When we talk about putting together a well-stocked pantry and refrigerator, several items immediately come to mind: boxed pasta, canned coconut milk, dried beans, fresh herbs, nice tinned fish and — of course! — eggs.
Eggs are an all-star kitchen ingredient with the power to bind, emulsify and thicken. You can bake, boil, fry and scramble them. Despite all of that potential, many folks — myself included — tend to fall into an egg rut.
This is your guide to escaping that rut. These five recipes will get you to prepare a kitchen staple in ways that are (hopefully) new to you. Mix your eggs with unique ingredients, use them to reinvent a lunchbox classic or even find some inspiration from TikTok.
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Scrambled eggs with lox, cream cheese and capers
As it turns out, all you need are three ingredients to elevate your basic morning scramble. This simple recipe is a protein-packed version of one of my favorite breakfast foods: a bagel with lox and a schmear. Cream cheese gives the scrambled eggs a luscious, delectable texture that stands up beautifully to the flaky, slightly smoky salmon. The finishing touch? Beautiful, briny capers.
I've waxed poetic about the enduring allure of Kewpie on "Saucy," Salon's weekly condiment column. The popular Japanese mayonnaise only contains egg yolks, giving it a more custardy consistency than American mayonnaise, which contains both the yolk and the whites.
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"The acid is a bit higher, it's a little sweeter and the umami content is a little stronger, as well," Chicago chef Mari Katsumura explained to Salon Food earlier this year.
One of the best uses for this condiment? Japanese egg salad sandwiches! This Japanese-Style Egg Salad recipe is simple because you only need three ingredients: hard-boiled eggs, Kewpie and minced herbs. Serve it on pillowy milk bread, and you have a truly elevated version of a lunchbox classic.
Have a few eggs at home and not much else? Hetty McKinnon's steamed "water egg" custard is the recipe for you!
"Eggs are whisked with just the right amount of water so that, once steamed, it transforms into a custard that is light and silky, with only the gentlest jiggle," McKinnon wrote. "Growing up, we ate this dish with white rice, but nowadays, I often eat this for breakfast without any accompaniments other than a few drops of chile oil, a shower of sesame seeds and a swig or two of Maggi seasoning."
For more from McKinnon — including a recipe for soy sauce brownies — check out her interview with Salon Food's Mary Elizabeth Williams.
This recipe for crispy TikTok pesto eggs from Williams is equally simple.
"While eggs with pesto are a concept as old as brunch itself, there's something endearing about taking pesto, the quiche of the '80s, and avocado toast, the pesto of the 2010's, and filtering it through TikTok, the Snapchat of the 2020's," Williams wrote. "The result is a dish that's both trendy and timeless, easily adaptable to your own preferred way of cooking eggs."
Back to Kewpie mayonnaise, my favorite yolk-laden condiment, for a moment. It's also one of the keys to much better deviled eggs. The other secret ingredient? Creamy dill mustard. Combine the two along with egg yolks for a more flavorful deviled egg filling. As we head into the holiday season, this is an ideal appetizer or side dish for family meals.
More eggsquisite reading:
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