Gordon Myers

The Ten Egg Challenge: Part 5

Posted on Dec 5, 2012 at 10:02pm by Gordon Myers

Day 5: Hard Boiled

On day 3, I remarked that scrambled was the easiest style of egg because you pretty much can't screw it up even if you wanted to. Hard boiled comes in a marginally-close second for ease. I have to admit that hard boiled eggs have never really been my favorite. I know that some people swear by them, and certain hotels even feature them as a staple of their continental breakfasts. But to me, hard boiled eggs just aren't a breakfast food. They're more of an add-on to other, real foods in my book. I cut them up and put them in my salads and casseroles, for instance. But on their own, they've never done it for me. And I have to admit I've always enjoyed the white part more than the yolk, even though I know the yolk is where all the protein is at.

Here's what you'll need to cook a hard boiled egg:

• A pot full of boiling water,
• A pair of tongs (or just a spoon), and
• An egg

Seriously! That's all you need! While the other cooking styles call for things like butter, milk, and even vinegar, all that you need to make a hard boiled egg is an egg and water. Heat the water to bubble, bubble, toil, and trouble temperatures, then drop your egg in - gently, laying it down in the pot using your tongs. You obviously do NOT want any type of boiled eggs to crack. Then just wait. A good 12 to 15 minutes will do - so you want to make sure that your pot is large enough so that the water won't completely evaporate away over the course of 15 minutes. Then, when the time's up, take the pot off the burner, use your tongs to extract the egg from the water and put it somewhere else while you dispose of the water. Then, take the egg in your hand and (quickly) run it under a constant stream of cold water. Do this long enough so that egg cools down to a temperature that's comfortable to hold without burning your hand. This will halt the internal cooking process of the yolk and blah blah technical food stuff. Then, when it's cool enough to hold onto, give it a quick-but-firm tap on the top, and then just peel the eggshell away. Voila!

The results were exactly what I expected: a hard boiled egg. I would be in trouble if after 27 years of Western living I didn't know what a hard boiled egg tasted like. And as I said before, they don't do it for me as a standalone food. I'm giving it a 2 out of 10. I did add salt to the yolk tonight, and that certainly helped, as salt has a way of making anything better. And I'm not trying to imply that it's a bad taste, per se; I just prefer many of the other styles over this one. And I feel like I could make hard boiled eggs with two arms tied behind my back, so while I was preparing this egg I had a couple other things comprising my dinner cooking simultaneously on the stovetop. And Emerald was "helping" me cook tonight while I prepared this egg, too. For awhile she was dwelling in the secret place of the most cat (aka hiding in the cupboards).

I picked a quick-and-easy style tonight because again I was busy. I have a somewhat regimented weekly schedule (I've actually been working on making it more regimented): on Wednesday nights at 7:30 PM, I attend the church service over at First Church of Christ, Scientist, Madison. Tonight's service had readings about Jesus' birth; it was very Christmassy. At every Wednesday service, anyone in the audience (whether they're a church member or not) has the opportunity to stand up and speak a "testimony." A testimony is simply an expression of gratitude for how God has been working in your life, giving specific examples. Often people talk about challenges and struggles overcome. I'm actually one of those standing up to praise God myself a lot of weeks at these services. So if you, dear blog reader, are in Madison, I'd love to have you join me for a service on Wednesday night! There's also an online form that allows people to submit their remarks in advance, to be read for them by someone else during the service (once screened). While no one has actually used this form yet, I think that's still nice to have. Sometimes it's easier to talk about things when you're "anonymous," and sometimes you just can't be there in person!

Lastly, if you've been following this challenge, you know that I was lamenting my poor egg-flipping skills last night with over easy. Well I've thought of an idea that should help me quickly improve. The only spoiler I'm going to give is that it is pink. Tune in tomorrow to see which kind of egg I cook up next. The challenge is already halfway done, and that is eggcellent. (Groan... well admit it, you knew I had to make that pun sooner or later.)