Soft-boiled Egg with Sesame Roasted Broccoli Soldiers

Since I posted a tutorial on poaching eggs, I thought it'd be great to have a tutorial on boiling eggs, fit for Easter.

I don't like being exact when I cook, and many times I just eyeball the measurements, in fact I'm quite happy just adding "a dash of this" or "a sprinkle of that" or "a glug of this" or "a drizzle of that", but the only way to get eggs boiled to the perfect level of done-ness you want is by careful timing.

Boiling Eggs 101

Put room temperature eggs in a single layer in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, and once boiling, take the pan off the heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water for

4 min: Soft boiled eggs (whites are set, yolks are still runny)

6 min: Medium boiled eggs (whites are firm, yolks are half runny)

15 min: The best hard boiled eggs (whites and yolks are firm, but yolk is still creamy i.e. see photo below)

17 min: If-you-like-it-real-cooked hard boiled eggs (whites and yolks are firm)

Any longer: Rubbery egg whites and yolks with a grey ring around them

Immediately remove to a bowl of ice water, or keep changing a bowl of cold water, to stop the cooking process.

Hard boiled eggs on some noodle soup I made last time

This is based on countless kitchen experiments. I've tried bringing the water to a boil first before dropping the eggs in (nope. you risk cracking the shell), bringing both eggs and cold water to a boil but letting them simmer instead of sitting in hot water (nope. I find it difficult to determine exactly when the "simmer" starts), starting with cold eggs (nope. shell cracks.) etc etc.

Some other tips:

1. Use old eggs, and save the fresh ones for poaching. Fresh eggs are harder to peel.

2. Jamie Oliver has a brilliant way to peel eggs fast. Roll the egg on the counter to create cracks all over, and then peel under running a running tap.

3. Use the right sized pot, big enough to hold the eggs in a single layer, but not too big that the eggs can roll about and crack each other up (no I'm not trying to be funny, no pun intended.)

Now that we've got the egg sorted,

Sesame Roasted Broccoli Soldiers

Ingredients (can easily be doubled or quadrupled)

Broccoli, cut into florets but make sure stalks are roughly equal

For about 1/4 head of broccoli,

1/2 tsp tamari soy sauce

1/2 tsp of sesame oil

extra virgin olive oil, enough to coat

sesame seeds, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Toss broccoli florets with the tamari, sesame oil, and evoo. Spread in an even layer on a greased baking tray.

3. Roast for about 10-15 min, or till lightly browned at the edges. Scatter sesame seeds over.

The intense umami flavour and sesame aroma of the roasted broccoli is addictive enough on its own, but I like mine dunked in egg yolk, a twist on the classic British egg and toast soldiers. I don't have a fancy egg cup, so I just served my soft boiled egg in the egg carton >< SInce it's spring you can also try it with roasted asparagus spears instead!

This is part of Full Plate Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday.

Menu 16: A Lemon and Herb Extravaganza

If I were to choose a wine to go with the lemon and herbs in all three dishes, I might try a gewurztraminer or a riesling with a little residual sweetness to balance all the sour herbiness. What do you think would work nicely?

John’s Roasted Chicken with Herbs and Lemon

















1 (3½ pound) free-range chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, softened (in the microwave for 1 minute)
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme or rosemary
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Lemon wedges, for serving
Chopped parsley to garnish, optional

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400ºF. Line a low-sided roasting pan with parchment paper. If you are using a pottery dish, there is no need to line it with parchment.
2. Remove the giblets and the neck from inside the chicken.
3. Set the chicken on its tail with the backbone facing you. Cut down along one side of the backbone from the neck to the tail. Cut down along the other side.
4. Open the chicken and split the chicken between the breasts from neck to tail. You now have two halves of a chicken, without the backbone. Remove the center breastbone if you want.
5. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, butter, parsley, salt, and thyme or rosemary. Massage the mixture all over the chicken halves, slipping some underneath the skin. Season with salt and pepper, especially the inside without the skin.
6. Set the chicken halves, skin side up, on the prepared pan and roast until the juices run clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pricked, about 40 minutes. (A 4-pound chicken will take 50-55 minutes; a 5-pound chicken will take 50-60 minutes.)
7. Serve hot or warm, with lemon wedges and the optional parsley.

4-5 servings
Adapted from Carrie Brown’s The Jimtown Store Cookbook

Lemon Barley Pilaf

















2¾ cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking pearl barley
OR
1 cup de-hulled barley
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage or 1 teaspoon dried sage
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Grated zest from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring water and salt to a boil and stir in the barley. When the water returns to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes for the quick-cooking and 25 for the de-hulled. Drain if necessary.
2. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet and sauté the onion until transparent and golden, about 10 minutes. Add the drained barley, herbs, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, and toss together. Serve warm or hot.

Note: You can make the whole dish ahead of time. When it is time to serve, reheat it in the skillet and taste for seasonings, especially salt.

4 servings
Adapted from Linda Gassenheimer’s Dinner in Minutes

Indian-Style Broccoli with Spiced Yogurt

















2 large heads of broccoli, broken into florets
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
5 cardamom pods, seeds removed and pods discarded
¼ teaspoon sweet smoky paprika
1 cup natural plain yogurt, medium consistency (not too thick or too thin)
Zest from 1 large lemon
Juice from 1 large lemon or less if your yogurt is pretty thin
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Blanch the broccoli in boiling salted water for 4 minutes or less, until bright green.
OR
Steam the broccoli over boiling water until tender and bright green.
Drain in a colander.
2. Toast all the spices (except the paprika) in a hot pan for 2 minutes or until they become fragrant. Let them cool slightly. Grind them in a spice or converted coffee mill. Add the paprika to the mixture. Store any leftover spice mixture in a labeled jar to use the next time you make the dish.
3. Stir about half of the spices into the yogurt. Taste the result, adding more of the spice mixture to your taste, along with the lemon zest, juice, salt and pepper. Save a bit of the spice mixture for the garnish. The yogurt mixture improves if allowed to sit for an hour or more.
4. Place the broccoli in a serving bowl. Just before serving, pour out any accumulated water from the bottom of the bowl and then spoon part of the yogurt mixture over the top. Sprinkle with some of the reserved spice mix. Serve warm or at room temperature with the remaining yogurt mixture in a small bowl on the side.

4-5 servings
Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook

Using Produce from the Organic Garden: Broccoli with Raisins and Pine Nuts

Broccoli with Raisins and Pine Nuts

1 bunch of broccoli, about 14 ounces
3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup water
¼ cup raisins or currents or more
3 tablespoons pine nuts or more
1 teaspoon salt or more to taste

1. Slice the stems of the broccoli into thin rounds. Cut the heads of the broccoli into bite-sized pieces.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or a frying pan large enough to hold the broccoli. Add 1 teaspoon salt to the oil.
3. Add the broccoli and stir to coat the broccoli with the oil.
4. Add ¼ cup water. Turn the heat down a bit and cover the pan for 3-5 minutes or until the broccoli is tender but still has a nice green color. Check to make sure the water doesn’t boil away. By the end of the cooking time, the water will be gone or almost gone.
5. Add the raisins or currents and the pine nuts and stir until they are hot and well combined with the broccoli. Taste for salt and serve.

4 servings
My own devising