For anyone who’s ever fought the delicate dance of frying an egg, the over-easy egg is a real testament to culinary power. It’s that gastronomic treat that calls for an impossible balance: whites cooked right and set, but a yolk still gloriously runny, bursting with creamy perfection at any moment. Reaching this perfect texture is something home chefs strive for, but it’s notoriously finicky, tending instead to frustrate – raw whites that feel slimy, a yolk that becomes an insoluble block from overcooking, or, the ultimate disappointment, a broken yolk upon flip. This cookbook hopes to demystify the process, making a seemingly intimidating task a regularly achievable accomplishment, even before your first cup of coffee.
Indeed, for as simple a foodstuff as eggs are, they can be curiously slippery to get just so. While a survey of readers showed that the majority of people prefer their eggs scrambled, the second most prevalent manner in which people enjoy their eggs is over-easy. This is the option that tells us so much about the attraction of that perfectly cooked white housing a runny, golden yolk, and it is pure must-have food for many breakfast enthusiasts. To constantly achieve this combination, especially achieving the whites cooked but the yolk remaining runny, is generally one of the more challenging tasks that need to be mastered in the kitchen, even for the most skilled home cooks. Too often, a perfect egg is waved off as sheer luck, something which appears impossible to replicate.
1. What is an Over-Easy Egg?
So, exactly what is an over-easy egg? Unlike its sunny-side-up counterpart, which is just cooked on one side and never flipped, an over-easy egg is a cracked egg cooked on both sides in a pan or griddle. The most significant characteristic, and the source of the “easy” in its name, is the yolk’s doneness: it remains breathtakingly runny. Yes, of course, you can cook eggs a bit longer for an “over medium” or “over hard” texture, but the charm of the over-easy is the liquid gold in the center. It’s this very delicate balance that we’re committed to helping you master.
Easy Cheese Danish
Equipment
- 1 Electric Mixer fitted with paddle attachment
- 1 Sheet Pan
- 1 Parchment Paper for lining sheet pan
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Sharp Knife or pizza cutter
Ingredients
Main
- 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 extra-large egg yolks at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest 2 lemons
- 2 sheets 1 box frozen puff pastry, defrosted
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream them together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don't whip!
- Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash. Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.
- Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.
Notes
2. Keys to Success
Before you embark on the cooking journey to the perfect over-easy egg, having the right tools on hand in your kitchen is crucial. Your success in the venture typically lies in the equipment. Even though the operation is easy, right equipment will do the trick in eliminating every potential hitch, allowing you to focus on the process rather than fighting with your equipment or vessels. These fundamental implements are not recommendations; they are participants in helping your eggs slide onto the plate like a dream, always providing the ideal texture and appearance you want.
Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
Equipment
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl For washing, drying, and tossing spinach.
- 1 Electric Kettle Alternatively, a small saucepan for boiling eggs.
- 1 Large Skillet For frying bacon and rendering fat.
- 1 Small Saucepan For preparing the warm bacon dressing.
- 1 Whisk For emulsifying the dressing.
Ingredients
Main
- 8 ounces young spinach
- 2 large eggs
- 8 pieces thick-sliced bacon chopped
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 large white mushrooms sliced
- 3 ounces red onion 1 small, very thinly sliced
Instructions
- Remove the stems from the spinach and wash, drain and pat dry thoroughly. Place into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
- Place the eggs into an electric kettle and cover with cold water by at least 1-inch. Turn the kettle on. Once the water comes to a boil, the kettle will turn itself off. Leave the eggs in the water for 15 minutes. Remove and peel off the shell. Slice each egg into 8 pieces and set aside.
- While the eggs are cooking, fry the bacon and remove to a paper towel to drain, reserving 3 tablespoons of the rendered fat. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
- Transfer the fat to a small saucepan set over low heat and whisk in the red wine vinegar, sugar and Dijon mustard. Season with a small pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper.
- Add the mushrooms and the sliced onion to the spinach and toss. Add the dressing and bacon and toss to combine. Divide the spinach between 4 plates or bowls and evenly divide the egg among them. Season with pepper, as desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
The selection of pan is crucial. Eggs are notoriously finicky, having a penchant for sticking to pan surfaces, which can dash your hopes of achieving a perfect over-easy egg in mere seconds. In order to comfortably cook two eggs, an eight- or 10-inch pan is the perfect size. This size gives enough space for the eggs to expand well without overcrowding, but also guarantees that you will not require too much butter or oil to satisfactorily cover the whole bottom surface.
