has anyone tried the egg white salad at once upon a bagel in highland park? it is great. we go though at least 2 lbs a week here.

So I'm curious how many people made egg salad after reading this thread. I did, but had one problem...I usually follow Joy of Cooking's recipe for hard-boiling eggs (allow them to simmer for about 12 minutes). I tried the Julia method, and didn't like how my eggs turned out. I used Rose Acres eggs, and when peeling them, the membrane just wouldn't separate from the white. So peeling them was a pain in the neck, because I was really just removing tiny little shards of shell and a lot of the white stuck to the membrane as I peeled. It's a good thing I wasn't making deviled eggs because these eggs were not presentable!

Chgoeditor,

As noted above, I've always found that peeling them right after shocking them is key.(You can easily shock hard-boiled eggs by letting them listen to the evening news.)
What happened when you used Julia's method?

I don't know whose method this is, but I simmer large eggs for 10 minutes (lowering the boil to more of a lively simmer) and then let sit covered, off heat for 5 minutes. After not a second more than 5 minutes, I plunge them into an ice bath. If I want a lesser cooked yolk, then I let them sit for 2 minutes.

My hard-boiling method has no finesse whatsoever. It's possibly the most ham-handed way to do it, but it's never failed me.

I start with whatever eggs are in the refrigerator--new, old, extra large, medium, white, brown, organic or convenience store--it doesn't matter. I put them in water that has just come to a full boil. I leave the water boiling throughout, making sure there's enough flame to keep it aboil. I stop after 12 minutes. Then I empty the hot water out of the pot, jamming it with ice cubes to fully surround the eggs and just enough cold water to make sure everything's fully and frigidly bathed. I let it stand for 10 minutes, then begin peeling from the non-pointy part of the egg under cold water.

Egg salad mixing trick: chop or moosh the yolks and whites separately before re-uniting.

Thanks for the venue suggestions. I had forgotten about Johnny Rocket's very good rendition (I roll sans lettuce, but white toast is it all the way).

Olde School,
I see a new topic: "Eggs & Ham-handed methods".
Lame levity aside, don't you get a bunch of cracked shells, and leaking whites by plunking the cold eggs in boiling water?

tangent, but I've found that the organic/veggie eggs are harder to peel in general, regardless of cooking method. Anyone else? The membranes are just different than regular eggs.

I've used bittman's method recently - where you poke a hole in the fat end of each egg and then boil slowly for 10-15.

Answer to Stewed Coot cracked egg query:

It sometimes happens, but the ham-handed method is free from worry or care.

Eggs for egg salad never have to appear red-carpet ready.

Some quick observations:

I call it the "Julia" method cuz that's where I learned it; from one of the books...not the great cook, herself, alas. I'm sure the procedure's come under many an imprimature.

For myself, I'm looking for whites that seperate cleanly from golden yellow fully-cooked yolks. Off-heat 12 min. gives me this as well as eggs that seperate smoothly from the shell. I've heard that older eggs seperate from the shell easier than fresh(er) eggs. Anecdotal evidence supports this as in my experience "newer" eggs tend to make a mess in the peeling leaving them good for nothing BUT egg salad.

Of course, one can lower the off-heat time by minutes reflecting a softer boiled egg.

funny story?

Once visiting friends outside of Mainz, Germany, I went downstairs of our hotel to partake of the frustucke while the s/o stayed in bed resting sore feet of the day before. Thoughtfully, I grabbed my egg from it's cup to take up to him so he could have a li'l something to eat. I'll never forget the look my waitress gave me("now there's a dumbass American," or something along those lines, I imagine) as I slipped the egg into my pocket. Well, duh...I'd forgotten that Germans tend to like their eggs soft-boiled in the morning. It made it back to the room safely, but when I went to peel it...shploosh!

I don't know that that's a cooking problem; Rose Acre eggs tend to be fresher than regular grocery store eggs. Very fresh eggs have a tighter membrane that's harder to peel.

For boiled eggs, I bring the eggs to a boil, boil for two minutes, then remove from heat entirely, let sit for 12 minutes, the plunge into ice water. (More or less Mr. Gordon's method).

My grandmother used to boil, ice, then boil again briefly. She claimed it made them easier to peel.

FWIW, my ladylove plows through an obscene number of hard boiled eggs, and after trying a number of methods I eventually settled on the same method as Christopher Gordon and Jules... cold water to cover, bring just to a boil, remove from heat (I cover), sit for 12 minutes, plunge in cold water.

And anecdotally speaking, my experience has, indeed, been that letting the eggs age gracefully in the fridge for a week or so before hard boiling makes them considerably easier to peel.

Mhays wrote:I don't know that that's a cooking problem; Rose Acre eggs tend to be fresher than regular grocery store eggs. Very fresh eggs have a tighter membrane that's harder to peel.

Interesting! I guess that could be the problem. The expiration date on these is still nearly 3 weeks away, so that may be a contributor...too fresh eggs! (How often do you complain about that?) I think I ususally buy Rose Acres, but don't remember having a problem in the past.

I love the Rose Acres (the price helps) but I find they HB better if they've lived in my fridge for a week. Truthfully, I rarely look at the expiration dates on egg cartons but I notice that they have a lot more "bounce" in the albumin, which is also a fresh thing.

So; fried eggs for the first week, boiled for the second, scrambled anywhere in between. (Aren't there a series of Italian bread-based recipes similarly based on freshness - I think panzanella is at the end)

All of this questions about hard boiled eggs, reminded me of an "amateur" cook friend of mine, that called one day asking how long was he supposed to keep the eggs in boiling water. He had kept them in it for over two hours and the shell was still on!!

