On boiling an egg.

I have a confession to make.  I don't like boiled eggs.  I haven't liked them since I was about 6 years old.  I have distant memories of gleefully eating the top off Daddys egg when I was a very wee girl, but since then boiled eggs have been food of the devil to me.

I don't know what put me off them.  Maybe the occasional underdone egg, with flobbering translucent white and sticky, lukewarm yolk drooling down the side.... Or the way that egg yolk sticks to your teeth and makes them feel unpleasant and almost powdery.

Never mind, this morning I decided that the boiled egg must be revisited as they are a handy protein packed snack.  To my embarrassment I, the great cook, had to look up online how to actually cook a boiled egg. A little humiliating....

More humiliating was the fact that I got it wrong on my first 2 attempts. Taking my eggs straight from the fridge (and therefore at around 4 degrees Celsius) both my initial attempts delivered uncooked white and runny yolks.  Needless to say these hit the bin. The third attempt was closer, although still too runny for me - however, by that stage I was unwilling to sacrifice a 3rd free range egg, so I popped it into an eggcup, on a plate with surrounding condiments - salt, white pepper, celery seeds and Nandos peri peri sauce.

You will be no doubt pleased to hear that I managed to work my way through the egg without serious disgust. In fact I'm considering another one later on in the week. It's time to address those old prejudices!

If you are interested, I have decided the winning combination is a soft but not runny yolk (see the middle egg above), a little sea salt and a dip into the peri peri sauce. Eclectic, I know but I have always been a sucker for something fiery in the morning.....