Sunday, August 14, 2005

The Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg

Ever since our marsupial ancestors decided to eat what came out of a chicken's behind, mankind has looked for the perfect way to cook it. The advent of cooktop stoves made it possible for us to finally do it right. For taste, texture, portability and ease of preparation, nothing beats a hard-boiled egg. After years and years of searching, I've found a fail-proof way to cook and peel the perfect hard-boiled egg every time.

1. Carefully place the eggs into your favorite pot or pan. Add enough cold water to completely cover the eggs.
2. Place on the stove, turn on the heat and bring water to a boil.
3. Boil for ten minutes. No more, no less. Use a timer if you have to.
4. When ten minutes is up, pour out the water and rattle the eggs around in the pan. The idea is to crack the eggs' shells fairly evenly around the entire shell, not to pulverize it.
5. Immediately plunge the eggs into icewater.
6. Wait a minute or so and peel the eggs. I start with sort of a belt around the middle so the ends just lift off.
7. Rinse away whatever small pieces of shell remain. (The only thing nastier than getting an eggshell in your food is getting a piece of pecan shell anywhere in your mouth.)
8. Salt, pepper and eat. Or devil. Or make a salad. Or slice and put on a salad.

Enjoy.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

But is there an Egg Festival anywhere? And is the attendance anything like the Spud Festival I've heard so much about. :) KW