Scrambled Eggs

Eggs salted and rested for a softer scramble, with smoked salmon, avocado and garlic rosemary toast

· 39 minutes start to finish · experimental eggs lunch

Tagged experimental because a few lessons came out of it. The eggs themselves landed at 10/10 from across the table, the pan choice and the toast are where the notes are

Salt the eggs first, then wait

Six eggs into a bowl and salted straight away. Salt breaks down some of the protein so the eggs bond less tightly, and after ten to fifteen minutes they scramble far softer and hold onto their water. No milk, no cream, the salt does all of the work

start Eggs, dill, butter and spices set out by the pan +2 min Salt going into the cracked eggs

Butter, barely warm

The butter melts gently and off to the side. It should be little more than liquid when it meets the eggs, since hot butter starts cooking them in the bowl. This lot got forgotten in the microwave, and letting it sit to cool turned out to be exactly the right move

+1 min Butter melting in a measuring cup

Paprika, pepper, thyme

Paprika and white pepper go into the eggs, then thyme chopped fine. The dill is chopped at the same time but held back, it goes in right at the end

+4 min Paprika and pepper on the eggs +7 min Thyme and dill chopped on the board

Whisk it together

Thyme whisked through first, then the cooled butter poured in and whisked until the mix is even

+13 min Thyme going into the whisked eggs +14 min Melted butter poured into the eggs

Into the pan

This is where it went wrong. Scrambling in cast iron was a stupid idea and a good amount of egg stuck to the pan. Butter first, the lowest heat that will do anything, then the eggs

+16 min Butter melted in the cast iron pan +17 min Egg mixture poured into the pan

Low and slow

Kept moving over gentle heat so it stays in soft, loose folds instead of drying out

+19 min Soft curds forming in the pan

The toast

A second pan with oil, a sprig of rosemary, a clove of garlic and a little lemon rind to flavour it, then the bread laid in. It came out delicious and aromatic, but the flavour did not carry into the oil as well as it should have. Next time, more oil, and pull the rosemary before the bread goes in

+23 min Oiled pan with rosemary, garlic and lemon on the board +29 min Bread frying with rosemary and garlic

Dill at the very end

Off the heat, the dill folds in last. Heat destroys it, so it never really sees the pan

+27 min Dill folded into the eggs at the end

On the plate

Smoked salmon, avocado and the toast alongside. Salting your own salmon beats most of the packaged versions, though a few off the shelf are genuinely good and not too hacked about

+32 min Avocado scooped and sliced on the board

+39 min Plated soft scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, avocado and toast

Recipe

Soft scrambled eggs

Good UnitsBad UnitsItemDirections
6EggsCrack into bowl1
3 gSaltAdd to bowl1, rest 10 - 15 min
2 gPaprikaAdd to bowl1
White pepperAdd to bowl1
smallThyme, choppedAdd to bowl1
bowl1Whisk
30 gButterMelt gently, cool, then whisk in
15 gButterMelt in a nonstick pan on low
bowl1Pour in, stir slow until just set
smallDill, choppedFold in off the heat

To serve

Good UnitsBad UnitsItemDirections
Smoked salmonPlate alongside
1AvocadoSlice, plate
4 - 6Bread slicesFry in oil with garlic and rosemary

Commentary, extra notes