The Perfect Boiled Egg

Oh, perfectly boiled egg, how long you eluded me. Greenish yolks, runny yolks and everything in between. For years i thought i knew the secret, but now i'm sure: i've got it down!

Boiling an egg is very easy... to mess up! I am notorious for getting my eggs all ready, turning the water on to boil, then walking away to who knows where only to return to the kitchen to eggs boiling rapidly for who knows how long! So: follow this technique and you'll have perfectly boiled eggs every time - every time you don't wander off and forget you're boiling eggs, that is!

• Place your eggs in a pan, in one layer.
• Cover eggs with cool (room temp is fine, but not warm) water by an inch or a little more. You can add some baking soda if your eggs are very fresh (this supposedly makes them easier to peel).
• Bring the eggs to a boil, uncovered. As soon as the boiling is nice and boily (not just little simmer bubbles) put a lid on the pot and turn off heat. Set a timer for 15 minutes and voila!

**Note: I set my timer for 15 minutes because i let the water boil enough to be really boiling - and sometimes a little too long (the aforementioned walked away and forgot about them). Some recipes call for 17 minutes for large eggs to be hard boiled. My girls' eggs tend to be medium to a small large so 15 minutes suffices, and i still have a few softish yolks, which i like - not a fan of chalky-hard yolks. Test a few different cooking times and see how hard you prefer your eggs to be.

When the timer goes off, drain out the hot water and put your eggs in a bowl of cool water (with ice perhaps) to stop the cooking. Peel and eat warm, or stick in the fridge for later use. I like to make my egg salad with freshly boiled eggs, still warm (i think the warm eggs help to cook the diced onions a teeny bit, softening their flavor).

Ta da! That's it. Boiled eggs are the perfect food on the go: they come in their own tupperware (that you can compost afterwards) and they're great with salads, on sandwiches, or with just a pinch of salt.

And speaking of eggs: check out this year's Funky Chicken Coop Tour if you're in Austin this weekend. It's sure to be Eggstravagently Eggciting!