Hi everyone,
I was just browsing around on Amazon's website and I came across some interesting recipes for the traditional eggnog we drink during the holidays. I thought you would like it if I posted the article here, so here it is:
From "Cook's Illustrated"
A Silky Holiday Treat-No Food Police Allowed 
By Anne Tuomey and Ann Flanigan
Quote:
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Traditional eggnog has a little something for everyone these days to criticize. Heavy cream, raw eggs, and alcohol, the building blocks of eggnog recipes for centuries, are not on the A list of many cooks today. But just as creamed onions, prime rib, and pecan pie are reserved for a once-or-twice-a-year event, so is eggnog, and it should be enjoyed in moderation without fear of the food police. The rich, deep, creamy flavor of a really fine eggnog is just too good to pass up. The eggnog recipes we gathered fell into two categories, uncooked and cooked. Making an uncooked eggnog generally involves beating whole eggs or yolk with sugar, adding alcohol and dairy (milk, cream, or a combination of the two), and finally, folding in beaten egg whites to create a frothy texture. The cooked versions use a custard base of beaten whole eggs or yolks that are heated with milk and sugar and then combined with alcohol and heavy cream (either whipped or not) to create a thicker, creamier texture. We really had no bias toward one or the other when we began testing, and we were prepared to deal with the raw egg issue if we liked the uncooked eggnog better. However, we ended up preferring the custardy flavor and creaminess of the cooked versions.
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Then they continue:
Smooth and Thick, Eggy but Sweet Quote:
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Starting with a standard custard recipe (6 eggs to 4 cups milk to 1/2 cup sugar), we tinkered around to find improvements. We finally settled on adding 2 extra egg yolks to our original recipe to improve the custard flavor and richness--a small but noticeable change--and added another 2 tablespoons of sugar as well as a dash of salt to enhance the flavor. Although we felt we had the right custard proportions, we still had a problem refining the smooth texture. Many, but not all recipes, specified adding the milk gradually to the beaten eggs. We had taken this for granted in our usual desire to hurry up the final product, but now we found that the smoothness of the custard really did depend on how well the milk blended with the beaten eggs. If the eggs were not beaten in completely, we ran the risk of finding little bits of egg in our final nog. By adding the milk in smaller amounts, we were forced to make sure the mixture was blending well before we added more. Finally, in case a few pieces of egg did make their way into our mix, we decided to strain it as insurance.
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Making It Creamy Quote:
We wanted a rich eggnog with a relatively thick, creamy texture. The custard base alone was quite flavorful and thick, but it was not quite eggnog. Most recipes we had seen used heavy cream to enhance the custard, and we tended to agree. We tried adding all kinds of other dairy products to the custard, including light cream, half and half, whole milk, 2% milk, nonfat milk, and evaporated milk. But we found that none gave us the consistency or color or flavor provided by heavy whipped cream. The amount of heavy cream we used seemed to depend on how much alcohol we added. The alcohol thinned out the custard while the cream replaced some of this lost heft. You can decrease the cream slightly if you eliminate the brandy or increase it proportionally if you enjoy a stiffer eggnog. Lesser amounts of cream and unwhipped cream failed to adequately thicken the eggnog, while too much cream drowned out the custard and alcohol flavor, and separated from the custard too easily. Softly whipped cream blended in very smoothly with the custard, while cream beaten to stiff peaks was somewhat difficult to fold in completely, creating globules of whipped cream that were hard to blend. One half cup of whipped cream worked well with the amount of alcohol we were using.
Last, but not least, were the flavorings. We tested recipes that used everything from blades of mace and split vanilla beans to whole cloves and cinnamon sticks. Call us traditionalists, but in the end we felt that you just cannot beat vanilla extract and nutmeg for true holiday eggnog flavor.
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And their recipe follows this:
Holiday Eggnog Serves 12 to 16
Adding the milk to the eggs in small increments and blending thoroughly after each one helps ensure a smooth custard. To prevent curdling, do not heat custard beyond 160 degrees. If it
does begin to curdle, remove from heat
immediately and pour into a bowl set over a larger bowl of ice water to stop the cooking, and proceed with recipe. You can omit the brandy to make a nonalcoholic eggnog, but you should also decrease the cream to 1/4 cup in order to keep the right consistency. For the same reason, increase the cream to 3/4 cup if you choose to add another 1/2 cup alcohol for a high-test nog.
6 large eggs, plus 2 yolks
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup brandy, bourbon, or dark rum
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg, plus extra for garnish
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
1)Off heat, whisk eggs, yolks, sugar, and salt in heavy 3- or 4- quart saucepan. Stir in milk, 1/2 cup at a time, blending well after each addition. Heat slowly over lowest possible flame, stirring constantly, until custard registers 160 degrees on instant read thermometer, thickens, and coats the back of a spoon, 25 to 30 minutes.
2)Pour custard through sieve into large bowl; stir in liqour, vanilla, and grated nutmeg. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours and up to 3 days.
3)Just before serving, whip cream in medium bowl to very soft peaks and gently fold into custard mixture until incorporated. Serve in chilled punch bowl or cups, garnishing with optional grated nutmeg.
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I am eagerly awaiting the reviews and feedbacks of those of you who have already made this recipe. I know I have another eggnog recipe stored away somewhere at home, which was given to me last Christmas by someone else, and if you like, I could post it here for you. I hope this recipe helps you have some fun and I hope to make it myself some day!
Holiday Eggnog 
