Wednesday, 27 October 2010

Teaching you to suck eggs

Everyone knows how to make scrambled eggs, it's really not rocket science, but most peoples idea of scrambled eggs is two minutes in a very hot pan, beating vigorously to achieve dense, solid, cloud like formations of egg. What they don't realise is that taking the opposite approach of a lengthy warming over a low heat achieves a creamy beautiful ambrosia, more suited to be served as a starter than a quick breakfast. This takes time I’m afraid but the ends most definitely justify the means.
If the long slow process is how you already do your scrambled eggs then this article isn't for you, but then I’m sure you'll understand why people need to be told.
You'll need a good non stick pan for this. I use a small saucepan to cook two eggs previously beaten in a bowl with salt, pepper and a bit of paprika and feel free to add any herbs of your choosing.
Now, melt a knob of butter in the pan until it bubbles, and over the lowest burner on your hob, add the beaten eggs. The trick is to continuously scrape the bottom of the pan, pulling the just warm egg back to be replaced with more liquid egg. It's important to remove the pan from the flame every now and again if you feel that the eggs are cooking too quickly, this is down to your instinct as a cook, but what you most definitely don't want to see are your eggs clumping into lumps. Remember your trying to produce a smooth lump free end result.
After about five minutes you should notice the consistency has changed slightly, the liquid being slightly more viscous and custard like. If it's still lump free then your doing great and on the right track.
Keep pulling that egg back from the bottom of the pan until you achieve something akin to rice pudding consistency. This takes me about ten to fifteen minutes. Now it’s up to you how much further you want to take it. I like my end result to have a bit of a wobble to it, so when shaken it settles like a good risotto.
Eaten with some chorizo or black pudding these eggs are heaven on a plate, and I guarantee you'll be impressed with just how creamy and also how superior they are to the two-minute high heat method. Please don't be put off by my shitty presentation in the last pic, but have a go yourself. I promise you you'll love them.

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