Starting light...a different egg salad.

So I figure it’s best to start simple with this kind of stuff. How many ways are there to boil an egg? 2.8 million if you ask Google… I didn’t want to sort through all of those, I just wanted the easiest and most “foolproof” way of getting a hard-cooked egg that is, well… Good! I also learned that “boiled eggs” is somewhat of a misnomer, apparently the right term is “Hard-cooked” eggs. Why is this? Hell I dunno. I’m just going with it.

Of course, boiling an egg wouldn’t really count as a recipe, but knowing how to do it right every single time with just the result I want WILL help me use my hard-cooked eggs in other applications, which most definitely will help me on the road to chefdom. My mind is already watering at the prospect of deviled eggs, or egg salad sandwiches, or salad nicoise….I don’t even know what that is except that it sounds French, and if it is French, then it must have either butter or eggs in it!

The problem I’ve always had with boiled..er..hard cooked eggs is that they are so stinkin’ unpredictable! The shells are a pain to get off, the whites are rubbery sometimes, and the little yellow orb in the center can be either green, grey, or yellow-ish. But rarely do I get the eggs you see on TV. The ones that slip out of their shells with ease, revealing an almost creamy white and a bright yellow and moist yolk. That’s what I wanted. And after a little research on the technique of really “hard cooking” an egg, this is the method I’m using, no crystal ball, intuition, or fancy gadgets. All I needed was a saucepan and an egg timer.

It took about a half hour total, from boiling the water to cracking the eggs open. These were just “sample” eggs. A sample of heaven was more like it! Quivering whites, and bright yellow yolks, fluffly, but just…a…tad… moist in the center. I could not stop myself from wolfing them down with a little salt and pepper. I stayed awake most of the night daydreaming about what I was going to do with this technique when I woke up!

And what did the day bring? A nice salad of course, with plenty of flavor from smoked provolone and some black pepper salami, a little saltiness from some kalamata olives, slight bitterness from some cute little baby mesclun greens, fresh tomatoes and some big fat crisp and sweet butter lettuce. I tossed on some shallot for a delicate little bite and whisked together a quick honey mustard vinagrette. But those eggs really brought everything together. I’ll probably be having quite a bit of fun with hard-cooked eggs in the future, and it’s probably good I started this course with a salad, as premature atonement for the gobs of butter, slabs of bacon, pot roasts, gravies, and baked treats to come.

That’s 1 day, and 1 dish down. Can’t wait for tomorrow’s adventure!