Eggs

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Shakshuka may be at the apex of eggs-for-dinner recipes, though in Israel it is breakfast food, a bright, spicy start to the day with a pile of pita or challah served on the side. (It also makes excellent brunch or lunch food.) It’s a one-skillet recipe of eggs baked in a tomato-red pepper sauce spiced with cumin, paprika and cayenne. First you make that sauce, which comes together fairly quickly on top of the stove, then you gently crack each of the eggs into the pan, nestling them into the sauce. The pan is moved into the oven to finish.

This savory Dutch baby is like Yorkshire pudding meets a popover meets a gougère, flavored with browned butter, Parmesan and thyme. You can serve it for brunch, pancake style. Or try it as an hors d’oeuvre. Bring the whole thing out to your guests and let them tear it apart with their hands. Salty, cheesy and delicious. 

Fish is a breakfast staple all over the world, from the grilled fish and rice of Japan, to kippers and eggs in England, to bagels-and-lox brunches. But here, fresh flounder for breakfast is exotic and unexpected. This recipe puts the fish and the eggs in one pan and adds a pungent green garnish.

A hot nonstick skillet, a touch of butter, and a lid combine to produce perfectly cooked fried eggs—with crisp edges, tender whites, and runny yolks—in just a few minutes.

The curried vegetables will heat quickly in a skillet, then drop a few eggs in little wells in the vegetables until the whites just set. The dish is reminiscent of Middle Eastern shakshuka. Use toasted naan to scoop up sauce and golden runny yolks.

Always use fresh eggs. If you can't see the difference between the "thick" white and the "thin" white, the yolks will probably break in the pan.

Always deliver the eggs to the pan with a custard cup or large spoon. Avoid cracking directly into the pan.

When using a non-stick skillet cook in no more than an inch of water. If you don't have a non-stick pan, poach in a deep saucepan containing at least 3 inches of water.

Always acidulate the poaching liquid with either vinegar or lemon juice (1 tsp per each cup of water).

In the authentic version of this frittata there is a lot more olive oil, as well as chopped hard-boiled eggs. This one is lighter and simpler. It is great for lunch or dinner and keeps well in the refrigerator.

Huevos Rancheros are perfect for entertaining since you can prep everything ahead of time and multiply the recipe almost infinitely. You can also make it more or less complicated: If you don't want to cook beans, make the variation. If you want to go all out, serve them with sliced or crumbled chorizo or other sausage, Radish Salsa, avocado slices, chopped fresh chiles, shredded lettuce, and limes. Some crema on the side is also nice. 

An all-too-common problem with hard-cooked egg recipes is that they produce a greenish colored yolk and a sulfurous odor. What causes the problem and how do we make perfect hard cooked eggs every time? We wanted a recipe that answered both these questions. One thing our testing told us: Don’t boil the eggs. After countless tests, we found that we got the best results from our Hard-Cooked Eggs recipe when we covered the eggs with an inch of water, brought it to a boil, covered the pan, and removed it from the heat. After 10 minutes, we drained the eggs and cooled them in ice water.