Book Twenty-Six: How to Cook Everything

by Mark Bittman




              Soft-Boiled Egg
 
I'm not sure if this actually qualifies as a "recipe". Then again there are people out there who do not know how to boil an egg, much less anything else. We all need to start somewhere - and the cover of the book says it all. I was thumbing through this book looking for should I say, a more complex recipe. But I have been stuck at home for the last few days and without much food in the house. I was thinking what can I do with an egg?

When Andy & I have our weekend egg and pancake breakfast for a pre-ride meal, I am struggling to eat mine for I really do not care for the white of the egg; at least not when I prepare them over-easy. I now have a new found love of the egg (white) with the soft-boiled egg. The white is so soft and creamy, much like a poached egg, but better, and I think easier to make. It also does not have that metallic taste and chewy texture that I get with my over-easy egg. This is almost as good as what we get at our favorite breakfast joint minus the fun of sitting at the counter watching the cooks work their magic.

Success meter (1-3): 3

amazon.com

 crack the egg with a knife or you

can buy a fancy egg topper just

for this purpose.

Soft-Boiled Egg

Makes one serving per egg

Don’t crowd the saucepan; there must be water circulating around each egg. And, if you’re cooking more than one egg at a time, extend the cooking time to the longer end of the range (four minutes, in this case.)

1.   Use a pin or needle to poke a hole in the broad end of each egg. Place each egg on a spoon, ladle, skimmer, or other tool and lower it into a small saucepan of gently boiling water.

2.   Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, the lower time of you want the yolk completely runny and the white not quite set, the latter if you want the white very soft but set.

3.   Run the egg very briefly under cold water, crack the shell, and scoop out the egg.

Note:

To serve, you may scoop out the egg onto buttered toast like I did or eat the egg directly from the shell set in a cute egg cup with a spoon. You may also want to cut your your toast into sticks and dip them into the egg in the shell. As usual I always add a sprinkling of salt and pepper.