Saturday, April 11, 2009

Keeping a secret

My daughter is part of a team that went to Houston for a Bible quiz competition yesterday, and my wife went with her. So I prepared breakfast this morning for myself and my son.

"Your scrambled eggs are better than Mommy's," he declared.

"Well don't tell her that," I replied. "She might make me cook them all the time."

I know this bit of trivial information may shock some of you, but you don't have to fry everything in bacon grease. And I know this may seem as heresy to some, but some things are actually better when you don't. I have never been able to make my wife understand this.

Sure I like bacon & eggs, but that doesn't mean you have to cook the eggs in the leftover bacon fat "for flavor." Eggs have flavor, and you don't need to mess with it.

Just smear the bottom of the pan with a healthy dose of melted butter (or margarine, whatever), then dump the eggs in and scramble. I don't do fried eggs, btw. For the best scrambled eggs, you keep them moving constantly. You don't want to let anything remain in direct contact with the bottom of the hot pan for very long. This is important. Keep them moving. When the eggs are still fluffy but no longer wet (this is a very narrow window of time so you have to be paying attention), remove them from the heat immediately and dispense them onto plates or dump them in a bowl where the hot pan will no longer continue to cook them. Do not let them sit in the pan until everything else is ready. Allow each eater to salt & pepper the eggs to his own taste. This is also very important. Don't be seasoning the eggs while you're cooking them, or I will justifiably refer to you as a flavor fascist.

Serve bacon on the side. Biscuits are also good. Hot sauce and/or fresh ground black pepper for the eggs will also not be out of place. Dispose of the bacon grease properly, but leave the eggs out of it.

3 comments:

  1. I do my eggs the way you describe but I do add a pinch of salt and black pepper as they cook because I don't like the seasonings on top of the eggs and I'm a flavor nazi ;)

    You are so right about keeping the eggs off the heat after they are perfectly cooked..there is nothing worse than burnt eggs.

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  2. My dad always added a dollop of canned milk to scrambled eggs (he had to make a ton for seven people!); I do that sometimes myself if I have any on hand, as it gives it a kind of smooth flavor.

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  3. Butter is better for scrambled eggs, but I think bacon grease is better for frying them.

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