Super Healthy and Simple Egg Recipes

Eggs as food are one of the common and healthy sources of high-quality protein and nutrients and have been eaten by humans for millennia [1]. Chicken egg is the most popular option for egg consumption among bird eggs, like duck and quail. It is also my favourite a la carte food and food ingredients, as I like the savoury taste of egg yolk. The egg yolk (vitellus), the yellow part, contains choline, lipids (fats), calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamine, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K and half of the proteins in eggs, while the egg white contains water and proteins like albumins, mucoproteins and globulins [2].

Foods should not only be healthy but also safe, thus egg freshness is important as most eggs are generally good for up to 21 days. Food safety standards vary from country to country, same with grading of quality and size, and storage recommendation but its unifying goal is to deliver healthy and safe eggs for food consumption. In the US, eggs are graded according to freshness quality and size. Quality grade moves from grade AA to A to B. Grade AA eggs have thick and firm whites, round yolks, small air cells and free from defects, while grade A have similar to grade AA but have “reasonably” firm whites. Lastly grade B eggs have thinner whites and wider, flatter yolks and bigger air cell.  Grade AA and A eggs are ideal for frying, poaching and making icings, while grade B eggs are ideal for leche flan and hard boiled.

Knowing egg’s air cell increase in volume as it ages, one could use a simple float and sink test in a bowl of water, as a very fresh egg sinks, while a very old egg floats and should not be eaten [3]. Hence, proper and careful storage is needed for eggs, as improper handling could cause Salmonella (bacteria) growth and food poisoning. In the US, eggs are recommended to be wash and refrigerated, while in Europe, eggs are not usually washed to keep the egg’s cuticle intake and do not require refrigeration. For me, as long as eggs have been bought fresh, free from defect, and will be use within the week, I do not refrigerate and only wash when I am going to use and/or cook it. If there is some visible defect like thinning of the shell or crack, then I wash, crack it open, place the egg contents in an air-tight container and refrigerate it.

Here are some of my favourite very simple egg recipes you could practice cooking in your newly assembled -and in progress- functional kitchen:

Soft Boiled Egg (1-3 servings)
     

     Preparation time:       10 minutes

     Cooking time:              6 minutes

Ingredients:
     1-3 pieces        egg/s 

                              salt and pepper
Procedures:

1. In a 2 quarter sauce pan, add water to come 1 inch up to the side.
2. Heat the water over medium high heat and bring to rolling boil. It would take more or less 10 minutes.
3. Reduce to medium heat, gently add egg/s and cover with lid.
4. Let egg/s cook for 6 minutes then remove it from the heat.
5. Drain the hot water and run egg/s in the saucepan under cold water until cool.

Note to Self:

• This is a real breakfast just like in the movie, “Ever After: A Cinderella Story(1998)” with Drew Barrymore. Best with garlic stick breads.

Hard Boiled Egg (1-3 servings)

     Preparation time:       10-12 minutes

     Cooking time:              5-10 minutes

Ingredients:

     1-3 pieces        egg/s (ideal for older egg) 

     ½ teaspoon      salt                                   

Procedures:

1. In a 2 quarter sauce pan, add water to come 1-2 inch up to the side and add egg/s.
2. Heat the pan over high heat and bring to rolling boil that would take about less than 5-10 minutes.
3. Add ½ teaspoon of salt.
4. Turn off the heat, cover and let it sit for 10-12 minutes.
5. Drain the hot water and run under cold water to cool.

Note to Self:

• Do not let eggs boil too long to prevent it from stinking and having a green ring around the yolk.  Boiling too hard causes the sulphur compounds in the yolk to degrade or break and combine with hydrogen sulfide in the egg white [4].
• Prelude to Tuna and Egg Filling, Yummy!

Storage:

• Hard-boiled eggs, peeled or unpeeled, can be stored in the refrigerator for 5 days.

Tuna and Eggs with raisins Sandwich Filling (2-3 servings)

     Preparation time:       10 minutes

Ingredients:

     2                       hard-boiled eggs

     2 tablespoons  canned tuna or chopped broiled tuna

     2 tablespoons  mayonnaise

     1 teaspoon       sweet pickle relish

     ½ tablespoon   raisins

                              salt and pepper

Procedures:

1. Peel the eggs and chop. Roughly chop tuna.
2. Mix, with a fork, the chopped eggs, mayonnaise, tuna, and sweet pickle relish.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add raisins and mix the all ingredients. 

Poach Eggs (For 1-2 servings)

     Preparation time:       10 minutes

     Cooking time:              3-6 minutes

Ingredients:

     1-2 pieces       very fresh large egg/s 

     1 teaspoon      salt

                             salt and pepper
Procedures:

1. In a 2 quarter sauce pan, add water to come 1 inch up to the side and 1 teaspoon of salt.
2. Heat the water over medium heat and bring to simmer, where bubble begins to rise in individual streams. It would take more or less 10 minutes.
3. Crack open 1 very fresh cold large egg place into a small bowl/ramequin or a cup.
4. Stir the water with a wooden spoon in one direction until vortex appear, then gently, and closes to the water surface as possible, drop the egg in the center.
5. Poach for 3 minutes.
6. Lift the egg with a slotted spoon, drain and serve immediately.  

 Note to Self:

• For bigger batch use a 12 inches frying pan, ½ inch of water up the side and do not stir.
• For older eggs, place into a small fine mesh sieve.

 Storage:

• Alternatively, move the eggs to an ice bath and refrigerate up to 8 hours only. Reheat in warm water just before serving [5].    

I hope you would find these recipes very easy and give a new appreciation for eggs. More recipes coming up! Feel free to leave comments and suggestions.

For the next blog, it would be all about gardening tips, so hold on to your egg shells and be surprise how useful it is in a garden.   

As always enjoy cooking and eating. Itadakimase! Kain na!

References

1. Agricultural Marketing Service. (n.d.) "How to Buy Eggs". Home and Garden Bulletin. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (264): 1.

2. Howe, J.C., Williams, J.R., & Holden, J.M. (March 2004). "USDA Database for the Choline Content of Common Foods" (PDF). United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): 10.

3. McGee, H. (2004). On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner.

4. Nemati, M., Mazutinec T.J., Jenneman, G.E., & Voordouw, G. (2001). Control of biogenic H2S production with nitrite and molybdate. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 26: 350–355.

5. Alton, J. (n.d.). Perfect Poached Eggs [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/perfect-poached-eggs-recipe-2107472