Most importantly, the pan has to be nonstick. This can be done through the added application of a nonstick coating or by using naturally nonstick materials such as a pre-seasoned cast iron skillet or a carbon steel skillet. All of these ensure that your over-easy eggs will slide out of the pan without fail, making the all-important flipping process considerably less stressful and the transfer to plate seamless.
Fresh Corn Salad
Equipment
- 1 Large Pot For boiling corn
- 1 Large Bowl For ice bath and tossing salad
- 1 Cutting Board For preparing corn, onion, and basil
- 1 Chef's knife For cutting corn kernels, dicing onion, julienning basil
- 1 Colander For draining corn
Ingredients
Main
- 5 ears of corn shucked
- 1/2 cup small-diced red onion 1 small onion
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons good olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup julienned fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the corn for 3 minutes until the starchiness is just gone. Drain and immerse it in ice water to stop the cooking and to set the color. When the corn is cool, cut the kernels off the cob, cutting close to the cob.
- Toss the kernels in a large bowl with the red onions, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Just before serving, toss in the fresh basil. Taste for seasonings and serve cold or at room temperature.
Notes
3. Selecting the Right Ingredients
Now, let’s move on to the basic ingredients that will serve as the core of your tasty over-easy eggs. Although the list may be straightforward, the quality and preparation of said elements have a much bigger impact on the finished flavor and texture of your meal. All of the details, from the eggs to the cooking fat and seasoning, help contribute to the success.
Right in the middle of our dish are the eggs themselves, and their freshness is not optional. Fresh eggs possess a firmer egg white and a denser yolk, which are crucial to maintaining the yolk intact during the flip. Older eggs have a weaker white and a more watery yolk, so they aren’t so well suited to this specific preparation.
Hangtown Fry
Equipment
- 1 Large skillet or frying pan Cast iron or non-stick recommended
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Shallow dish For dredging oysters
- 1 Bowl For egg mixture
- 1 Plate or wire rack For draining bacon and oysters
Ingredients
Main
- 6 slices thick-cut bacon
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- Coarse salt
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 12 shucked fresh oysters
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove bacon, reserving rendered fat in the skillet.
- While bacon cooks, whisk eggs, heavy cream, and parsley in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge shucked oysters lightly in flour, shaking off excess.
- Add butter to the reserved bacon fat in the skillet over medium-high heat. Heat until butter is melted and slightly foaming.
- Add floured oysters to the hot skillet in a single layer. Fry for 1-2 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through. Remove oysters from skillet.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Pour the egg mixture into the same skillet.
- Stir the eggs gently and continuously with a whisk or spatula, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan, until soft curds form and eggs are creamy but not fully set.
- Add the cooked bacon and fried oysters back into the skillet with the scrambled eggs.
- Gently fold the ingredients together just until combined and heated through.
- Serve immediately, garnished with additional parsley if desired.
Notes
To check whether your egg is fresh or not, take a glass of water and add an egg slowly. If your egg lies at the bottom of the glass in a horizontal position, it’s really fresh. But if the egg floats, then the egg is old.
Fats in cooking, in turn, are added in terms of butter in cooking, which adds a rich and appealing nutty flavor. For two eggs, 1 tablespoon of butter would be the general standard. Or, bacon grease used from cooking bacon adds rich depth, and olive oil adds grassy undertones, although canola oil adds minimal flavor to these.
Bacon and Egg Fried Rice
Equipment
- 1 Wok or Large Skillet Essential for high-heat stir-frying
- 1 Spatula For stirring, pressing, and tossing ingredients
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Chef's knife
- 1 Measuring Spoons
Ingredients
Main
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil such as canola or vegetable, plus more as needed
- 3/4 cup diced bacon or ham
- 3/4 cup diced white onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup diced carrots
- 1/4 cup snap peas sliced, or other seasonal vegetables
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 4 cups cooked rice
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- Kosher salt
- 2 scallions chopped
- Freshly ground white pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat, then add the 2 tablespoons of oil and the bacon. Cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy, about 2 minutes. Stir in the onion, garlic, carrots and snap peas and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 1 minute.
- Add the eggs to the skillet, then add the rice directly into the wet egg. Using the back of a spatula or spoon, press the rice into the egg, fold and repeat until the rice is completely coated and heated through. Add the soy sauce and oyster sauce and stir to coat the rice. Season with a pinch of salt. Cook over high heat, stirring, until the rice is heated through, 2 to 4 minutes. Garnish with the scallions and some white pepper.
Notes
4. Mastering the Flip Technique
Finally, we come to the technique itself: mastering the classic flip technique. This time-tested method is dependent on precision, timing, and light touch. This technique has been refined to conquer common problems, so you can achieve consistent results.
