Egg yolk comes out discolored

Dear Heloise: I pack my husband’s lunch every day because he’s on a special diet for health reasons. One of the things he absolutely loves are hard-boiled eggs.

Occasionally the yolks have a different color other than the usual yellow. Sometimes the yolk is greenish or sort of gray in color. I have thrown those discolored ones away because they worry me. What causes this discoloring of the yolk? — Amy T., Portland, Oregon

Amy, that unusual color is caused by over-cooking, cooking at too high of a tem

perature or sometimes from too much iron in your water. The color may be unusual, but generally speaking, they’re safe to eat.

You might want to try this method of cooking hardboiled eggs: Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with water so that there is about 1 inch of water above the eggs. Cover and bring to a boil. Then turn off the heat

and let the eggs remain in the covered pan, 15 minutes for large eggs and 12 minutes for medium eggs. When the timer is done, run the eggs under cold water or place them in the refrigerator to stop them from continuing to cook. — Heloise

Baked Italian Chicken

Dear Heloise: In the past, you have printed the Italian

Chicken recipe, and each time I set it aside, I manage to lose it. My family loves that recipe, and I really need to have it so I can prepare it for my son who’ll be home in a couple of weeks. He asked if I would make that again since he enjoyed it so much the last time he was home. So, Heloise, would you please reprint the Baked Italian Chicken recipe? — Mary-ann D., Carson City, Nevada

Mary-ann, this has to be one of the most requested recipes I get from my read- ers. Here it is, with my best wishes for a nice visit with your son: 1 chicken cut up, or the equivalent of 1 chicken in parts

1 (8-ounce) bottle non-fat (or regular) Italian salad dressing

1 medium onion, peeled

and sliced

4 medium potatoes, sliced

(peeled or not) into bite

sized pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a casserole dish with a non-stick spray. Place the

chicken in the casserole dish and cover with Italian salad dressing. Top that with onion and potatoes. Bake for 1 hour or until done.

If you like easily prepared dishes that give you more time to do other things, then you’ll love my pam- phlet “Heloise’s All-time Favorite Recipes.” It’s so easy to get a copy. Just go to www.heloise.com. You can also get a copy by sending $5 along with a stamped, self-addressed, long enve- lope to: Heloise/favorites, P.O. Box 795001-5001, San Antonio, TX 78279. You’ll be

glad to have this little helper at your fingertips. —