Main Ingredient - Hard-Boiled Eggs

I posted a short missive about the joys of an easy-to-peel hard-boiled egg on my personal Facebook page a couple weeks ago. I think it resonated with people, ending the week with 74 likes and over a dozen comments. There are few culinary frustrations more maddening than a hard-boiled egg that is difficult to peel. If you’re like me, you end up throwing chunks of perfectly cooked egg, with shells stuck to them, into your compost bucket. Sometimes I want to throw them against the wall.

But oh, when an egg’s shell slides off easily! What a joy. After I posted my rant, I got a lot of advice on how to avoid that situation. I’ll be honest - I’ve tried all those things and you know what? Sometimes an egg just won’t peel. Let’s work that into our everyday lexicon. “Oh, you know Paul; he’s like a hard-boiled egg that just won’t peel.”

Suggestions for success on my Facebook post included adding vinegar to the boiling water or salt, steaming the eggs instead of boiling, and cooking in an Instapot (please let me know if you’ve tried that).

Easter is right around the corner, and with it comes dozens and dozens of hard-boiled eggs. There are so many fun ways out there to DIY super cool Easter eggs. Melted crayons, natural dyes, or cover them with temporary tattoos. You could lose two days of your life by heading over to Pinterest...

First things first, let’s cook those eggs. I follow what seems to be the one of the most popular methods for perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs. Start the eggs covered in cold water. Bring the water up to a boil. As soon as the water is boiling, cover and turn off the heat. Let sit for 8 minutes, and then cool (I do set a timer). Some methods call for 10 minutes off the heat uncovered, and up to 15 if you like your yolks super hard.

I cool my eggs in very cold water for a while, imagining the cooked egg white inside cooling and shrinking, ever so slightly, away from the shell.

I crack them, roll them, and hope to the Egg Goddess that they peel easily. Usually they do, but now when I have eggs that are causing me trouble, I follow some great advice from my friend Tiffiany who simply cuts the egg in half and scoops out the good stuff. Super easy if you’re just eating them straight or making egg salad or a recipe where looks don’t matter.

I love egg salad. I love a classic egg salad smooshed between two pieces of toasted white bread with some iceberg lettuce. I also love variations on egg salad like this one with bacon. I almost always include boiled eggs in other cold, mayonnaise-based salads I make, especially salmon salad. Add a boiled egg to your ramen, or let it inspire you to put together a huge chopped salad for dinner — it doesn’t hurt to keep half a dozen cooked eggs in the fridge for snacks or adding to meals.

You can add hard-boiled eggs to empanadas, pickle them to enjoy later, or try this recipe for Scotch eggs.

You don’t have to be in too big of a rush to use those Easter eggs. According to the American Egg Board, you can hold on to unpeeled hard-boiled eggs for up to a week.