Went to the Park Grill today, and while I didn't order the egg salad, it was ordered by someone next to me and it looked fantastic. Capers, red onions, cornichons with grain mustard on brioche.

Rafa wrote:All of this questions about hard boiled eggs, reminded me of an "amateur" cook friend of mine, that called one day asking how long was he supposed to keep the eggs in boiling water. He had kept them in it for over two hours and the shell was still on!!

I had one employee who boiled them for a couple of hours trying to get the shells to become tender ...

I agree with earlier posters that sometimes the simplest foods are the most difficult to produce correctly, especially those that have very few ingredients. This may account for the holy grail like search for the perfect burger.

That said, I use the following method for making my egg salad. I grate the perfectly boiled eggs - the grating gives the salad a smoother more even texture. The mustard I use is Colemans English mustard powder. This has a nice bite to it and doesn't add any extra liquid to the mixture. On days I am feeling ambitious I make my own mayonnaise otherwise I go with Hellman's.

Regarding purchased sandwiches - If you are ever at Mitsuwa you may want to try both their egg and chicken salad sandwiches. They are excellent - more reminiscent of English rather than American style sandwiches - thin sliced bread with no crust.

jygach wrote: I grate the perfectly boiled eggs - the grating gives the salad a smoother more even texture.

Not to criticize - to each his own - but I really dislike getting grated egg salad in a sandwich in a restaurant. Too mushy for me. I like a chunky egg salad.

Katie wrote:I really dislike getting grated egg salad in a sandwich in a restaurant. Too mushy for me. I like a chunky egg salad.

Me too. I don't even order egg salad because I'm afraid they're going to give me the mushy kind.

jygach wrote:Regarding purchased sandwiches - If you are ever at Mitsuwa you may want to try both their egg and chicken salad sandwiches. They are excellent - more reminiscent of English rather than American style sandwiches - thin sliced bread with no crust.

Where in Mitsuwa? I don't think saw anything like this in the food court.

Thanks!

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

jygach wrote:Regarding purchased sandwiches - If you are ever at Mitsuwa you may want to try both their egg and chicken salad sandwiches. They are excellent - more reminiscent of English rather than American style sandwiches - thin sliced bread with no crust.

Where in Mitsuwa? I don't think saw anything like this in the food court.

Thanks!

Regards,

I'm going to jump in with a guess: the sandwiches are not in the food court but in the bakery area, on the opposite side of the building from the front door. jygach, did I get that right?

Cathy2
Where in Mitsuwa? I don't think saw anything like this in the food court.

Thanks!

Regards

Hi Cathy,

The sandwiches are available in the bakery. As an aside, they also have a whipped cream and fruit salad sandwich which does not appeal to my taste, but is certainly worth trying once, if only for the novelty appeal.


Jyoti

Speaking of Mitsuwa, I had forgotten that one of the earliest Woody Allen movies, What's Up Tiger Lily?, has a key connection to this topic. To make the film, Allen used a really bad Japanese spy movie and dubbed it to be a goofy spoof comedy about an evil gangster named Shepherd Wong who possesses the secret recipe for the world's best egg salad, which characters Wing Fat and Phil Moscowitz attempt to steal. I understand the movie is now available on DVD, and as a special feature contains a number of great egg salad recipes.

Anyone care to share?

Olde School wrote:Speaking of Mitsuwa, I had forgotten that one of the earliest Woody Allen movies, What's Up Tiger Lily?, has a key connection to this topic.

"It is written, 'he who makes the best egg salad shall rule over heaven and earth.' Don't ask me why egg salad - I've got enough aggravation."

Olde School wrote:Speaking of Mitsuwa, I had forgotten that one of the earliest Woody Allen movies, What's Up Tiger Lily?, has a key connection to this topic. To make the film, Allen used a really bad Japanese spy movie and dubbed it to be a goofy spoof comedy about an evil gangster named Shepherd Wong who possesses the secret recipe for the world's best egg salad, which characters Wing Fat and Phil Moscowitz attempt to steal. I understand the movie is now available on DVD, and as a special feature contains a number of great egg salad recipes.

Anyone care to share?

One of the recipes can be found here

-ramon

ab wrote:tangent, but I've found that the organic/veggie eggs are harder to peel in general, regardless of cooking method. Anyone else? The membranes are just different than regular eggs.

Couple of thoughts - it's sort of sad that "regular eggs" come from anti-biotic and hormone stuffed chickens kept in tiny cages and farm-raised chickens on a natural diet are not "regular."

Oh - and egg salad makes me ill. Maybe 'cause its fowl? (ha!)

jygach wrote:Regarding purchased sandwiches - If you are ever at Mitsuwa you may want to try both their egg and chicken salad sandwiches. They are excellent - more reminiscent of English rather than American style sandwiches - thin sliced bread with no crust.

Today I beelined to the Hippo Bakery to check out those sandwiches. While egg salad was sold out, they had the chicken salad as well as pork cutlet sandwiches. I bought the chicken salad for a light dinner:



The chicken salad was a refreshing sandwich with no crusts and a chicken filling not overwhelmed by mayonnaise. I could envision buying these sandwiches for a picnic in the park or a tea party.

Regards,

What's Up Tiger Lily is hilarious. If you haven't seen it, it's a must-see. Like Eraserhead.

I have some kind of egg timer I put in the cold water with the eggs. As the water heats up, the gauge changes color, indicating soft, medium, or hard boil. When it gets to the desired level, I take it off the stove and run cold water over them. They always come out just right. Too easy.

BTW, what does a PB&J sammich cost at E.A.T.?

After all of this discussion about finding, making, and eating egg salad, I everyone might like this video:

How To Peel a Boiled Egg

Best,
Michael