Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs
Boiling eggs seems as simple as dropping a few into a saucepan, covering with water and setting to boil, but avoiding the dreaded green ring around the yolk can be pretty difficult. All too often eggs are overcooked, especially when being prepped for Easter or Passover tables. Follow this method, though, and you'll have tender, moist, vibrant yellow yolks, just this side of underdone, with fully firm whites.
Speaking of Easter, when it's time to color eggs for the holiday table, follow Sara Kate Gillingham's fantastic instructions at thekitchn.com. You can make red and pink dye from beets, blue from purple cabbages, and yellow from turmeric. But the most important part is not to boil the eggs in the dye: instead, place perfectly cooked, cooled, eggs into mason jars, pour the cooled natural dyes over them, and leave them in the fridge to color overnight. Gorgeous results every time, and the richly colored eggs are still delicious to eat!
If you're buying your eggs fresh from a local farm, remember to do so at least a week before you plan to boil them. Fresh eggs are hard to peel, so let them "age" in the fridge a while and you'll have a much easier time shelling!
INSTRUCTIONS:
Use 6 cold eggs, straight from the fridge. Place eggs in a pot of cold water and bring to just under a boil, or just as the tiny bubbles begin to get big. Watch this pot: Don't walk away! Cover, remove from the heat and set a timer for exactly 6 minutes and 30 seconds. While the eggs rest, fill a bowl with ice and cold water. As soon as the timer goes off, remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and chill in the ice bath. Wait 5–6 minutes before peeling.
LEFTOVERS:
Now, what are you going to do with all those eggs after the holiday? In addition to packing them into school lunches or having them for snacks at work, give these ideas a try:
Mash with mayo, curry powder, chives, salt & pepper and spread on crackers topped with sliced radishes for an hors d'oeuvre.
Slice into quarters lengthwise and perch on a crostini with a dollop of aïoli and a chunk of good, oil-packed sardine.
Wrap peeled eggs in raw sausage meat, roll in panko bread crumbs and deep-fry for delicious, homemade Scotch eggs.
Serve halved eggs drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper alongside grilled asparagus with toasted bread.
Bury a few peeled eggs inside your meatloaf before baking.
“Butter” halved eggs with garlicky mayonnaise like the ladies from The Canal House and sprinkle with minced tarragon and chives.
Dice and fold into hot, German-style potato salad (vinegar-and-mustard dressed) with lots of pepper and parsley.
Fry some leftover rice in sesame oil and add chopped eggs, scallions, cilantro and lime juice.
Halve lengthwise, pop out yolks and mash them with anchovy paste and finely minced oil-cured olives; whip in a dribble of your best olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and some minced basil until creamy; pipe back into the yolks for a very Niçoise deviled egg. Top with white anchovies for a treat.
