The Perfect Egg - Two Ways

Eggs have gotten a bad name over the years for supposidly causing high cholesterol which in turn can increase your risk for heart disease. Well, I am not a doctor but I have been advised by several doctors and nutritionists that say eggs are GOOD for you! I'm not going to get into the "science" behind the great egg debate, but if you want more information, I would love to talk with you about it.

Since I have incorporate more eggs into my daily diet, I have been experimenting with how to "hard boil" the perfect egg and how to "poach" the perfect egg.

First, I always use Cage Free Brown Eggs - I think brown eggs have a cleaner taste.

The Poor Man's Poached Egg

I'm just like everyone else - I don't have time every morning to get out the skillet and scramble eggs. So I like to call this a "Poor Man's Poached Egg." I give all the credit to my 90-year old grandpa who introduced this technique to me. Keep in mind he grew up in the depression, so he was always reusing paper plates and finding creative ways to cook. All you need is a small glass peatree dish, paper towel, an egg, salt & pepper and microwave.

Crack one egg into your small glass peatree dish; add salt & pepper. Wet your paper towel - ring out excess water and cover over the dish. Place in microwave.  The trick is to microwave in small time increments - you don't want your egg to explode. The longer you microwave the firmer your yolk will be. I like mine over-medium so I start at :20-seconds, then :6-seconds at a time until I like the firmness. Total time of :35 seconds.

The Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg

I ate all my eggs before I took a picture, but I will give a detailed description on how to make the perfect hard-boiled egg.

Start by filling your pan with enough water to cover your eggs. Gently place eggs in water filled pan BEFORE you turn on the burner. Once eggs are in the water, boil water. Once the water starts boiling, I turn my temperature down to medium-boil. Set timer for 11 minutes.

Once your eggs have boiled for 11 minutes, drain hot water and then run cold water over eggs for 10-minutes. Your goal is to stop the cooking process and get them cool enough to peel.

I have found that peeling the egg before they are competely cool, is MUCH easier. Even if I'm not going to eat all the eggs at one sitting, I peel every single egg. The yolk should be a beautiful light yellow color. (Hint: If yolk is green, you over-cooked it; if yolk is bright yellow, it's undercooked)

Store in fridge up to 3-4 days.