How to Boil the Perfect Egg

Julia Child's perfect hard-boiled eggs

My new kitchen is installed and ready for use – I decided that this was the perfect moment to invite you into my kitchen and launch my food blog. The thing I needed to figured out next was what to cook for my first post:

As I am still busy putting the house in order,  I needed to keep my first recipe simple. At the same time I wanted something with a little symbolism: so I decided on basic hard-boiled eggs. (As a side I made some easy Irish soda bread to test out the new oven.)

Hard boiled eggs might be a basic, but there are not “just” boiled eggs, these are perfect eggs: this recipe guarantees a silky egg white and a beautiful bright yellow yolk (instead of a blue-green blob at the center of a rubbery egg).

I deserve no credit for this method; it is a slightly simplified version of Julia Child’s way to cook eggs.

Recipe

1. Place your eggs in a pot that is large enough so they all fit on one level.
2. Cover the eggs with about 3cm water.
3. Leave the pot uncovered and place on a high heat.
4. Now follows the most difficult part of the recipe: you need to be next to the stove the moment the water begins to boil. (You are looking for a few bubbles breaking the surface, not a rolling boil). I tend to set a timer for 5 minutes and then start keeping a closer eye.
5. Once the water is boiling turn off the heat, cover the pot and remove it from the heat source. Leave the eggs to stand for 17 minutes. (exactly that time,  is what Julia sais…..however from here on in my approach deviates from Julia’s).
6. Pour the boiling water off. Fill the pot with cold water twice adding ice cubes the second time. (do add the ice cubes, they will help you to peel the eggs).
7. Let the eggs sit in the cold water for 20 minutes before you peel them (cold eggs are easier to peel).(Julia actually puts more water on. As soon as it boils she adds the eggs again, leaves them in for 10 sec and then returns them to the ice water. Only then does she leave them to chill for 20 minutes. I have to admit I have never tried this additional step, but found my eggs are fine to peel nonetheless.)

Tips
Ensure your eggs are room temperature (if necessary immerse them in warm water for a while).
It is also better to use eggs that are at about two weeks old (eggs shrink with age which will make them easier to peel)

Serve with
I enjoyed the egg on a quick and easy Irish soda bread.

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