The Best Scrambled Eggs
MAKES: 2 servings
TIME: 40 minutes
Perfect for dinner or a lazy weekend brunch, because these are easily cooked while you prepare other ingredients.
4 or 5 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cream
2 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil
Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them just until the yolks and whites are combined. Season with salt and pepper and beat in the cream.
Put a medium skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add the butter and swirl it around the pan. After the butter melts, but before it foams, turn the heat to low.
Add the eggs to the skillet and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. At first nothing will happen; after 10 minutes or so, the eggs will begin to form curds. Do not lose patience: Keep stirring, breaking up the curds as they form, until the mixture is a mass of soft curds. This will take 30 minutes or more. Serve immediately.
11 Simple Additions to Scrambled Eggs
As in making a flat omelet or frittata, you can add almost anything you want to the beaten uncooked eggs before scrambling. Try any of these with either Everyday Scrambled Eggs or The Best Scrambled Eggs:
- Minced pickled jalapeos to taste
- Sauted mushrooms, onions, spinach, or other cooked vegetables, cut into small dice, about 1/2 cup
- Chopped fresh herbs, 1 teaspoon (stronger herbs like oregano, tarragon, and thyme) to 1 tablespoon (milder ones like parsley, chive, chervil, basil, and mint)
- Sour cream, cream cheese (cut into bits), or goat cheese (crumbled or grated), about 12/3 cups.
- Any chile or any cooked beans, about 1/2 cup
- Cooked and lightly buttered grains, especially farro, pearled barley, bulgur, or millet
- Any cooked salsa, up to 1/2 cup, drained if it’s quite moist
- Peeled, seeded, and diced tomato, up to 1 cup; or 1/4 cup reconstituted sun-dried tomato (or, even better, 1/2 cup Oven-Dried Tomatoes)
- Tabasco; Worcestershire, Hold the Anchovies; soy sauce; or other store-bought sauces to taste
- Minced scallion, up to 1/2 cup
- Chopped Roasted Red Peppers, up to 1/2 cup
