk is slight, but the recent commotion about Salmonella contamination of eggs reminds us that eggs are safer if they are cooked. The whole business sent me in a hurry to check Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family to see what I had said about safe handling of eggs. Imagine my relief when I saw that I had gotten it right! In the informational box, Eggs, on page 105, I say “to kill any Salmonella in eggs, cook them to160° F. That is the soft-scramble stage, or, for a whole egg, cook until the white coagulates and the yolk is no longer runny.” The yolk is hot enough when the color is still translucent. It doesn’t have to be cooked to the lighter-yellow, opaque, and fully solid stage. If in doubt, do what I did and run a few experiments with your instant-read thermometer. Adding other ingredients, such as water, seasonings, cream, or cheese to scrambled eggs increases the temperature at which they coagulate. For instance, in the Spaghetti Carbonara (Yellow Spaghetti) recipe that precipitated the discussion in Secrets, Parmesan cheese and bacon drippings are stirred into the eggs, thus increasing the temperature at which they reach the soft-scramble and therefore safe stage.

However, knowing what to do about Salmonella contamination in eggs still left me curious about what the problem really is. Where is the contamination? Is it in or on the eggs? Enter Dr. Ron Kean, Poultry Extension Specialist from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The answer is in. In commercial production, it is unlikely to be on the egg because of stringent procedures for cleaning and inspecting eggs. As I report in Secrets, same informational box, Salmonella finds its way into the yolks of at most 1 in 10,000 eggs before they are laid. The problem with the egg producer who was recently in the news was two-fold: his laying shed was heavily contaminated with Salmonella and, more problematically, the contamination was from a particularly virulent form, Salmonella enteritidis.

That partially answered my question, but there was still one little piece. I understood that almost all poultry was contaminated with Salmonella, so what was the problem with eggs? Turns out that chickens for meat consumption do have a high level of contamination - some estimates would make that as high as 70%. That’s why, in Secrets (page 101) I make an issue of keeping clean when you cook chicken.

The take-home message? You don’t have to be afraid of eggs! Now, about that eggnog: You can purchase pasteurized eggs in the carton in the refrigerator case of your grocery store. Some stores also carry in-shell pasteurized eggs. Despite postings on the Web, heating eggs enough to pasteurize them (160° F) also cooks them. So make a great eggnog, but save some back for this amazing Caesar Salad Dressing:

In your blender or food processor, combine until garlic is pureed:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp. anchovy paste
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. Pasteurized eggs

Gradually drizzle in 1/3 cup olive oil, mixing until the liquid thickens and lightens - until you get an emulsion. Use with your favorite grated cheese, croutons and salad greens. This recipe is garlicky and not for the faint of heart!