Easter comes early this year and that means it's time for a primer on eggs. Yes, we'll be covering hard boiled eggs, but we're also talking about a couple of great recipes featuring eggs that are a bit unusual. In the meantime, let's make sure you can make a perfect hard-boiled egg for decorating this Easter!
Among their many properties, eggs contain iron and sulfur. Cooking combines these two properties chemically within an improperly cooked egg, and forms ferrous sulfide. Ferrous sulfide is the gray-green ring around the outside of a cooked yolk and is produced as a result of overcooking and/or too high a temperature. To properly cook hard boiled eggs, place your eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover them. Bring the water to a rolling bowl, then lower to a gentle simmer. Simmer gently for 5 minutes. When the time is up, remove the pan from the heat and allow the eggs to rest in the pan for 10 minutes before draining and running under cool water to stop the cooking process. Store the eggs in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat them. Do not leave cute colored eggs out in an Easter basket for days and expect illness to avoid you!
That said, have a Happy Easter and enjoy all that the holiday has to offer you ... especially eggs!
Eggs Rancheros
- One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 8 eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 tostado shells
- Sour cream
- Jalapeño slices
Combine the tomato sauce, chili powder, and cumin in a lightly greased 9" pie plate. Break the eggs evenly over the sauce in a dish and sprinkle with pepper and paprika. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Sprinkle with the cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Spoon the eggs into tostado shells and top with sour cream and jalapeño.
- Yields: 3-4 servings
- Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Scotch Eggs
- 1 pound bulk pork sausage
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon grated onion
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 hard-cooked eggs, shelled
- 1/2 cup fine, dry bread crumbs
Combine the sausage, parsley, onion, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well. Divide the sausage mixture into 4 portions; shape into patties. Place one egg atop each patty, shaping the sausage mixture around the egg until it is completely covered. Roll each sausage-covered egg in bread crumbs. Bake in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
- Yields: 3-4 servings
- Preparation Time: 40 minutes