I love cooking with eggs. They’re a great source of protein, they taste great by themselves, they complement other dishes and of course, they are affordable! Eggs may look easy to prepare but somehow I mess ’em up a lot. Scrambled eggs always turn into ‘sahara-dry eggs’.
If you’re not so skilful with eggs like me, here are 10 quick and easy ways to make delicious eggs that are beyond breakfast.
1. Hard Boiled Eggs
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Have you had dry or a greenish tinge around your hard boiled eggs? Guess what, you’ve been preparing hard boiled eggs the wrong way! (yes, there’s a correct way to prepare these eggs) With the right method, you’ll be on your way to making great eggs for pastas, salads, and devised eggs!
To make perfect hard-boiled eggs:
- Place egg in a saucepan and cover it with water. (Add a pinch of salt to prevent the eggs from cracking)
- Heat the pan on high heat and until the water is full on boiling. (Do not over boil)
- Turn off the fire but keep the pan on the stove. Cover it with a lid and let it sit for 12 minutes.
- After 12 minutes, strain the heated water and run cold water over the eggs.
2. Shakshuka
Now here’s a magnificent recipe that will impress. Shakshuka is a Middle Eastern dish of eggs poached in sauces of tomatoes, peppers and onions. It is healthy, comforting and flavourful. Best made on a lazy weekend.
Ingredients: (serves 4-6)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 cans (14 oz.- 400g each) diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon (30g) tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- chili flakes, to taste
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 eggs
- fresh parsley/cilantro for garnish
Directions:
- Heat olive oil in a 12-inch frying pan over medium heat.
- Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes.Stir in garlic.
- Add red bell pepper and continue to cook it for about 5-7 minutes or until softened.
- Stir in tomato paste, diced tomatoes, all spices and sugar. Season it with salt and pepper. Let it simmer over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.
- Crack the eggs over the tomato mixture, one in the middle and 5 around the edges of the pan. Cover the pan and simmer for another 10-15 minutes or until eggs are cooked.
- Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro and serve it with crusty bread.
If you want to make your Shakshuka with an egg-stravagent twist, you can add a cup of brewed English Breakfast Tea into the diced tomatoes.
3. Gordon Ramsay’s Scrambled Eggs
Scrambled eggs is one of those dishes that is not hard to make but not easy to perfect. The eggs could be too runny or too dry, the taste could be spot on but the fluffiness missing… And this is egg-sactly why you should learn from a Michelin chef like Gordon Ramsay
Ingredients:
- Sour dough bread
- Flat cap mushrooms (portobello or button mushrooms)
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Vinte tomatoes
- 3 eggs
- Butter
- 1/2 tablespoon of creme fraiche
- Chives (for garnish)
Directions:
- Toast the sour dough bread
- Heat a frying pan with olive oil. Place mushroom into pan and season it with salt and pepper
- Roast the vine tomatoes in the same pan with the mushrooms, on low heat.
- Crack three eggs into a sauce pan and throw in a nice knob of butter.
- Using a spatula, whisk the eggs in the pan, on heat and keep stirring it.
- When it starts to look a little bit thick, remove pan from heat but continue stirring it.
- Repeat step 5 and 6 for four times.
- Add in creme fraiche into the scramble eggs and season it with salt and pepper.
- Garnish the eggs with chives.
- Plate the eggs on the toast and complete it with the mushrooms and tomatoes.
And yes, scrambled eggs go really well with sourdough bread, and yes, this would make an egg-static breakfast in bed. Take note boyfriends and start hatching a plan!
4. Perfect Egg Rolls/ Tamagoyaki
Japanese egg rolls or Tamagoyaki are usually cooked in a square pan (which is available at Daiso). But if you don’t see the point in investing in one, here’s a Tamagoyaki recipe made with a round pan that will keep you on the sunny side up.
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon carrot, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 tablespoon green part of spring onion, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
Directions:
- Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and add in milk and salt. Whisk until combined. Then pass through a fine sieve. Liquid without lumps is helpful in making egg roll successfully.
- Add in carrot, onion, spring onion, and pepper and stir until combined.
- Lightly grease a non-stick frying pan with vegetable oil. Heat the frying pan.
- Pour in ½ egg mixture and over low heat cook it over until half done. Roll the omelet half way from the right to the middle. And move the egg roll to the right edge of the pan.
- Add in ¼ egg mixture to cover the left half of the pan. And cook until half done. And roll again half way up from the right to the left and move the egg roll to the right side of the pan.
- Transfer egg roll to a cutting board. Let it cool down before slicing it.
These egg rolls are the absolute perfect side dish to pack for lunch. It still tastes great at room temperature and it looks super appetising.
5. Poached Eggs
Ever wondered how to make egg-ceptionally yummy poached eggs that are usually only available at brunch places? It’s actually easier than you think! Here are three ways to make the perfect poached egg by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
Jamie’s tips to make the perfect poached eggs:
- Use fresh eggs
- Gently simmer and not boil it
- Use a bowl to drop the egg, don’t crack it in directly into the pan
- Spin the water to help hold the egg together
- Wrap in food safe cling wrap to cook more than one egg
According to Jamie, the trick to perfectly poached eggs is to use super fresh eggs. Head to your nearest market to get some farm fresh eggs. If you so happen to be around Ghim Moh market, don’t forget to check out their newly re-opened food centre.
