Sunday, June 8, 2014

A No Brainer Perfected







We ran into a little snafu with our guest post this morning so I pulled out the skillet and made fried eggs for you. I hear you yawning over your coffee and thinking fried eggs were the first thing you ever cooked and you don't need a recipe.

I thought the same thing. Yesterday, COOK'S ILLUSTRATED magazine arrived. If you've never seen COOK'S and you like to cook, you might want to check it out. It carries no advertising and each issue contains recipes that have been tested and retested to see what works best. They also rate food products (taste-testing) and kitchen gadgets. In a way, it's the foodie generation's JOY OF COOKING with answers to all kinds of cooking dilemmas.

The most recent issue includes a two-page spread on cooking eggs. One of my friends is gaga over fried eggs with a runny yolk. She likes them on a piece of toast so that when the yolk is pierced, it soaks into the bread. I have to say that I rather like them that way myself.

The trick, of course, is to make sure the egg white cooks and is set. Globby, clear, uncooked egg white is a bit of a turnoff. Nor do we want the edges of the egg white to get crispy, though I confess a fondness for that crispy part.

So I was curious when I read COOK'S method. I learned a long time ago to use a lid, start the eggs at medium high and then turn the heat down. But COOKS did some things that I never do, so I tested their instructions this morning. What did they do differently? They recommend using half vegetable oil and half butter. Please note that it's 2 teaspoons of butter, not tablespoons. They preheat the pan for five minutes! I never do that unless something distracts me. And they pulled it off the burner for the last seconds of cooking.

Let me say up front that they used a 12-inch nonstick skillet, and I used a 10-inch plain skillet so my eggs took a little longer than they recommend. I'm guessing because they were crowded in the pan it took longer for my "thicker" eggs to cook.

I should mention here that undercooked eggs can contain salmonella. Runny yolks are up to the individual but be aware of that issue.


COOK'S ILLUSTRATED FRIED EGGS

1 12-inch nonstick skillet (note that my skillet was not nonstick but worked beautifully)
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
4 large eggs
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons butter

Heat the oil in the pan over low heat for five minutes.

Meanwhile, crack the eggs into two bowls. Salt and pepper them.

Turn the heat up to medium high (stay closer to medium so the butter won't burn) and wait a minute or so until the oil shimmers. Add the butter and swirl. Do not let the butter brown! Add the eggs and cover. Cook for one minute. Remove from burner and let stand, covered for 15 to 45 seconds according to preferred doneness.

Note: because I used a smaller pan, I had to put them back on medium heat for another minute. Then they were perfect!

Preheat oil for five minutes over low heat.

Separate eggs, two to a bowl, and season.

Add butter to pan. Do not brown! Add eggs.

Cover the pan and cook.

Perfect fried eggs.

Soft yolk, no crispy edges. Delicious!

12 comments:

  1. wow, those are stunners Krista! I was thinking yesterday as I was cooking something that might be used for this blog, that since we're really professional writers rather than professional cooks, we don't often have time to try something over and over until we get it just right. Nice to have this magazine do it for us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the magazine. It's so helpful to read why something didn't work. Their recipes are top notch.

      ~Krista

      Delete
  2. That is the most beautiful fried egg I've ever seen. I hate the crunchy bits of white (shudder) so I really need to try this. Made hubby fried eggs yesterday and used our griddle (usually I use a pan) which does not have very high sides. I went to turn the egg over (he likes them over easy--easy my foot!) and the whole egg slid off the griddle and onto the stove!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no! So irritating when things like that happen. Eggs are funny. We all like them just so. I hated scrambled eggs as a kid. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized my mother undercooked them so they would be soft. I love them now, but never undercooked!

      ~Krista

      Delete
  3. Fun post! Marc and I are fans of runny yolks. My method (to keep the calories down) is to poach them in a few inches of water within Teflon egg rings. I've been making my own "Egg McMuffins" using that method, too--delicious! Eggs really are the incredible edible, aren't they?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eggs are so amazing. We probably eat too many of them but there are so many things you can do with them. Poached eggs are wonderful. Much better calorie-wise!

      ~Krista

      Delete
  4. Those seemingly "simple" things are pretty significant, aren't they? A well cooked egg is a true pleasure.
    Cook's is wonderfully OCD about recipes. Certainly more trials than I would ever consider. Nice of them to do all that work for us. And the logical descriptions are really good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OCD about their recipes! That's cute, Libby. I can't imagine what people go through when they're writing cookbooks. They must test and re-test!

      ~Krista

      Delete
  5. Krista, the picture is downright sinful! How did you do that! Gorgeous eggs. I'll have to try this moderated version of fried eggs. Thanks! And thanks for stepping, um, up to the plate. LOL
    Daryl / Avery

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to fill in, Daryl. I thought there wasn't much I didn't know about frying eggs, but as Libby points out, sometimes the simple things are significant. Plus, this is easy. Anyone can cook a great fried egg!

      ~Krista

      Delete
  6. I love eggs and I love this post, Krista. We had just decided on dinner and I'm thinking, why can't it be fried eggs with runny yolks?

    Hugs,

    MJ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, Mary Jane! Fried eggs for dinner would be lovely!

      ~Krista

      Delete