Recipes for Easter: red dyed eggs.



Whoever has the toughest egg, wins!

Red eggs, the symbol of Greek Orthodox Easter, represent the blood of Christ , the resurrection and the rebirth. We dye the eggs on Good Thursday and we don't eat them until Sunday. People crack the hard boiled eggs together. The last person whose egg stays intact gets good luck for a year. In every house, those days, you will find a beautiful basket with red (and other colours as well) dyed eggs.

There is a very particular way these eggs are made; it’s not difficult. I found for you two recipes on the net, which are similar to my mother's and grandmother's ones. The first recipe is an old-fashioned method to dye eggs in a natural way (with onions) and the other one uses commercial dye you can find everywhere in supermarkets (in your country I'm sure you can find it in places where Greek products are sold.).

I.  How To Dye Red Eggs with Onion Skins for Greek Easter
What You Need:

• Fresh uncooked eggs at room temperature
• Skins from yellow (Spanish) onions
• White vinegar
• Saucepan
• Strainer
• Bowl
• Slotted spoon
• Paper towels
• Cooling racks
• Olive (or other edible) oil for polishing
• Time Required: 50 minutes + 2 hours cooling

Instructions:

1. Start with 12 medium-to-small eggs.
2. Carefully remove any material clinging to the surface of the eggs.
3. Make the dye with the onion skins: In a stainless saucepan, place skins of 15 yellow (Spanish) onions and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar in 4 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
4. Strain dye into a glass bowl, and let cool to room temperature. (Don't be fooled by the orange color.)
5. In a stainless saucepan (around 8 1/4 inches in diameter), add the cooled strained dye and eggs at room temperature (up to 1 dozen). The eggs should be in one layer and covered by the dye.
6. Bring to a boil over medium heat. When boiling, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer.
7. Dyeing time will be affected by the color of the eggs. Start checking for color at 12-15 minutes. Do not simmer longer than 20 minutes (see step 9 if they aren't red enough).
8. When eggs are the right color, proceed to step 10.
9. If eggs are not a red enough color after 20 minutes, leave in the pot and remove from heat. When the pot as cooled enough, place in refrigerator and let sit until desired color is reached.
10. Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and cool on racks.
11. When they can be handled, coat lightly with olive (or other edible) oil and polish with paper toweling.
12. Refrigerate until time to use.

Tips:

1. Save onion skins in a plastic bag in the refrigerator until ready to use.
2. Do not use any porous (wood, ceramic, plastic, etc.) materials as they can be colored by the dye.
3. If stainless cookware and utensils get colored by the dye, wash with regular detergent and a small amount of chlorine. Rinse very well.

II. How to make Red Eggs 

Things you need:

• Large Pot
• One teacup
• Red Greek dye
• Two dozen eggs
• Water
• Vinegar

Instructions: 

1. Leave eggs out of the refrigerator until they are at room temperature.
2. Wash two dozen eggs to make sure they are prepared for the dye.
3. Fill a pot with enough water to fully cover 24 eggs. Usually a two-gallon pot will work.
4. Add one cup of vinegar.
5. Bring to a boil
6. Add hot water to a teacup.
7. Add one packet of Red Greek dye to the teacup. Some people will boil onion skins to make the red color.
8. Carefully place the eggs into the pot and boil for about 25 minutes, or until they are hard-boiled.
9. Once the eggs are taken out of the pot, let them cool. You can leave them in the refrigerator until it's time to share.

Tips & Warnings

• To make the eggs shine, you can gently rub a cloth with olive oil on the shells.
• The red dye is known to stain. It's a good idea to keep napkins close by when handing the eggs out, and keep them away from items that could be ruined.

Good luck! I’m waiting for your comments!

Lisetta
“The Best” team


My special thanks to the following sites:
http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekcookingtips/ht/redeggs.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_2310217_make-red-eggs-.html