6. Eggs Benedict
If egg-splosive poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce makes you egg-cited, this classic Eggs Benny recipe is what you need.
Ingredients:
- 1 Egg yolk
- 3/4 cup of melted butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoon cold water
- 2 whole eggs
- 4 slices of Capicola ham
- 1 whole english muffin
Directions: Hollandaise sauce
- Use a double boiler (indirect heat) to cook egg yolk
- Fold in the melted butter gradually into the egg yolk
- Stir mixture until desired texture is achieved
- Add lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Season with a little bit of salt.
Directions: Eggs Ben
- On a sauté pan, toast the english muffin and Capicola ham to make it nice and crispy
- Poach the eggs (see above) season it with salt and pepper
- Ensemble your dish!
If ham is not your thing, you can substitute it with fried bacon or for a less guilty version, use smoked salmon instead.
7. Frittata
Frittata is an Italian egg based dish similar to a crustless quiche. Like omelettes, frittata can be filled with meat, cheese, vegetables but they are thicker in size and richer in flavour.
Ingredients:
- 1 sweet potato, diced
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 6 eggs
- 3 tablespoon sour cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Grated parmesan (a handful)
Directions:
- In a mixing bowl, mix eggs, sour cream, salt and pepper.
- Heat a frying pan with some butter and put in the sweet potato, red onion and salt. Cook it for 8-10 minutes.
- Pour in the eggs and add grated parmesan and bake it at 350 fahrenheit/ 180 degrees celsius for 12-15 minutes.
The magic about frittata is that you can be creative with the fillings (good way to hide vegetables that you don’t want to eat but have to eat), and it is suitable for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Here are some frittata ideas that you can look into:
8. Oven Baked Mini Omelette
Here is something easy to prepare and an egg-stremely delish! We absolutely love this recipe because you can make this and store in the freezer, and then reheat it for another day. Besides, this mini omelette also makes a great side dish for a home cook packed lunch.
Ingredients:
- 8 eggs
- 1 brown onion, diced
- Handful of shredded ham or bacon
- 1/4 cup of milk
- 1/2 teaspoon of oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 cup of grated cheese
- Salt and pepper
Directions:
- Stir fry the ham/bacon and onion.
- Lightly grease the muffin pan.
- Divide ham and onion and mixture evenly into muffin pan. Sit that aside to let it cool.
- Add milk, oil and baking powder into eggs. Season mixture with some salt and pepper.
- Whisk egg mixture together.
- Top ham and onion mixture with some grated cheese.
- Pour in egg mixture into the muffin pan.
- Send it in to the pre-heated oven at 375 fahrenheit/ 190 celsius degrees , for about 20-25 minutes.
Like the frittata, you can play around with the ingredients and make it nutritious. On a different note, pop some wasabi into one of these and you’ll have a game of roulette for your friends.
9. Simple Egg-cellent Salad
Now that you’ve mastered the skill of hard boiled eggs (point 1), try this simple egg salad recipe and you can kiss the bland, plain and overpriced egg salad at the deli goodbye!
Ingredients (serves 2-3):
- 6 hard boiled eggs
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- black pepper and salt to taste
Directions:
- Prepare hard boiled eggs (See above). Peel and chop the eggs.
- In a mixing bowl, mix mayonnaise, lemon juice and mustard together.
- Add in the eggs, green onion, garlic, black pepper and salt and mix it well with the mayonnaise mixture.
- Best chilled before serving but of course can be served right away.
What we love most about this recipe is, you can also use this salad as a sandwich filling. Just spread it on any bread of your choice and you’re good to go. Add some bacon pieces for extra flavours. To those who egg-sercise regularly, this dish would make a good post-workout meal too.
10. Deep Fried Deviled Eggs
Ingredients:
- 12 peeled hard boiled eggs
- 1 cup floor
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- Oil for frying
- 4 tablespoon mayonaise
- 2 tablespoon pickle relish
- 2 tablespoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
Direction:
- Head cooking oil over medium heat
- Cut hard boiled eggs into half (length wise). Gently separate the egg whites from the yolk.
- Coat the egg white with Panko bread crumbs. Carefully place it into hot oil and fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Add mayonnaise, pickle relish, mustard, hot sauce, salt and pepper to the yolk and and mash until smooth.
- Transfer mixture into a piping bag and pipe mixture into fried egg white.
- Dust it with paprika and serve.
This may not be the original Deviled Eggs but this would make the perfect party food and we’re not eggs-aggerating when we say people love deep friend food. For a more local/Asian twist, you can use Sriracha instead of hot sauce when preparing the egg filling.
To be honest, I think I can nail all 10 ways to cook eggs and will definitely try making the Shakshuka this weekend. How about you? Drop us a comment and tell us which egg recipe you would like to try next. Egg-stra points for you if you can tell us an egg pun!
also read: The Best High Tea Spots For All Occasions That Will Leave You Feeling Blissful
