Ingredients and Equipment
- Pan (cast iron or non-stick)
- Eggs (to satisfaction)
- Fat (oil, butter, lard, etc.)
- Black Pepper
Method
Start by scrambling your eggs in bowl. I usually scramble between 4-16 eggs at a time, depending on the number of people I am cooking for. You can use a fork or a whisk, but I have found forks are easier to clean while offering the same, if not superior whipping quality.
To scramble the eggs, grap your fork (or whisk) so that it points up away from your wrist, and your thumb comes over the top of it to brace it against your index finger. Whip the fork in a circular fashion clockwise if right-handed (opposite if left-handed) while only moving your wrist. Keep the prongs of the fork level, such that it lifts the egg up, creating a temporary pocket mid-whip. This allows air to enter the egg-scramble, making the eggs fluffier. Do this until the eggs are sufficiently scrambled - the longer you scramble, the softer and fluffier the eggs will become, but with diminishing returns, of course. 1-2 minutes of scrambling the eggs is usually good.
For your fat, let's assume you are using unsalted butter, as that is the author's prefered choice. Other choices of butter will work just the same. Instructions may differ depending on the type of oil used, particularly to temperature and taste. The differenes between non-stick and cast iron should be minor - note that cast iron may provide a more colorful flavor if properly cared for, but may get too hot if improperly managed.
Begin by heating up your pan. Immediately add butter to the pan, about 1 tsp or so per 1 egg. The goal is the ensure the pan is greased up enough so that there is a "seal" of butter (or oil). This ratio is subject to diminishing returns, so 10 eggs might not require 10 tsp of butter - probably less than that. The amount of butter also depends on the size of the pan.
If the butter begins to blacken, the pan has gotten too hot! Cool the pan down, clean it out, and start over. Continuing to cook with blackened butter will lead to nothing but terrible eggs.
Once the butter begins to brown (or oil begins to shimmer), slowly pour the eggs into the pan. The eggs should preferrably not touch the pan directly, because they will risk sticking to it, costing you precious protein and making it harder to clean the pan after. The eggs should slide into the butter that just coats the pan.
Once the eggs are in the pan, keep the heat between low and medium. As the eggs begin to solidify on the bottom, they are ready to stir. This usually takes between 30 seconds and 1 minute, depending on heat and quantity of eggs. Developing that solid bottom layer helps ensure maximum egg retention and minimal clean up.
After this step, begin slowly stirring the eggs until finished. You should use a wooden or silicon spatula, and try to scoop underneath the eggs, folding them ontop of themselves. The goal here is to evenly cook the eggs, continualy rotating the top and bottom layers. Less stirring will lead to larger curds, while frequent and aggressive stirring will lead to smaller kurds - this is up to your prefernece. Feel free to chop at the eggs with your spatula to reduce the size of kurds.
Cook until you are satisfied with the eggs' consistency. Depending on the quantity of eggs cooked, total cook time should be around 5 minutes, but that is up to taste.
Once the eggs are cooked to your satisfaction, plate them up and add pepper to taste. Hot sauce, salsa, or ketchup are recommended for enhanced flavor.
Modifications
This reciepe can be easily modified to include spinach. Before adding your fat, throw as much spinach as you want into the pan, and cook until they are sufficiently reduced, stirring as needed. It will be difficult to have too much spinach. Once the spinach is cooked, add your butter, then your eggs, as the reciepe above suggests. The spinach can easily cook with your scrambled eggs.
The same is true for onions / carmalized onions, potatoes, tomatoes, etc.
Enjoy!
