2. Table Of Contents:
- Cooking With Eggs
- Egg Fried Rice
- Egg Salad Surprises
Cooking With Eggs
We use eggs in so many recipes. They are a staple in
the kitchen.
An egg can be cooked alone – boiled, poached, fried,
scrambled.
Or used as an ingredient in baking, batters and
cakes.
Alternatively use an egg to thicken sauces or to add
air to lighten dishes.
The egg is truly amazing. And without it – well our
menus sure would be dull.
But do you know much about the egg?
Chances are that you have never even given it a thought. Well it is time you did.
The most critical aspect of the egg is – it’s air content. (bet you thought I was going to say the
shell).
When first laid, the egg has barely any air inside a tiny air pocket. However, because the shell is
porous, it allows air to penetrate. And as time passes, air moves inside the egg and the air pocket
grows.
As this air pocket enlarges, the moisture in the egg evaporates. So, as the egg gets older the yolk
becomes less plump and flatter and the white separates and spreads.
3. And this all impacts on cooking. Depending on how you intend on using the egg determines how
fresh an egg you should use.
If you fry an older egg, you will end with a flat ‘pancake’ instead of a neat rounded egg.
The more stale an egg the more fragile and difficult to separate it will be.
As opposed to the fresh egg, which has a tight and tough inner skin. This makes peeling the shell off
the boiled egg very frustrating. As the egg ages with skin relaxes allowing the shell to peel much
easier.
If you are lucky enough to have your own hens, then you know how old your eggs are. But what if
you have to buy them?
The easiest method of tell how old an egg is, is to put the egg in a dish of water.
If it sinks and lies horizontally – very fresh.
If it sinks but tilts slightly – about 1 week old.
If it sinks but stands vertically – older, stale.
But if it floats – it’s off and be careful not to crack the shell.
Some people prefer brown eggs and some white. But nutritionally they are the same.
The yolks will also vary in color depending of the diet of the hen.
Do you find your eggs crack when boiling? Well, follow these simple steps to get perfect eggs,
every time.
Use 2 week old eggs and ensure they are at room temperature. Make as pin prick in the rounded flat
end of the egg – this allows any steam that might build up to escape.
Use as small a saucepan as possible, so the eggs fit in snuggly – you don’t want to much space
otherwise they may bounce around and crack.
Bring to the boil but only simmer do not boil vigorously. Follow these tips and your eggs won’t
crack.
So, for frying and poaching use as fresh an egg as possible. When the recipe calls for eggs to be
separated, use fresh eggs as well. But if you want easy to peel eggs use the older ones. And when it
comes to scrambling, fresher is best but older ones will do.
4. Egg Fried Rice
This is my version of the no-frills Egg Fried Rice.
Super simple and serves 2 persons.
Ingredients
* 2 cups / rice bowls cold cooked rice
* 2 eggs, lightly beaten
* 4 shallots (thinly sliced)
Seasoning :
* 1 ½ tsp light soy sauce
* salt and pepper to taste
Garnishing:
* Chopped spring onions, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes
Method
Heat one to two tablespoons oil in a wok and fry shallots till fragrant and light brown. Remove fried
shallots.
Whilst oil is still hot, add the rice and stir-fry well. Pour in seasoning and continue to stir-fry for
about 3 minutes. Pour in eggs and fry until properly cooked. The rice should be coated and
yellowish-brown in colour.
Sprinkle the fried shallots over the rice. Dish out and serve with garnishing.
Egg Salad Surprises
Everybody loves eggs. We commonly meet them at
breakfast table either scrambled or fried.
However, these are actually tasty salad staples as
well. Egg salad recipes are probably one of the
easiest salads to make.
Not only can it be served as is, but it can also be used
as a sandwich filling.
Below you will find recipes compiled from different sources. You may want to try one or two at
home.
Don't worry if you don't get to finish them, these salads can still make it to tomorrows sandwich.
Now, enough said. Gab your things and let's start whisking.
5. CHUNKY EGG SALAD
serves 4
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce or
1 teaspoon of prepared mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
6 hard-cooked eggs
1 cup thin sliced celery
2 Tablespoons minced green pepper or red or green hamburger relish
sliced tomatoes or whole tomato
parsley for garnish
In a medium bowl, stir mayonnaise and next five ingredients until well mixed. Cut eggs into chunks
or dice, as you prefer. Add eggs, celery, add green pepper or relish to mayonnaise mixture. Mix
well. Cover and refrigerate till well chilled.
To Serve: Spoon mixture on tomato slices or into whole tomato. If using whole tomato, either cut
off top and spoon out some of the middle, set on shredded lettuce and loosely fill with egg salad, or
cut tomato into 8 wedges but do not cut all the way down, so that the tomato wedges will stay
connected.
Garden Egg Salad Bowl
Makes 4 servings
6 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1/4 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup thinly sliced cauliflower
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup quartered and sliced zucchini
2 tsp. dried chives
3 hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
Spinach leaves
Paprika
4 oz. cut julienne Swiss cheese
Tomato wedges
Pimiento-stuffed olives
In a medium bowl, stir together mayonnaise, mustard, lemon-pepper seasoning and salt. Stir in
peas, cauliflower, mushrooms, celery, zucchini and chives. Gently stir in eggs.
Line salad bowls with spinach. Spoon in egg salad. Sprinkle with paprika. Garnish with Swiss
cheese, tomato and olives.
Note: If desired, egg salad can be spooned into a tomato cup and placed on a bed of spinach.
6. If you like delicious Egg Recipes like I do, there's no need to worry we have some
delicious recipes for you to prepare:
- => Delicious Egg Recipes
Best Regards,
