Now that I am back to thinking about food again, I decided to improve the kitchen skills I already have and look at alternative techniques.
When someone has an interview for a chef position in a restaurant, many times they are asked to make eggs.
Eggs are harder than you would think and to get them absolutely perfect is even harder.
I’ve been making soft and hard-boiled eggs the way I watched my parents make them.
I’ve perfected hard boil and 6-minute eggs, but I didn’t even think about soft-boiled eggs.
I loved soft-boiled eggs when I was little, I liked any kind of dippy eggs. The only time I got soft-boiled eggs was when I was sick.
Why? Was it because they are easy to overcook? It could have been.
Was it a pain in the ass to cut the egg in half and scoop the insides into a bowl? Served with buttered toast.
Mmmmm, a good childhood memory. Again, about food. It’s always been about food for me.
I felt like having grits with soft-boiled eggs on Sunday morning and wanted to try a different technique.
I followed a recipe and was shocked at how many different ways people prepare soft-boiled eggs.
I decided on the foolproof 6-minute egg technique that people swear by.
The difference between the way I made soft boiled eggs and the recipe was mine started in cold water, and the new way used boiling water.
My way, when the water came to a rolling boil, the heat was turned off and the pot was covered for two minutes.
The new technique had you add the egg to a smaller amount of simmering water.
You set a 6-minute timer and let the egg cook in the simmering water uncovered.
When the timer goes off, you lift out the egg and put it into an ice bath immediately.
When the egg was cool enough to handle, instead of cutting it in half and scooping out the insides I peeled the egg: easily.
I was skeptical as I placed the egg on top of the creamy grits. I took my knife and opened the egg.
It was perfect and professional looking. I was tickled pink!
There were no shell bits like when you scoop out the insides. Amazing!
The title of this blog post, Fresh Ideas, also refers to hunting for recipes each week.
Let’s face it, thinking of things to make for dinner is the hardest part of cooking. It’s no different for me.
Every week I would search for ideas and inspiration for dinner ideas. I would usually find a recipe from one of my favorite food blogs.
That’s when the lightbulb went off Sunday afternoon. I thought, “Hey dumbass, why don’t you subscribe to your favorite food blogs and have ideas and inspiration in your inbox.”
I subscribed to blogs that cover different cuisines such as vegetarian, ethnic, classic, gluten-free, Italian, and comfort food.
I’m looking forward to challenging myself in the kitchen and using more hard-to-find fresh ingredients used in ethnic cooking, especially in Asian and Indian dishes.
My quest for fresh ideas started with one egg. One perfect egg yesterday morning.
