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COOKING WITH RUFUS

#9          A Little More on Eggs (#2)

                Let’s talk a little more about eggs.  In this installment we will discuss (a) poached eggs, (b) omelets, and (c) hard boiled eggs.

Poached Eggs

                Poached eggs are difficult because they can easily be overcooked or undercooked.  Additionally, they tend to run all over the pan their being cooked in, leaving unattractive strands of white floating around.

                Poaching eggs successfully requires the cook to eyeball the egg as it is poaching.  Once the egg is in the simmering water, plan on a minimum of two minutes of cooking time.  How much more than that requires the cook to stare at the egg and pull it out when the whites are white but the yolk appears to still be runny.

                Let me walk you through the steps I take to make a pretty good poached egg.

  1. As always when cooking, gather what you will need.
  1. The egg or eggs, of course.
    1. A shallow pan—even a skillet will do.
    1. A cookie or biscuit cutter about 4” in diameter—one for each egg if cooking more than one.
    1. A small dish
    1. A slotted spoon
    1. Kitchen tweezers
    1. Salt and pepper
    1. English Muffins
  • Add enough water to the pan to come up at least ½ of the sides of the pan.  Put on the heat and bring water to a gentle simmer.
  • Place the cookie cutter or cutters in the pan.
  • Gently crack an egg into the dish.
  • Once the water is simmering, gently pour the egg(s) into one of the cutters in the pan.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste (You’re  not  going to actually taste the raw egg; just what S&P you think is right for you or your guest).
  • Begin toasting the muffins.
  • Simmer for two minutes and thereafter until your eyes tell you the egg is cooked as much as you want it to be.
  • Turn the heat source off and lift the cookie cutter from the pan.
  • Scoop the egg with the slotted spoon, let it drain, and then place on the toasted muffin.

That’s it.  You should wind up with a good looking poached egg without any white tails.

Omelets

                Omelets are really easy to make, but well crafted omelets are really difficult to make.  Michael Ruhlman (From Scratch 2019) tells the story of a chef who, when interviewing chef applicants for his restaurant ask the applicant to make an omelet.  The reason is that crafting a really good omelet takes considerable skill.  So, for this part of the discussion on omelets, I am turning to the American paragon of cooking, Julia Childs and her iconic work The Way to Cook (1989).  What may surprise you about her technique is that she does not form the omelet in the pan.  The omelet is formed by jerking the pan.  OK, so here we go.

  1. Two large (or three smallish) eggs
  2. 1 teaspoon tap water
  3. Salt and pepper (she doesn’t specify how much, which means to our taste)
  4. 1.5 tablespoons of butter[1]
  5. Chopped parsley for serving.

Next steps.

  1. Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk with a fork until just blended.
  2. Heat a 10” (approximately) nonstick sauté pan over high heat.
  3. Drop the butter into the center of the heated pan. Swirl the butter to cover the bottom of the pan.  At this point, be vigilant, because you want the butter to sizzle, but not burn.
  4. Pour the eggs into the middle of the pan and immediately shake and swirl the pan to distribute the eggs over the surface of the pan.
  5. Hold it over the heat for just two or three seconds.
  6. Start jerking the pan toward you and keep doing that, slowly lifting the back of the pan over the heat so the omelet will begin rolling over itself.
  7. Some egg may stray from the mass, so push those strays back into the main part.
  8. When the omelet looks nicely formed, bang on that part of the handle closest to the pan with your left fist (assuming you are right handed; otherwise, your right fist), so that it will begin to curl at the far edge.
  9. De-pan, sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve.

If you do all that and it comes out perfectly, congratulations, for you are far more skilled than I.  Practice does make perfect, in this case, so don’t be disheartened by a few failures.  Omelets are difficult to do well.

                Let’s take a look at how another food expert, Michael Ruhlman, does omelets.  He starts out pretty much the same way as Julia Childs does, although he adds fine herbs to his mix of eggs.  Ruhlman also mixes his eggs more than Julia does.  He reduces the heat to medium/low and then stirs vigorously with a spatula.  Then, allow the eggs to finish cooking until a light film occurs on the top of the eggs.  Stop cooking, shake the pan to loosen the eggs and role onto a warm place.  Rub a little butter over the omelet and sprinkle with more herbs. 

                The great thing is that, even if your omelet turned out less than Julia-like (or Michael-like), it will still taste good.  That’s the magic thing about them; they are virtually impossible to make uneatable.

                One more thing before we leave this discussion.  Omelets are quite versatile in terms of what you can add.  Try herbs, cheese (Swiss, cheddar, Gruyere are all good additions), mushrooms, and almost anything you can imagine.

Hard Boiled Eggs

                As simple as hard boiling eggs is, I have found about a half dozen ways to do it.  One way is to put the eggs in a pan of cold water, turn the heat on high and when the water begins to boil, turn the heat off and let sit for 17 minutes.  Another way is to drop the eggs into boiling water, boil for three minutes and then let sit for seven or eight.  The problem with that approach is that, if the eggs are pretty cold, the sudden heat may shatter, or at least break, the shell.

                Or, how about this.  Preheat your oven ton 325, place your eggs in a muffin tin and bake for 30 minutes.  Drop into an ice bath.  That’s it.  Pretty simple, huh?

                Eggs may be nature’s most complete food.  And the wonderful part of them is the variety of how we use them.

[1] Butter is another subject that can take a lot of space to discuss.  Depending on your taste, I generally use European sourced butter because it contains more butterfat than most US sourced butters.  I also suggest using unsalted butter, which gives you more control over how much salt your dish has.