Suspended
- Joined
- 26 Jan 2005
- Posts
- 5,426
- Location
- Cambridge
It came to my attention the other weekend, when I had to demonstrate to one of my friends how you boil an egg, that there are some people out there who really cannot cook to save their lives. Thus I thought I'd write this handy guide to let everyone know how to boil an egg - and for an encore I'll also tell you how to poach them, fry them, scramble them or make them into omelettes.
Boiled Eggs
The first thing to do is take your eggs out of the fridge before you start boiling any water - cold eggs are more likely to crack when you drop them into hot water.
Bring your water to the boil in a pan, and then carefully drop in your eggs. I find that simmering for 4-5 minutes gives a good soft-boiled egg, and 8-9 minutes gives a good hard-boiled egg. Use an egg timer if you like.
If you've hard-boiled your eggs, run them under the cold tap when you take them out of the pan - otherwise you get that classic gray yolk thing going on, which looks really unappetising.
If you've soft-boiled them, then invest in an egg-cup and serve them with buttered toast soldiers. A pinch of salt in the egg can make it taste nicer - or a drop of Worcestershire sauce.
Poached Eggs
I use a frying pan for this. Fill it halfway to the brim with water and add a tablespoon of vinegar, and heat it to boiling.
Break your egg into a saucer and then slide it into the frying pan. To break an egg either give it a sharp tap with a knife, or hit it gently against the side of your pan. Simmer until the white is set - at the point the yolk should still be runny.
Serve on buttered toast with brown sauce, or alternatively cook a pack of frozen spinach and serve poached eggs on top, drizzled with hollandaise sauce. Instant Eggs Florentine!
Fried Eggs
Put a little olive oil (a tablespoon at most) in a frying pan, and heat over a moderate heat until it's very runny, but not so much that it's spitting. Break your eggs into the pan, and continue frying over a moderate heat.
You can either use a spatula or a spoon to cover the yolk with oil in order to cook it, or you can use a spatula to flip the eggs 'easy over' and cook the yolk that way. If you easy over them, only let them sit upside-down in the pan for 5-10 seconds, or the yolk will become hard.
Scrambled Eggs
To serve 2 people you need 3 large eggs, about 50ml of milk and a wodge of butter - about a teaspoon. You also want salt and pepper.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them. Add your milk and your salt and pepper. Melt the butter in the bottom of a pan over a low heat, and then add the egg mixture. Continue cooking over a low heat until it's set - its important to move the eggs about with a wooden spoon so that they cook evenly, but you don't want to stir them too much - the idea is to get big lumps of egg set together.
Alternatively you can whack the whole lot, eggs, milk and butter, into a microwave-proof bowl and cook it on full power for 30 seconds at a time until it's set. Between each cooking you want to move the eggs around a bit, but not too much.
To serve, mix in chopped smoked salmon (you can pick up salmon trimmings v cheaply at a supermarket) and serve atop buttered toast.
Omelettes
To serve 1 person you need 2 eggs, a splash of milk, salt and pepper and maybe 2 tsp of butter.
Lightly mix the eggs and milk together, and season with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in the bottom of a pan and then add the egg mix. Cook on a moderate heat, occasionally lifting the bottom of the omelette with a spatula so that the uncooked egg can run underneath.
When it's all set, loosen around the edges with a spatula, fold it in half and serve onto a plate. Before you fold it you can add any number of extra goodies - cheese, ham, salmon, prawns, mushrooms, tomatoes etc.
Happy cooking!
Boiled Eggs
The first thing to do is take your eggs out of the fridge before you start boiling any water - cold eggs are more likely to crack when you drop them into hot water.
Bring your water to the boil in a pan, and then carefully drop in your eggs. I find that simmering for 4-5 minutes gives a good soft-boiled egg, and 8-9 minutes gives a good hard-boiled egg. Use an egg timer if you like.
If you've hard-boiled your eggs, run them under the cold tap when you take them out of the pan - otherwise you get that classic gray yolk thing going on, which looks really unappetising.
If you've soft-boiled them, then invest in an egg-cup and serve them with buttered toast soldiers. A pinch of salt in the egg can make it taste nicer - or a drop of Worcestershire sauce.
Poached Eggs
I use a frying pan for this. Fill it halfway to the brim with water and add a tablespoon of vinegar, and heat it to boiling.
Break your egg into a saucer and then slide it into the frying pan. To break an egg either give it a sharp tap with a knife, or hit it gently against the side of your pan. Simmer until the white is set - at the point the yolk should still be runny.
Serve on buttered toast with brown sauce, or alternatively cook a pack of frozen spinach and serve poached eggs on top, drizzled with hollandaise sauce. Instant Eggs Florentine!
Fried Eggs
Put a little olive oil (a tablespoon at most) in a frying pan, and heat over a moderate heat until it's very runny, but not so much that it's spitting. Break your eggs into the pan, and continue frying over a moderate heat.
You can either use a spatula or a spoon to cover the yolk with oil in order to cook it, or you can use a spatula to flip the eggs 'easy over' and cook the yolk that way. If you easy over them, only let them sit upside-down in the pan for 5-10 seconds, or the yolk will become hard.
Scrambled Eggs
To serve 2 people you need 3 large eggs, about 50ml of milk and a wodge of butter - about a teaspoon. You also want salt and pepper.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them. Add your milk and your salt and pepper. Melt the butter in the bottom of a pan over a low heat, and then add the egg mixture. Continue cooking over a low heat until it's set - its important to move the eggs about with a wooden spoon so that they cook evenly, but you don't want to stir them too much - the idea is to get big lumps of egg set together.
Alternatively you can whack the whole lot, eggs, milk and butter, into a microwave-proof bowl and cook it on full power for 30 seconds at a time until it's set. Between each cooking you want to move the eggs around a bit, but not too much.
To serve, mix in chopped smoked salmon (you can pick up salmon trimmings v cheaply at a supermarket) and serve atop buttered toast.
Omelettes
To serve 1 person you need 2 eggs, a splash of milk, salt and pepper and maybe 2 tsp of butter.
Lightly mix the eggs and milk together, and season with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in the bottom of a pan and then add the egg mix. Cook on a moderate heat, occasionally lifting the bottom of the omelette with a spatula so that the uncooked egg can run underneath.
When it's all set, loosen around the edges with a spatula, fold it in half and serve onto a plate. Before you fold it you can add any number of extra goodies - cheese, ham, salmon, prawns, mushrooms, tomatoes etc.
Happy cooking!
.