breakfast stage 1: researchI have a passion for scrambled eggs cooked in the French style. Unfortunately, I do not seem to have a French bone in my entire cooking body. One of the highlights of our Portland trip was finding a breakfast cafe that served eggs with that divine loft, that foamy delicate point where the protein is heated just enough to make a lattice of structure yet it gives with the slightest pressure from your mouth. My eyes are closed in pleasure, just remembering.
stage 2: mise en place (coffee is for my belly, not the eggs)My scrambled eggs are typically a hockey puck. The biggest problem is that my two desires are on the razor's edge of being mutually exclusive. For the eggs to have the texture that I want, they need to be just barely cooked. But my biggest egg-based horror is the uncooked egg. Having my own hens and watching the egg from butt to table (so to speak) I don't have to worry quite as much about the dangers of eating uncooked eggs. It's the texture of uncooked egg whites that render them inedible to me. So I start out with the fluffiest of intentions and then cook and cook and cook until I am sure every molecule is fully heated. Hence the puck.
stage 3: heatA lovely friend gifted me with Mastering The Art of French Cooking for my birthday. After reading Julia Child's biography I knew I wanted to read the cookbook because French cooking seems to be heavy on technique as well as particular ingredients. But the eggs! She taught me how to cook the eggs! This morning I rustled up some fresh thyme, sage, and parsley, and then some creamy gouda. Following dear Julia's directions I attempted to make my eggs. They weren't quite perfect....I definitely chickened out and cooked them probably 30 seconds too long. But they were no puck that's for sure.
stage 4: not a bad attempt!
3 comments:
for the owner of such lovely chickens, a totally necessary milestone! I somehow also always need egg-cooking instructions
but not for some things due to your awesome egg-timer-- it works!
What technique were you using? The one I always use is to cook over low-to-medium heat, then pull the pan off the heat when the eggs are just a bit underdone. They'll usually firm up the rest of the way on the plate.
Of course, I don't mind slightly undercooked eggs, so your mileage may vary.
I agree with John; take the pan off the heat when the eggs are 80% cooked and trust the interior heat of the eggs to cook off the remaining whites.
Don Paolo
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