How do restaurants make scrambled eggs taste better than homemade?
I used to cook breakfast at a five-star hotel, and when it comes to eggs, I do not play around.
The correct way to scramble eggs involves 3 ingredients, 4 tools, a plate, and an oven.
You need:
- Eggs (three per person, minimum)
- Butter and salt
- A bowl
- A table fork
- A nonstick skillet (commonly called an egg pan)
- A red-handled heat-proof Rubbermaid spatula
- A stove, with the oven, turned to 225
- A heatproof plate
Directions:
take two-thirds of the eggs into a bowl. Using your bare hand as a strainer, separate the rest of the eggs, placing the yolks in the bowl. (Save the whites for the poor sap that wants an egg white omelet.) Beat the eggs GENTLY with the fork. You aren’t trying to whip them, aeration will make them spongy and dry. You just want to break the yolks and incorporate them with the whites.
Add a pinch of salt. Not too much, you can add more later.
Place the plate into the warm oven. (Eggs cool quickly, so this is such an important step.)
Place the pan on a gentle heat. Add enough butter to the pan that it melts and coats the bottom. Butter is a natural choice because it tastes good, but also because you can tell by looking if it is getting too hot. If the bubbles slow down and it starts to brown, back off.
Drop the eggs into the pan and immediately back the heat off. Stir, scraping the bottom constantly, and letting curds form. They should cook relatively slowly (like a minute, not 10 seconds, for 3 eggs). Add another knob of butter when they look about half cooked.
Turn the heat off when they appear to be almost cooked, but still shiny. They will keep cooking as you get them onto the plate. Check the seasoning, and drop them onto the warm plate. If they aren’t rich and custardy, or if they are dry or brown, you have overcooked them. If you can’t pick them up with a fork, you have undercooked them. Eggs are cheap and this all took 3 minutes, so try again. Repeat until you have fantastic scrambled eggs because anything less than fantastic is not worth it when the ingredients are this cheap.
If you happen to have a biscuit and some country pudding (or, if you are a Yankee, a bagel, and some bacon), all the better. Wash it all down with a cup of coffee or a glass of Andre Jacquart Brut Experience Blanc de Blanc.
