Let’s take a break from some of this complicated cooking stuff, shall we? It’s ‘Maycember’ after all!
(For those who don’t know this new term, it’s basically equating the month of May with December in terms of busyness—activities, gatherings, outdoor to-do list items—especially for those with school-aged children.)
So, in honor of Maycember, we’re taking it easy and talking about EGGS. What could be simpler?
Well, cooking eggs doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult, but there are definite ways to improve the taste and texture of your eggs by following a few simple steps.
First, we’ll talk about scrambling. According to The Food Lab, by J. Kenji López-Alt, scrambling is all about the wait time before you actually start cooking. López-Alt is a New York Times food columnist and chief culinary advisor at SeariousEats.com. His book also won the James Beard Award…so, basically, you should do anything he says in relation to food. (I have, and I’m always glad I did.)
I’ve been making my scrambled eggs his way for awhile now—I think it was the first thing I tried after I got his book—and like I said, I’m glad I did. All you have to do is think ahead; you need to start about 15 minutes before you want to actually cook the eggs. In a bowl, crack your eggs; add a dash of salt and milk, scramble and let sit. The salt and milk both work to lessen the attraction between the protein bonds in the yolks (i.e. they loosen up) which leads to a fluffier, tender texture. The salt also prevents the eggs from weeping after cooking, but it must have time to dissolve, hence the 15-minute wait time.
Your bowl of raw egg should turn a darker shade of orange. Now pour the mixture into a warm skillet—not hot—and cook them on low heat, using your spatula to gently scrape the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat off and remove your pan from the burner just before the eggs are completely done; they’ll finish cooking with the residual heat. They should be shiny with soft mounds, but no liquid.
Next, we’ll talk about hard-boiling. My daughter likes hard-boiled eggs (She also likes beets—how did I get so lucky?!) and they are an excellent protein source to pack in her preschool lunches. López-Alt’s method is a bit tedious, BUT it ensures the yolk is perfectly cooked and that you can easily peel the shell off the egg without losing the white along with it.
The challenge with hard-boiling eggs is that the whites and the yolks cook very differently. The goal is to get the whites cooked but not rubbery, and the yolks to be creamy but not chalky. López-Alt recommends a hot start to eggs—gently dropping them into already boiling water—instead of putting eggs into cold water and then bringing it all to a boil. Why? Cooking the whites hot and fast allows the outer edges of the whites to adhere to itself instead of the membrane of the shell. This allows you to peel the egg more easily. Now, what about the problem of overcooked, green egg yolks? That green tint is caused by the iron in the yolks reacting with the sulfur in the whites at high temperatures. The remedy? Don’t cook your eggs in a rapid boil the whole time. Instead, after lowering your eggs into the boiling water, wait 30 seconds and then add ice cubes. Yes, ice cubes. You’ve got to lower the temperature of the water, and fast. Continue cooking the eggs at a simmer for 11 minutes. Voilá! Perfect hard-boiled eggs.
That’s all the room we have for today folks—I’ll be back with more of J. Kenji López-Alt’s egg wisdom next month!
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