The Perfectly Basted Egg!

[bbally]

Perhaps the most miss understood preparation of eggs is the Basted Egg. Requesting basted eggs is a little like being a tea drinker in the USA. If you are a tea drinker and request tea either with breakfast or after dinner, you
know what I mean. The system is not designed to handle such requests. If you go with the system you could have 6 cups off coffee by the time one cup of tea arrives! And refills? Forget it..... and so you are prepared to understand the problems associated with ordering a basted egg. I am
putting this blog together so others might find it when they type basted egg into a search engine and bring this most divine way of serving natures perfect protein to a new group of chefs that have never learned the method.

The basted egg starts like most, with the chicken, but we will move forward to the kitchen. Get a fry pan out, one that has a good lid to fit it, and hit it will some butter. Bring it up on medium high heat. And let the butter melt.


Once you have the fat up to temperature you want to crack some whole shell eggs into it. Sans the shells of course. If the temperature is correct the whites should start to change immediately.


Little salt and fresh ground pepper. If you like a yolk thicker, pierce the top of the yolk with a toothpick. Or a paring knife tip. Once the bottom has set and the white is getting nice and bright, add 3 Tbsp of basting liquid. Today I used chicken broth. Give the fry pan a shake
or two to get the water moved to all parts of the pan.


Through the cover on it. The steam and oil/water reaction is going to splatter the fat everywhere. And create a great amount of steam. This will serve to softly cook the top of the egg. No flipping and no rubbery egg white. Then you just monitor to your perfect level of "cooked" remove and serve.


And that my friends is the way to baste and egg. Great on their own, great on top a nice group of corn beef hash, excellent on top fried taters with green chili! Just an all round great way to prepare the wonderful EGG!

'til we talk again... break out the fry pan and baste an egg or two... you won't believe how nice an egg can taste!

Chef Bob Ballantyne
The Cowboy and The Rose Catering
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA

[firechef]

Nice to know I have been doing it right all these years. It is amazing what you can pick up from a good line cook in a Denny's at 2 in the morning eating off a beer buzz...

[bbally]

We have all paid our dues at some point, huh LJ

[firechef]

Had a great friend managing a Denny's that didn't spend all year working on the mountain with the rest of us and he gave us all a free pass through the place during the graveyard shift...lots of great cooks that would never get a look in the "high end" places. A shame really.