So why do we love the humble egg so much, and what makes it difficult to master?
Much of it boils down to how accessible and versatile the egg is.
Imagine screwing up a 10oz piece of aged steak?
That’s the real beauty of the egg: They’re affordable.
We like to experiment with them.
Eggs are some of the first foods many of us ever cook on our own.
Even scrambled eggssomething all of us assume we can do at homecontinue to surprise us.
Some of them you’ve seen here before, likeblowing an egg out of a shell, for example.
Advanced as they are, those techniques still translate to home cooks.
Same result or better, and less fuss.
Put them on medium heat until you get a rolling boil.
When the water boils, set a timer for one minute.
When the 15 minutes are up, the eggs are done.
Of course, if you’re adventurous, youcould try this feverish shaking method as well.
Combine and season your eggs in a bowl (Salt, pepper, and some milk for creaminess.
Any herbs or spices that develop well with heat will do, too.)
Add some butter to a non-stick pan and crank it up to high heat.
When the butter’s melted and bubbling, pour the eggs directly into the middle of the pan.
Keep the eggs moving as they solidify in your pan.
When you start to get curdsor soft lumps of scrambled eggturn the heat down to medium.
Start pulling the eggs in from the outside of the pan and folding them over instead of whisking them.
Then let them rest for a minute.
The eggs are warm, and they’ll continue to cook a bit on the plate.
Chef Shaya reminds us first that the most important thing is to experiment.
Growth can only happen from failure, not from constant success.
Spark curiosity and experiment.
Then it’s possible for you to move on to more exciting preparationsor inventing egg hacks of your own.
Chef Shaya Klechevsky is the chef behind and owner ofAt Your Palateand the author of theAt Your Palate Blog.
He offered his expertise for this piece, and we thank him.
Title image made usingMichele Paccione.
Additional photos byJohn Loo,Breville USA, andLars Plougmann.
