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Add these eggs-cellent recipes to your springtime fare.
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What food better represents the birth of springtime than “the incredible, edible egg”? One egg has 13 essential nutrients, including protein, choline, folate, iron, and zinc—for only 75 calories. It is also one of the most versatile low cost foods—you can boil it, fry it, scramble it, bake it, poach it, or coddle it. So try these egg-citing hard-cooked egg dishes. From deviled eggs to egg salad to pickled eggs, we guarantee they are all they’re cracked up to be!
Egg-sential Advice
Follow this fail-safe way to prepare hard-boiled eggs. To avoid a green-ring around the yolk, place eggs in a saucepan in a single layer and cover with cold water one inch above the eggs. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil. As soon as the water begins to boil, completely remove the saucepan from the heat. (The proper name for this method is hard-cooked, not hard-boiled. Eggs become rubbery and the yolks turn greenish-brown if boiled.) Cover with lid, letting the eggs sit for 15 minutes. Drain water and immerse eggs in cold water.
As for a surefire way to peeling perfect eggs, you’re on your own! We’ve tried all the tricks in the book, but it just comes down to the fact that the fresher the eggs, the harder they are to peel. The best eggs to hard-cook and peel are between one to two weeks old.
Pick a Peck of Pickles…
Even though Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book recently dropped pickled beets and pickled eggs from their pages, citing that it was no longer a relevant food, we can’t imagine springtime family gatherings without them. These brightly colored pickled eggs have been the centerpiece of Appalachian meals since our forbearers brought the technique from England.
Pickled Beets and Eggs
1 dozen hard-cooked eggs
3 cans beets whole or quartered
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Peel hard-cooked eggs and set aside. Drain beets and reserve liquid. Combine beet juice with remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Set aside to cool. Place eggs and beets into quart jars within ½ inch of the top. Pour the pickling solution over beets and eggs. Close jars and refrigerate for 3 to 4 days before serving.
Yield: 12 servings
Myla Bowman
Sweet and Sour Pickled Eggs
1 dozen hard-cooked eggs
1½ cups apple cider
½ cup cider vinegar
1 (12-ounce) package red cinnamon candy
1 tablespoon pickling spice
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Peel hard-cooked eggs and set aside. Combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour the solution over the hard-cooked eggs in a quart jar or other suitable container. Cover tightly and immediately store in the refrigerator until seasoned, approximately 4 to 5 days.
Yield: 12 servings
Italian Pickled Eggs
3 dozen small hard-cooked eggs
1 (16-ounce) can beets
1 (16-ounce) bottle Wishbone Italian dressing
¾ cup vinegar
½ teaspoon garlic salt
Red food coloring, if needed
Peel eggs and place in large glass jar. Drain juice from beets, reserving liquid. Combine dressing, vinegar, garlic salt, and beet juice. Add red food coloring if desired. Pour over eggs. Marinate eggs in refrigerator for one week. Eggs will turn purplish-red in color. Stir occasionally.
Yield: 36 servings