Start by melting 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter in your nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once melted, tilt the pan to coat the entire bottom. Crack two large eggs into the skillet, with the yolks intact, and add salt with kosher salt.
Allow the eggs to cook undisturbed until the whites are just about set and have an opaque color, which will take 2 minutes. Check for half an inch of unset white that sticks to the yolks. This is your cue to prepare to flip.
Deviled Eggs
Equipment
- 1 Large Pot For boiling eggs
- 1 Slotted Spoon For safely lowering and removing eggs
- 1 Medium Bowl For mixing the yolk filling
- 1 Fork For mashing and combining ingredients
- 1 Small spoon For filling the egg white halves
Ingredients
Main
- 1 dozen eggs
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons chopped pickles
- 1 teaspoon pickle juice
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- Hot sauce such as Tabasco
- Salt and black pepper
- Paprika for sprinkling
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the eggs, then bring to a boil. Using a slotted spoon gently lower the eggs into the boiling water. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the eggs from the heat and run under cold water until completely cooled.
- Peel the eggs, cut in half and scoop out the yolks into a medium bowl. Add the mayo, mustard, pickles, pickle juice, sugar, vinegar, hot sauce and salt and pepper to taste, and mix with a fork until well combined.
- Using a small spoon, fill each egg white half with a generous teaspoon of filling. Lightly sprinkle with paprika to garnish.
Notes
If the whites are mingled together, separt them using your spatula. Put the spatula under one egg and place it in the middle under the yolk. Then flip with a swift but firm motion, having your spatula close to the pan so that they don’t break.
Do the same thing to the second egg. Sprinkle black pepper after the flip. Cook for only 30 seconds longer to cook the whites without overcooking the yolk.
5. Exploring the No-Flip Basting with Water
After mastering the traditional flip, we move on to the “no-flip” water basting method. This modern approach skips the flip altogether, taking the even road to establish whites and saucy yolks. It’s a frugal, anxiety-free method that’s gaining popularity via social media.
This technique starts much like a conventional fry. Butter is melted in a pan, and eggs are placed in it gently and seasoned. Once the whites just start to set, a little water is added and then the pan is covered.
The steam inside the covered pan cooks the top of the eggs. This is similar to a flip, where the whites cook from the top. Within a minute or so, the yolks have a white coat that indicates they are cooked.
This is a form of water-basting, with steam replacing actual flipping. A generous pat of butter also contributes flavor and nonstick ease. The reward: tender cooked whites and drippy yolks, with no breakage of yolks.
Olive Oil Fried Potatoes with Over Easy Eggs (Huevos Estrellados)
Equipment
- 1 Large Deep Skillet or Pot Essential for frying potatoes in ample olive oil
- 1 Slotted Spoon or Spider For safely removing fried potatoes from hot oil
- 1 Small Non-stick Skillet For perfectly cooking the over-easy eggs
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Chef's knife
Ingredients
Main
- 3 large eggs
- 3 cups plus 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 7 medium Yukon gold potatoes 2¼ lbs., peeled and cut into eight equal wedges
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Peel the Yukon gold potatoes and cut them into eight equal wedges.
- In a large deep skillet or pot, heat 3 cups of extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering (around 350°F/175°C).
- Carefully add the potato wedges to the hot oil, ensuring not to overcrowd the pan; fry in batches if necessary.
- Fry the potatoes, turning occasionally, until they are golden brown, tender on the inside, and crispy on the outside, about 15-20 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon or spider, remove the fried potatoes from the oil and transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil.
- Season the hot fried potatoes generously with kosher salt immediately.
- In a small non-stick skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
- Carefully crack the eggs into the hot oil, ensuring they are spaced apart.
- Fry the eggs over easy until the whites are just set and the yolks are still runny, about 2-3 minutes.
- Divide the fried potatoes among serving plates, top each portion with the over-easy eggs, and serve immediately.
Notes
6. Serving and Versatility
Having mastered both methods, the fun begins: presenting over-easy eggs in refreshing and creative manners. These eggs hold so much more to contribute than a place on the breakfast plate. The rich, liquid texture adds flair and taste to endless possibilities.
The classic accompaniment to buttered toast remains a comfort food staple. The yolk is the perfect dip and only needs a cup of coffee to make it complete. These eggs are quite as much at home, though, in a range of dishes.
Crown the avocado toast with a brunch-worthy touch. Wrap them inside breakfast burritos that contain cheese, salsa, and beans. Even a simple salad gets upgraded by the topping of an over-easy egg.
