How to cook an egg

Eggs are among the most versatile and indispensable ingredients in any kitchen. They're used in sauces, breads, pastries, flans, and pancakes savory and sweet. And, of course, they're great on their own.

Eggs are also easy to cook, in the sense that it's child's play to turn a raw egg into something edible and reasonably tasty. Indeed, I was a young child when I learned to cook my first ever meal: scrambled eggs on toast. But eggs aren't all that easy to cook well. A reasonably cooked egg can make a reasonably tasty snack, or even a meal. But a perfectly cooked egg goes well beyond that. A perfectly cooked egg is wondrous.

I don't claim to be able to make a perfectly cooked egg. But over the years I've come to be able to make what I think of as a very good egg, by picking up tidbits of technique here and there, and, of course, practicing a lot.

Here's how I cook an egg. The techiniques aren't foolproof, and they certainly aren't original to me, but I'm pretty happy with them. Maybe you will be too.

Boiled. Soft-boiled eggs are tricky, since the time needed to cook them varies depending on altitude, water quality, and egg variety and freshness. The following is a guide, and will need to be adjusted to suit your own conditions. Place eggs in a pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as the water is boiling, start your timer and reduce the heat to a slow, steady boil (above a simmer but below a rolling boil). After 2 minutes and 40 seconds, remove the eggs from the pot and tap them on the head to crack the shells and let steam escape. Serve. (If making hard-boiled eggs, cook them for about 8 minutes.)

Fried. Heat 1 tbsp butter in a large cast-iron or non-stick frying pan. Crack the eggs into the pan from as close to the pan as you can get, to avoid them breaking in the fall. Cook until the whites are just opaque. For sunny-side up, keep cooking until all the white is cooked. For over easy, turn off the heat and flip the eggs in the pan; as soon as you've flipped the last egg, remove the first one, then the next, then the next—over-easy eggs need only a few seconds on the yolk-side, any more and the yolk will overcook.

Scrambled. Low heat and plenty of butter are the keys here. Melt 2 tbsp butter over low heat in a heavy-bottomed pot or pan. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a bowl until they're blended. Pour the eggs into the pan, and immediately start stirring with a wooden spoon. Keep stirring the eggs, scraping any that start to harden along the bottom of the pan. If they start to cook too quickly, remove the pan from the heat until it cools a bit, all the while stirring. (Scrambled eggs should take quite a while to cook, ten minutes or so.) When the eggs are cooked to your liking (some like them runny, some like them hard), season them with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.

Poached. To poach is to cook in liquid below the boiling point, often significantly below it. I like to poach eggs at a relatively high temperature, though. Bring a large pot of water, with a couple of tablespoons of vinegar in it, to a boil. While the water is boiling, crack the eggs into the water. Immediately turn off the heat. Once all the bubbles have subsided, turn the heat on very low. Cook for about three minutes, and either serve or add cold water to stop the cooking. The eggs can be held in warm water for up to about twenty minutes if need be.

Omelet. Melt 1.5 tbsp butter in an omelet pan, preferably non-stick, over medium-high heat. Whisk the eggs until they're fully blended. When the pan is nice and hot, pour the eggs in, immediately stirring vigorously with a wooden fork or spoon. Keep stirring until the eggs begin to set—lumps will start to form, and the stirring action will start to disrupt the shape of the fledgling omelet. Keep cooking over high heat until the surface of the eggs are gelatenous but immobile when the pan is tilted. Season with salt and pepper (and add any filling to the omelet now). Using a spatula, fold one side of the omelet over the other, so that about a third of the omelet remains uncovered. Tilt the pan over the serving-plate, with the exposed part of the omelet resting on the plate, and flip the rest of the omelet over the exposed part, sliding it onto the plate. Serve.