How to cook and peel hard boiled eggs

Even if you don't cook, keeping a dozen eggs in the refrigerator is a no brainer.

• If there are hard boiled eggs in the fridge, a grab-and-go breakfast is always ready and waiting.
• Meatless meals are a cinch - quiche, frittata, scrambled egg burritos and French toast.
• Top a salad meal with hard boiled egg slices to boost the protein and vitamin D in a simple supper.
• You will be the hit of the party. Deviled eggs are always a hit at a covered dish meal or picnic.
• Civilization as we know it would end without eggs Benedict, souffles and egg salad.
• Even if you can't boil water, you won't starve if there are eggs in your refrigerator.

Buy eggs 2 or 3 weeks ahead of time to prepare deviled eggs. Fresh eggs are very difficult to peel.

Place oven rack in center of oven. Set one egg in each muffin cup of a muffin tin. Turn oven to 325 degrees F. Bake eggs for 30 minutes. Plunge eggs into a bowl or sink of ice water to stop cooking and cool enough to peel.

This simple method keeps the eggs from over cooking and prevents the greenish ring on the outside of the yoke.

p.s. I buy Jumbo eggs and cook for 30 minutes, then turn off the oven and let the eggs continue to bake a the oven cools down for 10 or 15 minutes.

Buy eggs two or three weeks ahead of time. Older eggs are easier to peel. Follow the hard boiled or oven baked method.

Remove cooked eggs from heat and plunge into ice water. This stops the cooking process. As soon as eggs are cool enough to handle, gently crack the whole eggshell.

Starting at the widest end of the oval, carefully pull away the small pieces of crushed eggshell. Pay special attention to the membrane between the egg and the shell. Make sure that membrane is removed in the little area where you are peeling.

Carefully insert a teaspoon under the membrane. Work he spoon around the egg, separating the egg white and the membrane. Shell will pull away from the egg in large pieces.

Rinse to remove any little pieces of shell. Slice or cut in half using a sharp knife.

Place eggs in a saucepan and add water to cover eggs by one inch. Cover, set heat on high, bring eggs to the boiling point.

Remove from heat. Let eggs sit in hot water for 12-15 minutes. Drain and serve warm. Or, put eggs into ice water to cool quickly. Once eggs are cool enough to handle, peel or refrigerate.

This method prevents the green ring which is unsightly but not harmful.

Some folks swear to adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the water. If an egg cracks while cooking, the vinegar keeps egg whites from running out. Some folks say that adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the water helps prevent cracking and makes the eggs easier to peel.

Banish the greenish ring. This harmless but unsightly discoloration that sometimes forms around hard-boiled yolks results from a reaction between sulfur in the egg white and iron in the yolk. It occurs when eggs have been cooked for too long or at too high a temperature.

• Cocktail or dinner conversation facts

The United States produces almost 75 billion eggs a year.

To tell if an egg is raw or hard-boiled, spin it. Raw eggs wobble, cooked eggs spin.

The average earthling consumes 173 eggs a year.

Eggs as hors d’oeuvres. Sometimes called “stuffed eggs,” deviled eggs originally did not contain mayonnaise. The term “deviled” originally meant to make food spicy.

Fannie Farmer’s 1896 cookbook is one one the earliest referenced to deviled eggs made with mayonnaise. Today the mayo is frequently replaced with Greek yogurt, sour cream, commercial salad dressings and mixed into the yoke to make a filling for the hard cooked egg white halves.

Often deviled eggs are sprinkled with paprika, or a spicier pepper like cayenne, siracha, jalapeno pepper, hot mustard, horseradish. Adding that spice or, heat is what originally made eggs “deviled.”

National Deviled Egg Day which is November 2.

The online American Egg Board (AEB) has safety tips and recipes for a gluten-free diet, brunch, and quick hurry to work or school ideas. I like the fast and easy microwave eggs in a mug recipe, perfect for patio dining with my morning coffee.

The simple recipe is mayonnaise, mustard, pickle relish. I use pickle juice instead of pickle relish to make the mixture smooth and creamy. Replace the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt and nobody will know unless you tell them.

My neighbor uses less mayo and more mustard. The church secretary as fun telling everybody she is bringing bacon and eggs to the potluck. It is her version of deviled eggs with bacon bits. “And just a drop of bacon fat.”

Replace the yoke filling or mix into the yokes, pimento cheese, deviled ham or guacamole.

The topping or garnish are your signature on this dish. The classic garnish is smokey paprika.Try smoked or seasoned salt.

You are not getting deviled eggs from me with out a dusting of Fines herbes (parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil) or whatever herbs are garden fresh.

For six deviled eggs, start with 2 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise (or Greek yogurt); 2 teaspoons of mustard (or honey mustard, grainy, hot) and; 2 teaspoons of sweet or dill pickle relish. Taste. Season with salt and pepper.

Using a fork, mash yolks with mayonnaise and mustard. Add relish or pickle juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Spoon yolk mixture into egg whites.