|
Cooking Eggs many a bodybuilders morning ritual, but funnily enough there are those out there who do not know the first thing about cooking eggs. Don't laugh, we were all there at one time.
I still remember clearly a school weekend when about 10 of us aspiring bodybuilders had gathered at a friends place, self serve egg sandwiches were todays menu. After we had all eaten one fellow made his way slowly into the kitchen only to return 5 minutes later empty handed and one question "How do you cook eggs"
This cooking eggs article is written for those other young guys out there taking their first steps towards cooking for themselves....
Cooking Eggs - How Do You Want Them?
This is the first step needed when cooking eggs, how do you want them done? There are 3 basic variations on how to cook them. You can cook them in the shell, cook them out of the shell with the yolk unbroken, and then you can cook them all scrambled up, mixing the clear and the yellow portions.
Cooking Eggs In The Shell
The most simple version of this is the boiled egg. You place as many eggs as you want cooked into a pan, cover the eggs with water and turn on the heat under the saucepan, gas, electric even a campfire will do. Once the water starts to boil start a timer (or check your watch), the cooking the eggs will take 3 to 5 minutes. Supposedly at the 3 minute mark the yellow yolk inside should still be soft and runny, after 5 minutes the whole lot should be solid.
Cooking eggs for longer should not hurt them as long as they are in water.
Cooking eggs in the shell, or rather in this case boiled eggs makes it very easy to cook with very little chance of stuffing up.
Other ways of cooking eggs in the shell I have seen are to BBQ the eggs over an open fire, just holding them far enough a way to get a light heat and letting the eggs cook inside the shell. This tends to make the eggs rubbery though so I don't do it.
Cooking Eggs Out Of The Shell
Cooking eggs out of the shell requires you to first break the shell and get the eggs out, this is in itself a nuisance to the beginning cook. How well you accomplish this will then let you decide how you then want to go about cooking your eggs.
Breaking The Egg Shell
First take an egg, hold it lengthways (longest way) then tap it quickly but firmly (not too hard) against the side of the cup or bowl you will be putting the eggs into. The idea is to crack the shell, then put a finger from each hand into this crack and pull it apart. If the egg does not crack enough the first time, a second quick and firm tap should open it up enough to get your fingers in to pull it apart. As you pull the egg shell apart you should let the egg drop into the container you will be using to collect the eggs, which might well be straight into a fry pan.
The simplest method to cooking eggs out of the sheel with an unbroken yolk is fried eggs, as in our introductory story with the fried egg sandwiches. To make fried eggs heat a fry pan on the stove, put a small amount of cooking oil in the pan and spread it around evenly, then using the method above crack an egg directly into the hot fry pan.
Once the cooking egg is heated through and solidifying on the top you can flip it and cook it right through or serve it as it is ("sunny side up"). Placed on toast or in a sandwich is the easiest way to make your eggs into a full and easy meal. You could even get tricky but cooking some bacon or tomato halves before you put your eggs in and serving with a side dish of baked beans (heat then in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave).
Cooking eggs with a broken yolk, is really called scrambled eggs. As above you break your eggs but break them into a mixing bowl, break as many eggs as you wish to eat. Add in a tablespoon of milk and then mix it altogether so it becomes all one liquid.
Pour these eggs into a heated, lightly oiled, frypan for cooking and keep stiring them around until they harden and remove from heat.
There are many variations on the scrambled egg, first cook some additional ingredients then add the eggs, for some ideas on the additional ingrediants I have made a quick reference point form table;
- Bacon bits and chives
- tuna and low fat cheese chunks
- tomato and onion
- ham and tomato
- low fat cottage cheese
- slices of sausage and potato
- Fine sliced pre-cooked chicken breast
Pretty much anything you can come up with. Just have a go, it is easier than you think, cooking eggs is easy.
|
