Scrambled eggs should be creamy, velvety folds of yummy egg. Get this right and you can make any meal delightful.
People often wonder whether to add things to the eggs. You’ll find some recipes that add cream or milk and others that add herbs etc, for flavour. Forget all that!! Buy fresh free range eggs, season a little and use some butter to cook and they will do all the flavour work for you.
You need to crack the eggs into a bowl to start with and whisk the yolks and the whites together. You don’t need a whisk, just use a fork and you also don’t need to go overboard so it’s really smooth, just make sure you don’t have big patches of white or yellow. When you crack the shell tap the eggs on the work surface rather than the side of the bowl to prevent little bits of shell getting into the bowl. I add a little salt and pepper for seasoning but nothing else. As long as you have good eggs you don’t need anything else for flavour.
There is lots of different advice on what fat to use. I really think butter is the best way to go. It adds a nice richness without being too oily. Get your butter bubbling in the pan before you add your eggs.
The main thing to remember when cooking scrambled eggs is to cook low and slow. Set your hob to lowest it can go and you’ll get perfect eggs each time. Don’t be tempted to put the heat up if they are taking time. They will suddenly start to cook and you’ll end up with a rubbery mess!
There are 3 different ways to cook. French in a ban marie for very smooth eggs. English where you keep stirring in a pan for small lumps of egg and American which is gentle folds in a pan. I personally prefer the American way for larger folds of egg.
To do this gently with a spatula push the cooked eggs on the edge into the middle creating folds of egg in the centre of the pan. Continue to do this every now and then until the eggs look almost cooked but are still wet on top. At this point remove from the heat and plate up. Although it may look like they aren’t quite ready they carry on cooking so its important to serve them at this point otherwise you’ll get overcooked eggs. Make sure you have the rest then of your breakfast/dinner ready to go and cook and serve the eggs last.
My perfect way to scramble eggs
- Use 2 large eggs per person
- Add a knob of butter to a non stick pan and get it bubbling
- Crack your eggs into a bowl and whisk together with a fork
- Keep the heat at its lowest
- Add the eggs to the pan
- Using a spatula slowly push the eggs into the middle of the pan to create folds of egg
- When the eggs look nearly done but are still wet on top serve straight away
You can serve scrambled eggs with lots of different things. I particularly like potato cakes and smoked salmon for brunch with a nice cup of coffee!
