I read about steamed eggs and got curious. One recipe was for blending eggs and a little water, putting then mix in a small pan, covering it and placing the pan in a larger one and steaming it in the oven. The result was a fluffy, puffy egg that, because of the size of the pan, was just the right size for sandwich. Interesting, but I haven’t tried it yet.
What I did try was cooking eggs in a steamer basket over a half inch of water. Add water to a sauce pan, place eggs in a steamer basket, bring water to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pan and steam for about seven minutes. Remove the eggs to an ice water bath. When cool enough to handle, peel them. The result is tender white and a silky smooth yolk. I discovered that it takes practice.
The first time I steamed eggs, the ones I was peeling remained in the ice bath. As the eggs cooled off, the membrane around the white glued the shell and white together making it almost impossible to peel the egg without tearing chunks out of the white. I was really disappointed by this. The eggs were delicious, but ugly. And the ones that had stayed the longest in the ice bath were really chilled through. This was not what I had hoped for.
It was time to get busy in the Gringo Gourmet Academy Test Kitchen and figure out how to make this work. The taste is so good! I wanted the appearance to be just as good.
A couple of days later, I wanted an egg garnish on avocado toasts, so I made hard boiled eggs. Again, I put the cooked eggs in an ice bath to prevent the gray ring around the yolk that sometimes happens. Again, the eggs were hard to peel after the ice bath. I tried a YouTube video inspired peeling method that worked pretty well. It was very entertaining. Chip away some peel at both ends of the egg, place it to you lips and blow very hard. The boiled egg pops out of the shell into your hand. It was fun to do this with a couple of eggs but I think it is a technique I will save for Easter eggs after the hunt. The youngsters will get a kick out of watching and trying it.
This morning, a Sunday, I gave it another go. I steamed the eggs, and this time plunged them in the ice bath and immediately took them out. They were much easier to peel while still a little warm. As they cooled, it became a little more challenging. I tried blowing one. The soft white and yolk didn’t stand up to the blow and I had to clean up the countertop and backsplash. I did have to laugh about it. I served the virtually empty and deflated egg white to a friend and told him it was a low cholesterol egg since he takes a cholesterol medication.
My last peeling attempt was to crack the shell on the side and remove enough to allow me to slip a soupspoon between the egg and shell. Carefully I worked the spoon around the egg and was able to remove it easily and neatly. A little of that adhesive membrane remained on the shell, but none was on the egg. I was greatly relieved that I had smooth eggs to plate this morning.
While the eggs were steaming and peeling was going on, I cooked a few strips of thick-sliced bacon and placed them on paper towels to drain. After removing most of the bacon drippings, I sautéed some chopped onion and coins of tiny fingerling potatoes. The potatoes were a mix of blue, red skinned and white skinned potatoes. I had used most of the white skinned ones the first time I steamed the eggs. This time, I had more blue and red potatoes than white, so the presentation potatoes were dark. I removed the potatoes from the pan and dumped in the remains of a box of mixed spinach and arugula leaves to add a little flavor and color to the plate. A slice of multigrain toast was included to sop up the silky egg yolk.
