Scrambled eggs are so simple that most people don’t know there’s a way to make them. I have often seen people break eggs directly into a hot frying pan and stir frantically until they had a pile of tough, dry crumbs. This does not produce a yummy meal, but scrambled eggs can be very yummy.
Eggs
1 tbs milk or water per egg
Butter to taste
Salt and chili (not cayenne) powder
Cheese (optional)
Heavy frying pan (use a cast iron pan for more nutrition unless you can taste the iron)
Melt butter in the frying pan on medium-low heat.
Beat the eggs and milk or water gently with a fork. You aren’t going for perfect uniformity and you certainly don’t want froth.
Pour the eggs out into the frying pan… and don’t touch them. Not right away. If you want you can lay thin slices of cheese in the liquid egg at this point. Let them cook gently until the bottom 2-3 mm are set. Use a spatula to gently push the set egg into a heap in the middle of the frying pan, letting the liquid egg flow back out to set. Continue until all the egg is set.
Sprinkle with salt for taste, chili powder for looks.
Eggs cooked this way will be soft and delicious. If soft eggs aren’t your thing, put a lid on the frying pan and leave it off the heat for a few minutes to let the eggs continue to heat.
Eat with hot buttered toast and maybe ketchup. Ketchup sounds scandalous, but scrambled eggs are comfort food. If you loved them with ketchup when you were a little kid, then let yourself enjoy the ketchup now.
You made me hungry, and I’m all out of eggs! ;) .
Comment by Michel — Sunday, May 16th, 2010 @ 06:51
Better still, put a 1/2 t of veg or canola oil in the pan and then your butter.
You can scramble higher and faster this way because the oil will elevate the smoking point of the butter.
Fresh chives and Italian parsley also match up.
Why no froth?? Isn’t getting air into your eggs produce a lighter and
more delicate product?
Jay
Comment by Jay Arbetman — Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 @ 01:07
Jay,
Thanks for the tip about using oil!
Froth makes the finished product drier and crumblier, less creamy. A lot of omelette recipes have you beat the whites separately, but an omelette is filled with something rich and delicious. Contrast between a fluffy eggy crust and a soft filling is fine, and gives you something between a crêpe and a soufflé. But for straight scrambled eggs, the eggs is all you got so they should be nice and soft just by themselves.
Comment by alison — Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 @ 07:14