5 (+1) Different and Easy Ways to Cook & Enjoy Eggs!

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November 13, 2016

A couple of months ago, the husband tweeted that he finally got the difference between scrambled eggs and omelette. I jokingly responded to his tweet with some sort of “ah! Finally. You can stop mixing up your orders”. He may have taken it slightly too seriously as he responded “oh whatever…”.

I won’t even pretend that I’ve always known the difference. But I’ve learnt them now and I think I’m just generally impressed with how versatile eggs can be! If you searched for egg recipes on Google you’ll be overwhelmed with tips & information and recipes (including a main meal) that can be whipped up using mostly eggs.

Last Friday at work, I had eggs for dinner. As I was going to be working late, I was entitled to a free dinner. Sometimes the food is good and makes up (if that’s ever possible) for late nights. But that night wasn’t one of such. The selection was pretty unappealing – such that I actually tried vegetarian chicken nuggets. Honestly, it tasted like chicken and if I wasn’t told I’ll think it was a piece of chicken. Ok, back to the eggs I had for dinner – lest this becomes a chicken and egg tale. When dinner options are unlimited, you’re allowed to request an omelette. So I did. And when I told the husband I was having omelettes for dinner (I’m assuming he knew which I was referring to) he said “for dinner?”

That’s another thing. I’ve learnt it’s okay to eat eggs – anytime. They do not have to be a breakfast only meal.

Today, let’s focus on 5 easy ways to cook eggs!

1. Fried Egg – aka Sunny Side Up

This takes literally two minutes and I love it. All you have to to, is simply break the egg into very very little oil and let it cook. Some people like it runny, so they don’t flip it over to cook on the other side, but I typically do if I make them myself because I always like them well done but these days, since moving to the UK, I’m actually quite okay to have them slightly runny.

As a child, I often envied my classmate and her fried egg. Which I called “sunny side up” – because you know, the yolk looks like the sun. So imagine my joy when I finally realised how quick and easy it was to make – 2 minutes and a quick dash out of the kitchen. I typically eat fried egg with a slice of toast.

2. Poached Eggs

Although I’ve always known of poached eggs, I don’t think I’ve eaten them that many times. But they’ve recently been introduced to the office cafeteria so I guess I’ll be trying it more often – as it’s a healthier form of sunny side up – the orange sunny side still stays up, and we all know that’s the fun bit of the egg!

For poached eggs, you’ll need to fill a small pan with some cold water (about 1/3rd full) and bring it to the boil. Crack the eggs into a small bowl or cup and gently tip into the water at once. Lightly poach for 2-4 minutes. Remove and drain on a kitchen towel

3. Omelette

Essentially omelettes involves frying beaten eggs in butter or oil. Fillings are almost always included and it is usually flipped to be cooked on both sides.

Growing up my dad pretty much made the best omelettes – filled with tomatoes and peppers and sardines. Maybe it’s a man thing? Becomes Tee makes better omelettes than I do, and loves to include diced sausages. I once made the mistake of including chicken slices and tuna fish into my omelette order. I could barely eat it. So going forward, I’ll definitely avoid this. And stick to bell peppers , and maybe a bit of bacon. On the other hand, my colleagues almost always include cheese to their omelettes and my fitness enthusiast friends throw in a hand full of spinach.

I love to have omelettes with plantains, yam or potatoes.

4. Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs are prepared by gently whisking just the the egg whites and the yolk (no fillings) in the pan over oil or butter.

For scrambled eggs (which I often indulge myself with on a friday morning, taking a break from my regular oats), the office chefs already know I love it dry and fried without butter or oil. Each portion is 3 whole eggs. But because I’m trying to find my abs, I often have only 3 egg whites. But it’s so small that sometimes I succumb to my inner foodie and include one yolk or two.

Scrambles eggs are often served with English Breakfast – with sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, and bacon.

5. Boiled Eggs

As the name suggests, these are simply boiled. Some like it sort of runny, while some like it hard boiled. I definitely prefer the latter.

For some reason though I hardly boil my eggs on the hob and simply throw them into an electric kettle and let that boil a couple of times over.

The +1 is Baked Eggs. Never tried this, but according to research, it’s easy peasy and a healthy alternative to frying. Simply crack eggs into a baking dish and sprinkle some pepper or other seasoning on top. Pour a tablespoon of water or milk over the eggs and bake at bout 160 degrees C until the egg whites are completely set (i.e 10 – 12 minutes). The good bit? You can include toppings of your choice! I’ll be trying this and maybe update the post much later.

So that’s it! The beauty of this is you can adapt any of these methods to various meals – salads, sauces, sandwiches, puddings etc!

Oh, and just before you leave, how true is this quote about eggs and life:

“If an egg is broken by outside force, life ends. If broken by inside force, life begins. Great things always happen from inside”

I’m going to put on my deep hat for a second and interpret it saying: don’t let external unhealthy pressures get to you and prevent you from being awesome. Focus from within. Find your inner strength & be kick ass!

Ok, back to light hearted stuff – here’s a funny one.

How do I like my eggs? In a Cake!

As an aside I remember my mum being in shock when an uncle said he could eat 8 eggs a day. In his defence I think he ate just three yolk, and the rest were egg whites.

So what about you? How do you like your eggs? And what different ways do you cook them? Any tips or healthy information we need to know?

Love,

Kachee. Xx

pS: You really should check out this post on: 9 Egg-cellent Facts About Easter… and a Riddle! I totally forgot I wrote this post last Easter – the riddle is a good one to try.

ppS: Photos 3, 4 and 5 above are from FoodAce – amazing food blogger! You really should check her out.

pppS: This post was initially published without photos and without the methods of cooking. But a reader said she didn’t know what scrambled eggs were so I updated it with all the info photos + photos. See how much I love you all readers?

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