eggs | Bewitching Kitchen

What food blogger in his or her right mind would make a post on hard-boiled eggs? If you are about to click away from this page, not without first canceling your subscription to my site, please stick around… This is a life-changing method, I promise you.

I love hard-boiled eggs, they are often part of my lunch or dinner salads, but I hate when they are hard to peel. I have tried every single method around, including some recommended by cooking pros such as Ina Garten. In fact, her method used to be my default procedure: bring the water with eggs to a boil, cover the pan, turn the heat off, wait 15 minutes. Let the eggs cool for a couple of minutes, peel and enjoy them. The egg will be perfectly cooked, no green ring around the yolk, but peeling is another story. Most will be a nightmare to peel, some will behave well. Hit or miss.

Just last month my friend Cindy told me about steaming eggs instead of boiling them. She raved about the method from SeriousEats that she stumbled upon through eGullet. Having nothing to lose, I tried it. It is AMAZING. I recommended it in a cooking forum, and one of the members cooked 36 hard-boiled eggs, came back to say that every single one was perfectly cooked AND peeled flawlessly and easily. Convinced yet?

I used the same method to make soft-boiled eggs, and it worked like a charm. So here it is, plain and simply how to get Eggxhilaration in the kitchen.

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THE PERFECT BOILED EGG

Pour a couple of inches of water in a double-boiler and bring to a boil.

Carefully place as many eggs as you want from the fridge into the steamer basket, and add them on top of the boiling water, reduce heat to a simmer.

Immediately close the pan and start a timer.

For hard-boiled eggs, steam for 10 to 11 minutes, test to see how you prefer them.

For soft-boiled eggs, steam for 6 minutes.

Have a bowl of cold water ready, when the time is up, use kitchen tongs to remove the eggs from the steamer, dropping them in the cold water to stop cooking. Store in the fridge to enjoy later, or peel right away.

Have a tissue nearby to wipe your tears of joy.

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What I love about the method is its simplicity. Bring a little water to boil, place a steamer on top and cook to your level of liking, which is easily found in a couple of trials. Imagine that you want to make a big batch of deviled eggs and would like them all to be gorgeous. Well, this method will save you a ton of grievance.

Messages to thank me can sent by email at sallybr2008 at gmail dot com. I promise to share them all with Cindy. 😉

Steamed for 6 minutes, peeled and ready for an encounter with an Ak-Mak cracker…

In our department we have monthly (or quasi-monthly) potluck lunches to celebrate the birthdays of the past month. For our last get-together I made an oven-baked frittata. The recipe is quite adaptable, just use it as a basic method. Change the veggies, the spices, add herbs, have fun with it!

POTLUCK FRITTATA
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

10 eggs
1/4 cup low-fat milk (or full-fat, or cream)
salt and white pepper to taste
1 Tbs olive oil
sliced cremini mushrooms
sliced asparagus
sliced roasted red bell peppers
Herbes de Provence to taste
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to sprinkle on top

Start by preparing the veggies. Heat the olive oil on a large skillet, add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat until they start to release some liquid, then add the asparagus and roasted bell pepper. Season with herbes de Provence. Keep cooking for a few minutes until the asparagus are just starting to get tender. If there is any liquid left in the pan, increase the heat to high for a minute or so. Remove from the heat and add the veggies to a colander to make sure any excess liquid drains out.

Meanwhile, cover a 9 x 13 inches baking pan with parchment paper. Add the cooked, drained veggies to the baking pan, distributing them evenly over the whole surface. Break the eggs in a large bowl, whisk vigorously, add the milk, and season lightly with salt and pepper (keep in mind the veggies are already seasoned). Pour over the veggies, sprinkle grated Parmigiano all over.

Bake in a 350 F oven for about 40 minutes, until set and starting to get some color on top. Remove from the oven, let the pan cool for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the frittata to cool over a rack. Cut in squares, removing the paper and arranging the squares on a platter. Serve warm or room temperature.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

My Mom has always been the “Frittata Queen” by definition, although her frittatas were for the most part made to use up leftovers. She doesn’t cook much anymore, but years ago, when we would go visit my parents to have dinner together, my Dad (remember the eternal joker?) used to beg us to finish all the food, otherwise he would have to face it next day in a “fritada” (the Brazilian term). I must admit that I’ve seen my Mom include leftover pasta, Bolognese sauce and all in one of her fritadas and she would often quote Lavoisier in defense of her culinary adventures. Who am I to go against one of the greatest scientists of all times? 😉

So, it’s about time that I shared with you my take on Mom’s classic. Baking works best when making a big batch with 10 eggs like this one. I’ve experimented with versions without any milk or cream, but they did not turn out very good. Definitely not something I would serve for guests. Some fat is needed to avoid rubbery eggs. Heavy cream provides the most luscious texture, but I always opt for a lower fat version, as egg yolks are rich enough. Porcini mushrooms, or a mixture of wild mushrooms work wonders in this type of recipe. Artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, diced ham… your imagination is the limit. Leftover squares keep for a few days well wrapped in plastic. Heat them in the microwave for a few seconds just to break the cold temperature from the fridge. Over-heating will compromise the texture. Trust me, you don’t want to do that.