Eggs and Soldiers

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Eggs and Soldiers

I have no idea how my mom made soft boiled eggs. From a child's perspective I never realized how tricky it was to make soft boiled eggs. I have a childhood memory of these cute little blue bird egg cups that my mom would use to hold a soft boiled egg. She would cut my toast into strips so that I could dip them into the egg yolk. Then I remember going to the bus stop and going to school. Yes, my mom made this breakfast for me before school. Wow. I didn't recognize how special this breakfast was until now. I saw a movie where the Mom asked if her son wanted "eggs and soldiers." I wondered what that was. I Googled it, and found that it was soft boiled eggs and toast strips (soldiers). Okay, now it's time to make this recipe for myself. Hopefully, my experimenting (which I mostly got from other websites) will save you time.

Eggs and Soldiers

1 or 2 eggs

1 slice of toast, buttered and sliced into strips

First Try: Heat water to a rolling boil, gently drop the egg, boil for 1 minute, cover, remove from the heat and cook for 3 minutes. Rinse under cold water, place the egg in the holder and crack the top with a spoon. Result: complete fail, most of the white was completely runny.

Second Try: Place egg and cool water in a pot and heat to a rolling boil. Turn the heat down slightly to a gentle boil, and boil the egg for 4 minutes. Rinse under cold water, place the egg in the holder and crack the top with a spoon. Result: almost there, the white was not completely set but it was so close.

Third Try: Place egg and water in a pot and heat to a rolling boil. Turn the heat down slightly to a gentle boil, and boil the egg for 5 minutes. Rinse under cold water, place the egg in the holder and crack the top with a spoon. Result: ever so slightly over cooked, the white was completely set but the yolk was barely runny.

Fourth Try: I used my "Egg Head" cooker. I don't remember using "Egg Head" for soft cooked eggs. I think I've only used it for hard cooked eggs (as in "Mom's Potato Salad" recipe). Rinse under cold water, place the egg in the holder and crack the top with a spoon. Result: almost there (like my second try) the white was not completely set. However, the second egg that sat for another whole minute before I cracked it was perfect. Hmmm. Interesting clue.

Final Thoughts: The second, third and fourth tries were all very close and within 1 minute (give or take) of being perfect. Given a choice I would rather my egg be slightly overcooked than undercooked in this case. That is a personal preference and I'm sure others will not agree. That means I'd rather eat the third try version more than any other version, even thought there is not a lot of "dunking sauce" for the soldiers. When I try the second or fourth try version again I'll leave the eggs alone for an extra minute before I rinse and handle them. That should make them perfect. The third try version would have been perfect if I cooked it for 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

1. Experiment and find your perfect egg cooking method.

2. While the egg is cooking make the toast. I used Pain Ordinaire from a bread machine.

3. When the egg is done crack the top with a spoon.

4. Peel the top of the egg with your hands or scoop the top off with a spoon. Or, peel the entire egg and place back into the egg holder. Dip the soldiers and enjoy.

Helpful links:

• The Perfect Soft Boiled Egg by For the Love of Cooking
• How to Soft-Boil an Egg by theKitchn
• Eggs with Toast Soldiers by Exotic Eating