Boiled Egg and Soldiers

There is something of an art to boiling an egg, do you like it soft or hard, should it come from the fridge or be room temperature, brown or white? The questions are endless.

In the classic version of Boiled Egg and Soldiers, well my version anyway, this is how it should be done.

The eggs, brown of course, should be a room temperature. Why should the eggs be brown? They just look more appetizing to me. The egg pan, which is only ever used for boiling eggs because of the minerals that come from the shells (they mess up your good pans!) should be filled with boiling water and just a splash of vinegar. The vinegar is there to stop the egg leaking out of the shell if it should crack just a little. That is only likely to happen if you put the eggs into boiling water straight from the fridge.

Once the water has reached a rolling boil put the egg carefully into it, and allow it to boil for 3½ minutes, not a second more or a second less, eggs need to be soft for soldiers. You can get some timers that go in the pan with the eggs but an ordinary kitchen timer will do, or just keep an eye on your watch. There are even some very fancy egg boilers, but I've used a pan for years and still think it's best.

Once your egg is boiled for the right amount of time, take it out of the water and put it into your favourite egg cup and give it a sharp tap on the top to let the heat out so that it doesn't go hard. Meanwhile your toast is underway....

Next comes the Toast.

Everybody has different ideas of what Toast should be, lightly done, burnt to a crisp, brown or white, crusts on or off - endless choices. There are those who think you can have Soldiers made from bread without toasting it, but that just isn't the way it should be at all. Normally I like my toast just this side of a cinder but for soldiers it has to be just somewhere in the middle.

The perfect toast soldiers are made from white bread, they just seem to have the right amount of crunch and consistency. The bread should be cut quite thick so that it is toasted on the outside but still soft in the middle so it can soak up the yolky goodness.

Once it is cut, either put into the Toaster or under a pre-heated grill so it cooks quickly without drying out. Once it is an even golden color remove it from the grill or the toaster. Spread it with butter, and it must be butter to be true comfort food.

When you have buttered your toast cut the crusts off three sides of the bread, that way you have a crust to hold onto but the rest of the Toast can soak up yolk. Cut the remaining toast into finger sized oblongs.