Freshly Boiled Eggs with Asparagus and Soldiers

Method

1. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil, gently slide in the eggs, bring the water back to the boil and simmer gently for 4-6 minutes, according to your taste. A four minute egg will be still quite soft, five minutes will almost set the white while the yolk will still be runny, 6 minutes will produce a boiled egg with a soft yolk and solid white.

2. Meanwhile toast the bread, cut off the crusts and spread with butter. Cut in fingers. Immediately the eggs are cooked, pop them into egg cups, put the dippies and asparagus on the side and serve with a pepper mill, sea salt and a few pats of butter.

3. To prepare and cook the asparagus: Hold each spear of asparagus over your index finger down near the root end, it will snap at the point where it begins to get tough. Some people like to peel the asparagus, but we rarely do.

4. To boil, tie similar sized bundles of asparagus in bundles with raffia. Choose a tall saucepan.

5. Cook in about 2.5cm (1 inch) of boiling salted water (1 teaspoon salt to every 600ml/1 pint) in an oval cast iron casserole. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes or until a knife tip will pierce the root end easily. Drain and serve immediately. If serving cold, refresh in cold water and drain again.