How to Boil an Egg

Since many people will be dying eggs for the weekend, please PLEASE read this part of my Grits and Eggs post from Nov 2010. It explains the easiest and best and really only decent way of creating a 'hard-boiled egg'. Don't ever treat an egg badly again. And Happy Easter! 

from Grits and Eggs:

How to make a perfect hard cooked egg is highly debatable but I know that the majority of folks boil the hell out of the eggs for way too long. That only creates dry, over-cooked, ugly-looking eggs. No one wants to eat that. To make perfect hard cooked eggs every time is not difficult, nor time consuming. It is just like anything else you prepare in the kitchen, it takes consideration; pay attention to what you're doing!

First, and this goes for any amount of eggs to be cooked, place the eggs in a pan and cover them with cold water. Place the pan on the stove and bring water to a boil. Immediately when the water begins to boil, remove the pot from the heat source and cover it. It will continue to cook the eggs, trust me. Set a timer for 10-12 minutes. (I actually set mine for 6 minutes, I like my yolks a bit softer but still done. For a soft cooked egg, I suggest 3-4 minutes.) At the end of 10-12 minutes, immediately drain the pot and cover the eggs with cold water until you can handle them or remove the eggs from the pot and place in a bowl with cold water and ice if going to use for salads and such. You can peel the eggs right away but don't slice them until you are ready to serve them. This will preserve the moisture of the yolk.

Really, this will work every time without fail.

Wine with Dinner

Sometimes I think I should've been born in a different century. However, lack of indoor lighting might be too much for the likes of me. Reading by candlelight might not cut it.

There's a great article on BBC News Magazine about why the French are drinking less wine. Part of the reason is simply that times change and we change with them.

"People in their 60s and 70s grew up with wine on the table at every meal. For them, wine remains an essential part of their patrimoine, or cultural heritage.

The middle generation - now in their 40s and 50s - sees wine as a more occasional indulgence. They compensate for declining consumption by spending more money. They like to think they drink less but better.

Members of the third generation - the internet generation - do not even start taking an interest in wine until their mid-to-late 20s. For them, wine is a product like any other, and they need persuading that it is worth their money."

I like having wine with dinner. I eat slower with wine on the table. I enjoy my food because I eat slower. The conversation at the table goes beyond the normal daily drudge of regurgitation of our completed tasks.

I didn't grow up like that. I grew up in an alcohol-free household. We also never locked our front door and we lived in town! Times change, and we change with them. When my children were small, we sat at the table for meals. But as they grew to be teenagers, and life circumstances were different, we sat at the table for meals less and less. I missed that.

Now we sit at the table for dinner every evening. For me, it's an exclamation point on a good day (even if the day was lousy). There's something to be said for preparing a good meal, no matter how simple, and sitting at the dinner table with family and friends and enjoying a meal together. Add in a bottle of wine, and the meal is elevated to a moment in time. It creates character. It causes pause.

I don't know about you, but pause is always welcome in my place. The world moves too fast for me sometimes. I used to move with it at that pace, trying to keep up. It's impossible. Still, there are times, most every day, that we need to be speedy. That's what makes dinnertime extra special. Add wine and it slows it down to a level you might like to live at.

"That is the art de vivre. It is about taking your time. And wine is part of it, because with wine you have to take your time.

"After all, that is one of the great things about wine. You can't swig it."

 

All quotes are from the BBC article. You can read it here.

One of my favorite soups to make with red wine is Pintos & Red Wine Soup with 20 Cloves of Garlic from Splendid Table. Serious soup. Seriously good.