I perfected my boiled eggs when I worked as a chef to a Russian billionaire on his private yacht sailing around the Mediterranean. Besides the usual spread I put out each morning of fresh croissants, charcuterie, cheese platters, fruit platters, fresh berries, freshly baked banana bread and smoked salmon, the guests would always want boiled eggs.
The boss’s misses liked hers severely underdone. She would say “Joi, wan eeeg, two minuuuutes” Do you know what an egg looks like that’s been done for 2 minutes? The white is still transparent. My friend , Ange and I would get so grossed out trying to cut the top off with the white just spilling out.
I know it seems like an easy thing to do, but there are a few things needed in order to get perfectly boiled eggs.
+Bring the water to the boil first then turn the heat down so the water is just under boiling, but just over simmering.
+Eggs that are room temperature are less likely to break when they hit the water
+Start timing from when the egg hits the water ( duh! I hear you saying, but a lot of people think you should add the egg to cold water and time from when you turn the heat on)
+Use a small pot so the eggs have less room to move
+Make sure the eggs are covered with at least 1 cm of water
+For really soft-boiled eggs (white slightly runny, yolk very runny) 3-4 minutes
+For soft-boiled eggs (egg white completely cooked, yolk runny) 6 minutes
+ For medium boiled eggs (egg white completely cooked, yolk a mixture of runny and hard) 7 minutes
+ For hard-boiled eggs ( egg white completely cooked, yolk completely hard) 10 minutes
// Adjust the cooking times slightly depending on the size of the eggs you are using because yes, size does matter
// If you are struggling to shell an egg it is probably because it is too fresh. The fresher the eggs, the more the membrane clings to the inside of the shell.
This is a really quick and easy light lunch and you don’t have to use homemade mayo I just wanted to give you my recipe here. I do want to encourage you to read the labels of the mayo you do use and be a food detective. Watch out for the ingredients I warn against in this post. I find if you try to buy an artisan brand of mayo from a deli, it may not have as long a shelf life, but it would generally have less preservatives and other nasties in it.
You can also flavor your mayo with whatever you want. You can add some garlic, Dijon mustard or herbs. For this recipe I haven’t added any.
- 1 head cos lettuce
- 4 eggs ( at room temp)
- ¼ red onion finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- sprouts to sprinkle
- 2 T homemade mayonnaise
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup olive oil (light in flavor)
- juice of ½ lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
- Place the egg yolk and lemon juice in a tall cylindrical container and whiz them up with a handheld stick blender.
- With the handheld blender on pour in the olive oil in a steady slow stream until the mixture starts to thicken. Keep adding olive oil until you reach your desired consistency.
- Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Bring a small pot of water to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Slide the eggs in using a spoon and set your timer for 7 minutes
- Cut the end of the cos lettuce and set aside 4 big leaves
- When the eggs are finished, run them under cold water then roll them on the kitchen bench and shell.
- Chop the eggs up into small chunks and mix with 2 T of the homemade mayo and the red onion
- Season with salt and pepper then spoon the mixture onto the 4 cos leaves.
- Scatter with sprouts and serve
Hi I'm Jo Anderson. 
Jo you might have changed my life with this! I LOVE egg mayo sandwiches but haven’t eaten a single one since pretty much giving up bread. I don’t know whey I never thought of serving the egg mayo in lettuce cups! Genius. xx