Passover, Easter, and Dyngus
Passover starts tonight and I’ll be headed out momentarily to visit my mother for seder. I asked what we could bring, and she assigned me hard boiled eggs, the roasted shank bone, and the roasted egg.
Hard boiled eggs kill me, which could be why they have become my responsibility. Years and years ago, Raf famously refused a hard boiled egg because it had a ring of green around its yolk. At the time I thought that was the fussiest, most precious thing I had ever seen. Now I’m afraid I’ve become what I once denigrated.
My hard boiled egg fail last night was pretty epic. I was trying out a slightly different technique, and I guess when the recipe said “simmer” it was looking for more of a lively simmer than a low simmer. Oops.
The second attempt went much better. Or at least I think it did. And thanks to my failure, I got to enjoy a bunch of perfectly soft boiled eggs. Damn, those were good. But Passover isn’t the only celebration this weekend that has something to do with eggs.
Happy Easter!
I’m still not entirely sure why that bunny is hiding chocolate filled eggs all around the place, or what that has to do with marshmallows made into the shape of chics. I also have no idea if the custom of kids searching for the afikomen at the end of the Passover meal is borrowed from this holiday tradition.
Whatever the case, as much as I enjoy matzo ball soup and braised brisket, I’m always jealous of those HoneyBaked Ham Easter dinners, with soft buttered rolls.
Since I can never stop beating a dead horse, I’ll just leave my warning about how easy it is to ruin a perfectly good HoneyBaked Ham right here.
Sunday, of course, is also April Fools Day. Much like the time when Chanukah fell on Thanksgiving, this is a rare opportunity to have some fun on an already fun holiday. The last time these two holidays happened on the same day was 1956, and the next time it happens won’t be until 2029.
The day after Easter? That’s Dyngus Day, which sounds incredibly fun. All I know is that Muza and The Hill at Muza have a day full of food, drink, and music. It’s huge. Not as huge as what happens in Buffalo. But it’s growing.
All of this means that winter is fading away. Spring is emerging. March is gone. April is here.
Sure, it’s time to file your taxes. However, we have Albany Craft Beer Week, I’m putting the finishing touches on another Official Yelp Event, and soon we can start talking about the next Fussy Little Tour. Plus, April is when the New York Beef Council is going to start its search for the best burger in New York.
Whatever you celebrate, have a great weekend.
FUSSYlittleBLOG 
Heat the ham just enough to crisp it, right?
Use your Instant Pot for the eggs! The consensus seems to 5 minutes at high pressure, 5 minutes natural release, 5 minutes ice bath. Mine came out beautifully. The other plus is that you can easily do a dozen or more at a time.
I’ve been using the Food Lab Serious Eats method for hard boiled eggs since it was published. Love how easy they are to peel. I have it perfected for our liking (12 minute simmer) and no green rings!
I’ve been put on egg duty for tomorrow’s seder – and have spent way too much time looking up different methods. I have decent luck boiling eggs that have been lingering in my fridge for a while, but the request for eggs came in yesterday and I’m worried the eggs are too fresh.
I steam my eggs. No green rings ever.
I use our rice cooker’s steamer basket. Not only perfectly cooked at ~17 minutes, the shells slip off more easily than any other method I’ve tried.
What’s to get about the bunnies and eggs? Ancient pagan Germans got weird with eggs and bunnies at the beginning of spring. Then Christianity came and mucked it all up and here we are.
Hard boiled eggs. Love them somewhere between soft and hard. It’s a challenge but well worth the effort.