SLOW-COOKED SCRAMBLED EGGS

Although I rather like scrambled eggs, I find that I can't order them whenever I brunch.  Regardless of the restaurant, they are always, always over-cooked to my taste.  I like a nice, loose, creamy scramble.  Ideally they have been scrambled with cream, fresh herbs and some sort of cheese, such as feta.  I don't want much else going on.  I love bacon and sausage and whatnot, but not mixed in with the eggs.  No vegetables please.  As such I don't care for omelets.  There's too much going on and again with the overcooked thing.

When I read about this cooking method in Wednesday Chef I was very intrigued.  The recipe comes from David Lentz.  As we all know, he is the owner of The Hungry Cat in Hollywood and is married to fellow chef, Suzanne Goin, authoress of Sunday Supers at Lucques.  Rather than cream it uses creme fraiche and it's full of herbs, just like I like.  In fact, the original recipe calls for a light little herb salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice to top the eggs, but to be honest, I didn't feel like making it.  Not that it needed it, really.  The most interesting thing about the recipe is how the eggs are cooked - very slowly over the lowest heat possible.

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 eggs
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1/4 cup grated cheese (the recipe called for Jack cheese although I used Parmesan)
1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs (the recipe called for flat leaf parsley and chervil, however I used parsley and marjoram)

METHOD
Crack the eggs into a large bowl, season with salt and pepper and add 1/4 cup of either the creme fraiche or sour cream, whisking to combine.

Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet with 1 T. olive oil and butter over medium heat. After the butter melts, add the eggs.  Reduce the heat to low. Use a wooden spoon to stir the eggs in a clockwise direction.  It will start out very soupy.

Soon it starts to thicken.  When the eggs are cooked three-quarters of the way through with curds forming, stir in the Jack cheese.

Continue to cook and stir the eggs until they are still moist with some liquid, about 25 to 30 minutes, stirring frequently, but not constantly.  Just before they have finished cooking, stir in the chopped herbs.

Turn off the heat and let the eggs stand for a minute of so.  Divide the eggs among the serving dishes. Top each with a dollop of creme fraiche and a grinding of pepper.

The resulting eggs are seriously like no egg you've EVER tasted.  Seriously.  They are so soft and creamy, almost like polenta in a way.  The sour cream and cheese make it very rich which the herbs cut through and give it a freshenss.  The little herb salad would have been a very nice finish to it all and I really wish I'd had some grilled grainy bread so I could have made a little open faced sandwich.  We all know how much I love versatility and you really could switch out the herbs and cheese and do all sorts of interesting combinations.  Obviously woody herbs such as rosemary and thyme I don't think would really work in a dish like this but something like basil, chives, tarragon, and cilantro would be amazing.

Serves 2.

Comments

[Luisa]

Grant - this looks delicious. Your eggs look much creamier than mine - and you're right, almost like polenta. I'm so glad you liked this recipe!

[Kitarra]

Thank you for posting this recipe and the clear directions. I tried it and it was wonderful. I just put up my own post or it. Here is the permalink:

http://www.cookingdebauchery.com/cooking_debauchery/2006/07/slow_cooked_scr.html

I loved the way it turned out. I loved the texture and the flavors. A treasure of a recipe! Thank you again!

[aria]

i agree about scrabmls being overcooked. i like them just on the verge. i'm also with you on the additions being best left on the side. this recipe looks awesome, thanks for posting it!