Cooked A Dozen Eggs A Dozen Ways
"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked."
--Bernard Meltzer
If you've ever seen Runaway Bride, you might remember a scene where Maggie Carpenter (played by Julia Roberts) tries a bunch of eggs in her kitchen to figure out which one was her favorite. Tonight, I decided to cook an entire dozen of eggs in twelve different ways, one for each egg. I had actually been thinking about doing this since February, but I wasn't sure how I'd approach it or even what preparations I was going to do. Once I decided what I was going to do, I got ready.
I had three preparations that used scrambled eggs, so I scrambled three separately.
Meanwhile, I put two eggs in the electric kettle to boil.
Here's what ended up on the final list:
1. Microwave - I had never tried this before, but I stuck one of my scrambled eggs in the microwave for 30 seconds. The results were awesome. I'll definitely do this one again when I don't have much time and want some eggs on the go.
2. Soft-boiled - I brought a pot of water to boiling, then lowered it to a simmer. I placed the shelled egg in the water for about 5 minutes.
3. Poached - I absolutely love poached eggs, which is why it's surprising that I had never done this one before. With the water still simmering from the soft-boiled egg, I put a tablespoon of vinegar in the water (it helps the egg firm up) and then I cracked the yolk and whites in a ladle and dropped that in as well. I let that sit for four minutes.
4. Scrambled - I heated a pan on the stovetop on medium and poured in one of my scrambled eggs. I moved it around constantly with a spatula until it was no longer runny.
5. Over-easy or over-medium - I fried the egg on one side and then flipped it over and cooked the other side. I think I cooked it a little too much to be considered easy, it's more of an over-medium.
6. Sunny side up - This is my usual go-to preparation at home since I didn't know how to make poached eggs before today. The setup is a lot simpler. I cracked the egg into the pan and let it cook until the whites were cooked through.
7. Hard-boiled- I put the egg in an electric kettle and turned it on. When it turned off (when it reached boiling), I set a timer for 8 minutes. After the timer went off, I put the egg in ice water to stop it from cooking.
8. Basted - This was an interesting preparation I'd never tried before. I heated oil in a pan and cracked the egg into it. As the whites started cooking and changing color, I took a spoon and scooped the now hot oil over the top of the egg. This helps to cook the egg all the way through.
9. Steam basted - This is a fairly cool alternative to the sunny-side up. I started preparing the egg the same way as above, but when the whites changed color, I added some water to the pan and covered it. The steam helps to finish cooking the egg all the way through. The best part is that it doesn't brown.
10. Egg in a hole - I cut a hole in a slice of bread that was about 2" in diameter. I placed that in a hot pan, and cracked an egg into the hole. I cooked it to let it start to set, and after a little while, I flipped it.
11. Baked - This was the last preparation of the scrambled eggs pictured earlier. I poured the egg in a mini muffin and put it in the oven.
12. Scotch egg - This was the most complicated one. I took a hard-boiled egg, wet it with water, dredged it in flour, and then wrapped a layer of ground sausage around it. After a dip in an egg wash, I coated it with bread crumbs and baked it for twenty minutes. This is typically done deep fried, but I didn't want to set up hot oil and a fryer.
This was a very fun experiment, and I learned so much from it. Before today, I had never done poached, microwave, basted, steam-basted, egg-in-a-hole, baked, soft boiled, or scotch eggs. Eggs are a food that I really enjoy, and because I was able to do this, it proves just how flexible they are. There are so many ways to cook an egg. Although the scotch egg was both fun and delicious, I think I still prefer poached eggs. As you might know, a common use for poached eggs is in Eggs Benedict.
"Benedict.... I love Eggs Benedict. I hate all other kinds."
--Maggie Carpenter (as played by Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride)
Related Items:
The Good Egg: More than 200 Fresh Approaches from Breakfast to Dessert
Runaway Bride (Widescreen Edition)
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