The trick to beautiful hard-boiled eggs is not to use ones that just came out of a chicken, not to overcook them and to cool them down in ice water immediately after cooking.
I thought I had done everything right when I recently cooked 18 of them for two parties on consecutive nights. And the first night, all was well. The shells, gently cracked all over, came sliding off like a dream, and the yolks were a lovely yellow through and through. I put the rest of them in the fridge. The next day, every last one of the yolks were covered in gray. I felt as bad as a young wife cooking a first meal for my husband and burning the rice.
Worse, there was nothing on the internet that could tell me what had gone wrong. It wasn't like all the eggs weren't cooked the same amount of time, or in a different pan. Sigh. More experimentation to come.
On the fish front, here's a really easy way to poach a skinless, boneless salmon fillet for one.
Lay the salmon flat in a microwave-safe pie plate or bowl. Season with herbs of your choice (I used Montreal Steak Seasoning this morning) and cover with wine or beer. Cover the dish and cook for 2 minutes. Remove carefully (it will be steamy hot) and chill. I topped it with some homemade mayonnaise. Yum!
Homemade mayonnaise
Ingredients
2 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
White pepper to taste
16 ounces olive or canola oil
Instructions
Beat together the yolks and the seasoning ingredients. Add the oil, a drop at a time at first, then in a slow, steady stream. Keep beating until all the oil is absorbed.
