Egg-cellent cooking hacks you need to know
Eggs are among the greatest comfort foods, and while they might seem easy to cook, there are a number of easy ways you can take them further.
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When it comes to comfort foods, there is arguably none greater than a golden, gooey-yolked egg served with hot, buttered soldiers on the side.
The simple things in life are usually the best, after all.
In our coronavirus quarantined kitchens, many are using this new-found time to finally master some cooking basics — including the perfect boiled egg.
Delicious. contributing food editor Warren Mendes said many people were using enforced isolation to hone life skills.
“Now we have this time, it’s about mastering the basics, how to boil an egg, how to roast a chicken properly, how to cook rice and pasta properly — the basics that a lot of the time get overlooked,” he said. “Initially people went a bit crazy making sourdough and all this stuff, but now we’ve eased into (isolation) as a normality, I think mastering the stuff you’d use all the time is becoming quite valuable for people.”
BOILING POINT
The perfect boiled egg, according to Mendes, needs to be cooked from a boiling start as “it’s the only way to have complete control over the timing”.
“As soon as you go from a cold-start boil, you’re leaving too much of an error potential, someone might have a huge pot of water that takes 15 mins to come to the boil, it’s going to be vastly different to someone with a tiny little pot,” Mendes said.
To ensure your eggs don’t crack when placed into the boiling water, take them out of the fridge 15 minutes earlier and lower gently into the pan.
“I like my eggs to be soft boiled, so I know every time I cook a 59g egg (XL) for six-and-a-half minutes in boiling water it will be perfect. There’s no room for error,” he said.
VERY A-PEELING
To easily peel a boiled egg, the key is to plunge the eggs into iced water once they’ve finished cooking. This process helps to set the membrane surrounding the egg, creating a film between the white and the shell.
“This is the most important thing, to put the egg into iced water, or run under a very cold tap after boiling,” Mendes said.
There are two methods of peeling: spoon, and jar.
Most will be familiar with the spoon method. Simply use the back of a spoon to gently shatter the eggshell, turning the egg around to shatter it everywhere. Then gently peel away the shell, which should come off in large pieces. Make sure you try and peel from the thin membrane under the shell as this is much easier.
The jar method can be used to peel multiple hard boiled eggs at once.
Add some cold water to a large jar with a lid, then add the boiled eggs. Close the lid and gently shake the eggs to shatter the shells. You will start to see the shells removing as you shake the eggs around. Don’t be too rough, as the eggs might break up.
“This method is a bit of fun. We found that just shaking the eggs around in the jar didn’t work so well, but with a bit of water in there the eggs almost peeled themselves,” Mendes said. “It’s not obviously a good method for very soft boiled eggs, but if you’re doing a few eggs at a time it’s good.”
If you want to eat your peeled eggs hot, simply dunk in iced water for a few seconds, so they are cool enough to handle, but will still be warm inside.
YOU MUST BE YOLKING
Separating yolks and whites is an essential part of baking — and as we’re doing more baking these days, so, too are home cooks getting their hands sticky with whites.
Mendes said using a water bottle was a great hack when separating a large number of eggs.
Crack the eggs on a flat surface and add them to a large bowl. Using an empty flexible plastic bottle — a standard water bottle works best — squeeze out some of the air and place the opening next to the yolk. Release the pressure from the bottle, allowing the yolk to be sucked up, leaving the whites behind. Keep tilting the bottle back to keep the yolks from escaping and repeat with the remaining yolks.
FREEZE-FRAME
Those egg whites can be frozen to be used another time. Whisk the whites together and then carefully pour them into a clean ice cube tray. A large ice cube tray should fit one egg white into each cube. These will keep frozen for up to 12 months.
When removing, crack the tray or use a knife to release each cube. Thaw the cubes in a bowl in the fridge for a few hours before using.
LIQUID GOLD
To perfectly poach an egg is a great cooking skill to master during lockdown, but it’s also good to have a foolproof cheat up your sleeve. Enter the microwave.
“The biggest thing to remember when poaching eggs in the microwave — and I found this out the hard way — is to pierce the yolk with a skewer. If you microwave and you don’t do that, the egg can explode,” Mendes said.
Simply add 125ml water and 1 tsp white vinegar to a large, microwave safe mug. Crack the egg into the mug, and pierce the yolk with a toothpick or skewer.
Microwave on high for 40 seconds, which will give you a slightly runny yolk.
If you like your yolk well done, cook for further 10 second bursts.
HOT AND STEAMY
Steaming is a more unusual cooking method for eggs, which Mendes said he found useful when cooking Asian dishes.
“I’ll have the steamer baskets already, which makes it easy to cook in layers. I might have Asian greens in one layer, eggs on top. That way it’s all in one and you don’t have to add another pot,” Mendes said. “I find the steam cooks the egg evenly.”
To cook eggs this way, place the bamboo steamer above a wok with simmering water. Place the eggs in the steamer, close the lid and allow to steam. For soft boiled eggs with a runny yolk, steam for 6 minutes, 8 ½ minutes for medium and 11 minutes for hard boiled eggs. Once the eggs are cooked to your liking, plunge them into iced water to stop the cooking process and peel once cooled.
RECIPE: SMOKY BAKED BEANS WITH POACHED EGGS
PREP: 20mins
COOK: 30mins SERVES: 4
● 1 tbsp olive oil
● 1 red onion, finely chopped
● 3 celery sticks, diced
● 100g smoked bacon, trimmed, diced
● 2 garlic cloves, crushed
● 3 tsp smoked paprika
● 2 tbsp tomato paste
● 2 x 400g cans cannellini beans, rinsed, drained
● 400g can diced tomatoes
● 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
● 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
● 4 eggs
● Fresh parsley sprigs, to serve
● Toasted sourdough, to serve
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion, celery and bacon, stirring, for 6-7 minutes or until light golden. Add the garlic and paprika and continue to cook, stirring for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for another minute.
2. Add the beans, canned tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, maple syrup and 80ml of water and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to the boil then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until thickened.
3. Meanwhile, fill a large deep-frying pan three-quarters with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and keep at a simmer. Carefully break 1 egg into a cup and slide into the water. Repeat with remaining eggs to gently poach them for 1-2 minutes or until the egg whites are set and yolks are still soft.
4. Serve the beans topped with a poached egg and sprinkled with parsley.