In the Perfect Nines thread someone commented about why cookbooks recommend not cooking eggs in cast iron: they discolor (sometimes).
I’ve cooked eggs on the cast iron griddle, and not noticed discoloration (though my success at basting them there has been mixed — see the linked thread above for details). My guess: if you keep your cast iron freshly seasoned and use it often, your eggs will be a healthy white-and-yellow rather than brown and green.
But that’s not the issue here– the issue here is the difference between new cookbooks and older cookbooks. I was reading a recipe for eggs “over easy” in a new cookbook over at Chalain’s place, and was APALLED. It said that after cooking on the first side for 2 and a half minutes, you flip the egg over and cook for another 90 seconds.
I’ve got news for you… if you cook your egg that long, it’s not over easy. It isn’t over “medium.” I wouldn’t ever call it over “hard.” I’d just say it’s “overcooked” and throw the rubbery thing into the sink.
Why for the love of all things tasty would the chefs at Better Homes and Gardens or the kitchen priestesses at Betty Crocker (I forget the brand name of the cookbook) tell us that “over easy” is done this way? Well, the answer was in the back.
It’s a CYA: Cover Your (Attorney). They don’t want you to have the slightest bit of not-completely-cooked egg in your diet, lest you contract salmonella and sue Better Homes & Betty for mal-recipe-practice.
I’m guessing these same cookbooks will not give accurate timings for rare steak, juicy chicken, or (Betty forbid!) raw cookie-dough ice-cream. If the trend keeps up the only place you’ll find preparation instructions for steak tartare or sushi will be in the Anarchist’s Cookbook.
We have a 20-year-old “Joy of Cooking” book, and the recipes in there are SOLID. But I’m not sending that book to college with my kids 10 years from now, lest it get confiscated by the under-cover, under-done police.