The other day a I came across a YouTube video of Gordon Ramsay (Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, The F word, etc) making scrambled eggs. I wanted to give it a watch for two reasons:
1) Whenever he has a new cook start in his kitchen, this is the "proving" dish he uses to determine their ability.
2) I have NEVER actually seen this guy actually cook anything. So far, he's all talk.
The recipe is simple, as it should be. Two Eggs, butter. You crack the eggs into a preheated pan, drop in the butter, and start stirring. And keep stirring.
Keep the eggs moving constantly, and as the pan heats the eggs, temper the process by removing it from the heat (still stirring). As the curds begin to form, keep adding and removing the heat until you have a cottage cheese-y consistency. Done.
What you are left with is a very moist, semi-dense mass that, although tasty, is not the fluffy consistency I like. I decided I would take a portion of what he was using, and add my own twist. The results were, in my opinion, fantastic.
The recipe is very similar, with a slight change:
-2 Eggs
-pat of butter
-1/2 tsp water
Why water? Well, it seems to help with egg volumization. The stirring and folding of the eggs that we do later creates air pockets that trap a small amount of the water and steams the egg. I have tried it without the water, and I find it to produce a denser, and slightly drier final product.
Another change, melt the butter in an 8" frying pan. Allow the butter to heat through. But don't burn it. If it turns brown, start again. Your pan is likely too hot if that happens.
Crack the eggs in a bowl. This serves 2 reasons. First, clumsy egg crackers will have a chance to remove any shell fragments before the eggs are in the pan. And it allows you to slightly stir the eggs. Not whisk with a fork as many people are likely to do, that blends the eggs into one single coloured substance that taste just fine once cooked, but are not the visual end product I'm looking for. Just mix the eggs with a spatula lightly until the yolks become broken and separated into a dozen or so strands. Don't over-mix.
Pour the mixture into the pan. Let it sit till you just can't see the bottom of the pan. Maybe 15 seconds. This is a good time to drop the toast in the toaster. Return to the pan and start pulling the egg from the sides toward the centre. Do this once or twice more or until most of the egg mixture has had contact with the pan.
Now, start folding the mixture while breaking it into smaller pieces. It will likely be necessary at this point to remove the pan from the heat. Stir and fold the mixture gently until you are left with a mound of what looks like moist popcorn. The moment that all of the egg has solidified into either yellow of white curds, immediately remove from the heat and serve.
I tried this on my kids this morning and is ANYBODY knows scrambled eggs, it's Brooke and Mitch. The eggs were a hit.
Perhaps not up to Gordon Ramsay's standards. But %*#@ him, as he would say.
