Notes from Stella's Kitchen
HARD-COOKED EGG
Easter is almost on us and it’s time to start thinking about hard-cooked eggs for your family’s annual Easter Egg Hunt. Note that I am saying hard-cooked eggs not hard-boiled eggs. There is a reason for this that I will go into in a moment.
What makes the absolutely perfect hard-cooked egg and what do you have to do to cook that perfect egg? How do you stop the eggs from cracking and the whites from running out during the cooking process? And wait! What are you going to do with all the absolutely perfect hard-cooked eggs left over after the Easter Egg Hunt? Can the remainder of those eggs be served at lunch or dinner on Easter Sunday?
Life is tough, so many questions!
The perfect hard-cooked egg can be described as having a tender white, no dark ugly line between the yolk and the white, being easy to peel, and having a yolk that is nicely centered. Such an egg is beautiful to behold and tasty to eat. Anything else is, well just another hard-cooked ugly, not too tasty egg.
What can happen to an egg to keep it from reaching that ideal? Well, excessive heat toughens an egg and causes a dark line to form between its yolk and white. Also, excessive pressure inside an egg and a drastic, sudden change in temperature will cause an egg to crack and let the white run out through the cracks while being cooked. And, finally fresh eggs are difficult to peel and the eggs sold in the stores at Easter always seem to be fresher than at any other time of the year!
So now we come to the hard-cooked egg versus hard-boiled egg part.
Instead of boiling the eggs, coddle them. However, before doing any cooking, take each egg and pierce the end of the egg with a thin needle. This will ease pressure build-up and eliminate the eggs cracking during cooking. I actually use one of those colored plastic bulletin board pins instead of a needle. I leave the eggs in their original cartoon and putting the pin on top of each egg, tap it with the back of a bread and butter knife. This does the job quickly and you are soon ready to start your coddling.
First place the eggs in a pan with enough water to cover them and bring the water to a boil. Turn off the heat immediately and cover the eggs. Let the eggs sit in the covered pan for about 17 minutes. Make certain that the eggs lay horizontally in the pan and turn them occasionally. This will keep the yolks centered and becomes important if you are going to eventually stuff the eggs.
After the 17 minutes, drain the water off the eggs, and immediately plunge them into cold water. Now take them out and peel them. The immersion in the cold water causes a jacket of steam to form between each egg and its shell, which ultimately makes peeling easier. Adding salt or white vinegar to the water after you turn the heat off also helps in the peeling process.
Another approach is to simmer the eggs. Bring enough water to a rapid boil to cover the eggs to be cooked. Gently lower the eggs into the boiling water and lower the heat until the water barely simmers. Leave them in the water for 10 minutes, drain them, plunge them into cold water, and then peel. When you peel, crack the entire egg first and then peel.
I’m sure there are several other approaches to making hard-cooked eggs. No matter which of the ways you chose to cook your eggs, you will note that constant excessive heat is not used in the cooking process and that these are never ‘hard-boiled.’
Now, what do you do with all those leftover absolutely perfect hard-cooked eggs that the kids have not squashed?
What about making a nice egg salad for the family lunch? or deviled eggs stuffed with shrimp? or potato salad? or pickled eggs? You can even make a sandwich with sliced hard-cooked eggs and a little mayonnaise for a quick and easy breakfast or lunch treat. To help you along I am offering two different versions of stuffed eggs for you to try. Hope you enjoy both versions.
Bon Appetit!
