A dish that's all it's cracked up to be

Recently at our house, with my wife's urging and the nudging of our kids who have had one for a while, we joined millions of other Americans and got an air fryer. What the device did for French fries and roasted vegetables, not to mention leftover pizza, was fine, but then we discovered a food that cannot be cooked any better than in an air fryer: hard-cooked eggs. (You can't call them hard-boiled because with an air fryer no water is used.) They turn out perfectly every time, effortlessly, without extra cooking utensils, and with no watching over a boiling pot.

I was delighted to learn this because in just a couple of weeks we'll be into hard-boiled egg season, or what Christians call Easter. Which means that once Easter Monday arrives we will be wondering what to do with all those eggs used to fill children's baskets, decorate tables, or hide on the lawn. Deviled eggs, egg salad, and creamed eggs on toast get old fast.

Which is why around this time I always recall a trip to Europe taken many years ago during which I discovered what, to me, is the perfect egg dish. My dinner companions and I procured a table at a darling little restaurant, and as we sat down and perused the menu I saw something I had never heard of before and decided to order it. My tablemates were skeptical, but when my order arrived I had the last laugh. The dish was beautiful, exquisite and above all delectable. It was oeufs mayonnaise, hard-boiled eggs cloaked in mayonnaise.

We don't see oeufs mayonnaise as much on menus over here, but in France it, not cassoulet, clafouti or escargot, is the most ordered dish around the country. It is so revered, there is even a society charged with protecting it.

The easiest and most foolproof way to make perfect hard-cooked eggs for the classic French dish Ouefs Mayonnaise is to use an air fryer.Submitted by Tom Harte

Calling the dish as essential to the cuisine of France as the paper clip is to the running of an office, the late French food critic Claude Lebey over 30 years ago spearheaded the formation of the Association de Sauvegarde l'Oeuf Mayonnaise, the society for the protection of eggs mayonnaise. To uphold the standards of the dish, the society launched the Championnat du Monde de l'Oeuf Mayonnaise, an annual competition designed to determine which restaurant's eggs mayonnaise, a dish Julia Child was known to have enjoyed rapturously, is the best rendering in the world.

The members of the society understand the irony in the fact that often the simplest dishes, even those with few ingredients, are among the hardest to execute — for example, bread, pie crust or perfectly roasted chicken. So it is with eggs mayonnaise.

Fundamentally, eggs mayonnaise has only two components, but if either is not up to par, the dish suffers. The eggs, while they should be fully cooked, should have slightly "jammy" yolks and whites that aren't rubbery. The mayonnaise, to do the dish justice, ought to be homemade or at least almost so. A technological marvel rivaling anything made by Apple Inc., homemade mayonnaise is not really that hard to make. Indeed it's fun, even a bit magical, and a far cry from store-bought.

Put the two together, as in eggs mayonnaise, and you have true eggstacy.

To meet the standards of the French society for the protection of eggs mayonnaise requires homemade or almost homemade mayo.Submitted by Tom Harte

Oeufs Mayonnaise

This recipe is adapted from Dorie Greenspan in the New York Times, with a cheats recipe adapted from Marcia Lahens on www.goddesscooks.com.

• 1 egg (if concerned about salmonella contamination use pasteurized eggs)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 hard-cooked eggs

Place egg, lemon juice, mustard, vinegar and salt in a blender and pulse to combine. With machine running on high or medium-high, slowly pour in oils, scraping down sides of container as needed, until incorporated. Cut eggs in half lengthwise and place on serving dishes, yolk side down. Spoon mayonnaise over eggs, thinning with hot water if necessary, so they are completely coated. Garnish as desired. (Cheats Mayonnaise Recipe: combine 3/4 cup store-bought mayonnaise, preferably Dukes brand, 2 tablespoons olive oil, grated zest of 1/2 lemon, 3 tablespoons buttermilk, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice and a pinch of salt, adjusting amounts to achieve desired consistency.)