Eggs

So a lot of people have trouble making the very basics of egg dishes. That's okay, because I will be teaching you three of the most common and easiest egg recipes. The first one I would like to introduce is the poached egg. This one requires a more delicate touch, as it is very fragile.

Poached Egg with Sourdough Toast and Bacon

In order to make a perfect poached egg, you would need these: a small to medium sized saucepan, 4 eggs, small glass ramekins, vinegar, salt and pepper, rubber spatula, and a perforated spoon (a big serving spoon with holes). Now, we need to fill the saucepan about 3/4 full and boil the water until you see little bubbles on the bottom. You don't want the water to be crazily boiling with bubbles or just plain warm. Once you can see little bubbles on the bottom, turn the heat down to about low and keep it that way. Next, take about 1/2 cup of vinegar and pour it into the saucepan, as well as a touch of salt. Using the rubber spatula, slowly spin the water into a little twister—be cautious, you don't want to go crazy with the twister. Quickly break the egg into a ramekin and put the actual ramekin in the saucepan and sort of just slowly dump the egg in the pan. The twister will help the egg white to slowly cover the yolk and keep the poached egg from sticking to the bottom. Once the egg white coats the entire yolk (about two minutes), use the perforated spoon to scoop out the egg. Place the egg on a paper towel, let it rest for about 30 seconds on that paper, remove it, and place on a plate to cool off for about five minutes, and if you are a fan of neatness, use a paring knife to cut off the excess egg white. There, you made your perfect poached egg. Oh, and I almost forgot: you can season the poached egg with the pepper. Next dish is scrambled eggs.

Soft-cooked Scrambled Eggs with Pepper Seasoning

Scrambled are everybody's favorite—well, at least it's mine because I can add different things to it. You will need: a small mixing bowl, rubber spatula, two to four eggs, large non-stick fry pan, a stick of butter, mayonnaise, salt and pepper, and of course, vegetable oil. First, you heat your fry pan to medium heat and keep it at that temperature. Crack tow to four eggs into the small mixing bowl and mix until the yolk and egg whites combine—you can add a teaspoon of salt and pepper to the mix. Turn the pan down to low heat and throw in 1 tbsp of butter to grease the pan. Add the egg mixture to the pan and wait about 10 secs before getting into action. Using the rubber spatula, mix the outer edges to the center and repeat until the eggs show a little tan coloring for soft-cooked scrambled and dark tan coloring for hard-cooked. I usually like my scrambled eggs cooked very hard so I just keep the heat at medium-high and go nuts with the cooking until the eggs look well done, which Gordon Ramsay would not approve of. We will now introduce his method of making the "perfect" scrambled eggs.

Gordon Ramsay's 'Perfect' Scrambled Eggs

Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, and MasterChef host and 16 in total Michelin stars chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay has shown chefs on MasterChef and The F Word how to make the "perfect" (so many quotation marks) scrambled eggs. Here's what you will need: small saucepan, two sticks of butter, five to six large eggs, 1 tbsp of crème fraiche, salt and pepper (as usual), and a rubber spatula. Cut 1 tbsp of butter into four small cubes, put into the saucepan with the eggs, and heat the pan to medium heat. Wait for 20 seconds and take off heat, mix with spatula, put back on stove and mix with spatula, and repeat until it solidifies a little. Add the crème fraiche and mix with the egg. Last but not least, add the seasonings to the pan, and... there you have it: Gordon's scrambled eggs. Bon appetit!

Cooked Eggs

Everyone refers those eggs above as soft-boiled or hard-boiled, but the correct terms are "hard-cooked" or "soft-cooked" and that is because you're not actually boiling the egg since the temperature is not high enough. So let's get started, and you will need the following items: five to six large eggs, small saucepan, slotted spoon, and salt. You first want to fill the saucepan about 3/4 with warm water and heat it up on the stove until it starts steaming like crazy, without the water boiling. Put the eggs in carefully and wait about 4-8 minutes for soft-cooked and 10-16 for hard-cooked. Once you're done waiting, put the hot as f*ck pan into the sink and fill it with ice and/or cold water. When the water is cool enough, let the eggs rest for up to 10 minutes—just make sure the water is about refrigerator temperature of 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit; cold water keeps the eggs from cooking any further and stabilizes the shells and insides. You can crack them open in any way you like.

And there you have it: three basic methods of cooking eggs, with an interlude of Gordon Ramsay. Enjoy!