I am not a natural egg eater. If they are not from my chickens, I’m not that interested. So, when my hens start laying I really have to switch gears. I want to enjoy my bounty. I understand the nutritional treasure chest of an egg, especially from chickens as happy as mine are. From the cholesterol rich yolk to the perfect protein “white.” I can taste the difference in the fresh, home grown eggs, and feel the health with each bite.
Familiarity with food is probably more important to my palate than many people’s, but even I like some variety. Thus, I have come up with a list of 10 easy ways to eat my eggs. Besides the rotating options, I am a believer in salt. Enough salt tremendously helps my finicky appetite, in general.
1. Boiled – It makes a lot of sense to keep a supply of boiled eggs on hand. They make great quick snacks. You can slice them up for creamed eggs over toast or smash them for egg salad sandwich. My professional-chef-daughter recently taught me a good method for boiling eggs. It takes less supervision and yields a completely done yolk, but without the grey coating and not too dry. My own little twist to the procedure is to pin prick the fat end of the egg, so that they don’t crack much while cooking. (click on any photo to enlarge)
Then, the usual cover them with an inch or two of cold water. This is where it starts to differ from what I have done before. Now, bring them to a boil, but as soon as the bubbling boil gets going, turn off the flame or take them off the heat. Cover the pan for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, put them in ice water for 15 minutes. Somewhere I read that it might be helpful to put them back in the hot water a minute or two, then back in the rejuvenated ice water again about the same amount of time. Next, dry them as much as desired and refrigerate until you are ready to eat them. Of course, you can have one right away if you are in the mood. I did. Doing all of this made my fresh eggs (I mean from the coop in my yard) peel quite a bit more easily. Our elevation here is almost 3000 feet above sea level. My daughter had to boil them for longer when she moved to 8000 feet for a while, but if you live at higher elevations, you are probably familiar with these adjustments.
2. Stir fry – My husband is the master of the impromptu stir fry. I always cook extra rice because I know he will whip something up with it. But, I’ve watched because some day I may want to do it myself. The amounts depend on how many people, but it seems that even with only a cup and a half of rice, he makes a 14 inch skillet full of dinner.
- dice some onion and saute’ that in oil in the main skillet
- scramble a couple eggs and pre-cook in another pan
- find some left over vegetables in the refrigerator, preferably green peas
- chop some ham into bite size pieces and fry it, maybe in the pan used for eggs, for some heating and carmelizing
- if there is cabbage, cut up and fry some of that up, too
- pineapple is often a good thing to add
- add more oil and start “frying” the rice
- put in some spices, like salt, pepper, ginger, maybe some soy sauce, but go easy on that because a little goes a long way and it can be added later
- throw in and stir together everything that has been made ready
- hope there is some left-over for lunch the next day
Sorry, no photos, I ate it all before I thought of it.
3. French toast – This is simple to do as one or several servings. I mostly make my own single serving nowadays, because I actually have this for lunch. Start your cast iron skillet heating so that it will be at a medium temperature when you are ready to cook. French toast is best with home made bread, but don’t slice the bread too thick. Crack your egg into a shallow, but wide bowl, something that a piece of bread can lay close to flat in. Beat the egg with a fork, then add just enough milk that the egg will be more liquid and be able to soak into the bread. I like a tad of vanilla, a pinch of salt, and a sprinkle of sugar. Let the bread soak as long as you want to. I like mine pretty much like a custard, so I get it good and soaked. Melt a couple teaspoons of butter in the skillet just before you put the future French toast in it. Fry one side until golden brown, then flip it over and cook the other side. Butter it again when it is cooked, and top with real maple syrup.
4. Dropped in soup – A friend told me about cracking eggs right into chicken soup and I like it! You just let them drop right in near the end of the cooking time and cook it all long enough to let them poach. The eggs hold together enough to serve them individually for each person.
5. Egg burrito – These can be made as simply or as decorated as the moment moves you. Sometimes, I just have cheese and plain yogurt on mine, with some fruit on the side. If tomato is available, that is a nice addition. This on a flour tortilla is another lunch favorite of mine.
6. Fried egg sandwich – From the English muffin version to a unique hamburger, there are as many ways to try this as there are sandwiches. It makes the sandwich a little more moist and gives it a low-budget protein boost.
7. Stirred into hot noodles – I have never done this, but I keep meaning to try. The person who described it says you cook up your pasta, drain it, then immediately add your pre-beaten eggs and stir. She said the eggs cook right up and it makes a very quick meal.
8. Macaroni and cheese – This is a standard dinner option at our house. You can find the recipe here for what I call Easy Gourmet Baked Macaroni and Cheese. It is not as fast in over all time as a couple of the first ideas, but it is a very easy dinner and makes excellent left-overs.
9. Omelette – Did I mention that I am spoiled by my husband’s cooking? (but keep in mind that I do most of the yard work). I should have him help me make a tutorial video on how he cooks an omelette. My favorite additives are maple cooked ham and cream cheese, but I don’t turn my nose up at some small bits of soft onion, a few sauted mushrooms, and thin slices of Gruyere and Cheddar cheese. Any of our friends who have had his omelettes talk about them forever afterward. That and the maple fried bacon…
10. Cookies or brownies – Our best, highly praised brownie recipe uses 4 whole eggs. Maybe we should be adding more eggs to all of our baked goods? As it is, though, I make enough chocolate chip cookies to use quite a few eggs. Yes, I always eat some of the cookie dough. The raw egg is fresh and it is good for me, I’m sure.
I believe writing this has made me hungry, but I can’t decide if I want a plain boiled egg or brownies. This is an odd dilemma! But with as many eggs as I have right now, I’m sure I can get around to both soon. 🙂 How do you like your eggs?