Recipe: Fried Eggs
From Terry Golson, author of “The Farmstead Egg Guide & Cookbook”:
A secret to perfectly cooked eggs is to keep the heat low. Low temperatures allow the egg to solidify without losing moisture. This rule is especially true for fried eggs. Even the butter for fried eggs should be melted in the skillet over low heat so that it bubbles but doesn’t brown.
Using fat to grease the pan makes a difference. You can fry an egg in a nonstick skillet and slip it off with a spatula, but without grease, that egg will look like a plastic toy from a play set. Butter adds flavor and moisture. You don’t need much. Some people do prefer fried eggs with thin, crispy edges. If you are in that group, then use vegetable oil and a slightly higher temperature. I like fried eggs both ways, but I think that the best fried eggs are those eaten on a camping trip, cooked in bacon grease over a hot camp stove.
Fried Eggs
Courtesy of Terry Golson
Makes 2 eggs
Ingredients:
Unsalted butter
2 large eggs
Instructions for Sunny Side Up:
These eggs are picture-perfect. The whites are bright, with none of the browning that comes from flipping the egg over, and the spherical yolks look like little suns (hence the name).
Melt enough butter over low heat to coat the pan generously (a heavy nonstick pan is best).
Crack the egg into the pan and cover with a lid.
Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the outer yolk firms up but the center remains soft and a touch runny.
Instructions for Over Easy:
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-low heat.
Crack the egg into the pan and cook until the white is done all the way but the yolk is still runny, about 1 minute. Use a spatula to flip the egg over.
Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more, until the edges of the yolk begin to solidify but the inside remains soft.
Instructions for Over Hard:
These eggs are for those who don’t like runny yolks. The trick here is to set the yolk without having the white turn tough and rubbery.
Cook the same way as for over easy, making sure the temperature is quite low.
Once you’ve flipped the egg, keep cooking until the yolk is thoroughly set, about 3 minutes.
From “The Farmstead Egg Guide & Cookbook” © 2014 by Terry Golson. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
For more info:
- “The Farmstead Egg Guide & Cookbook” by Terry Golson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
