When I was a kid, I loved scrambled eggs. I also liked to experiment with them by adding spices from my mom’s rack, with no knowledge of what spices went well together, which spices I’d like, or often times, what the spices even were.
Every Sunday, when I was in grade 8, two full hours of The Three Stooges would be on at 11am. I had to be ready to record them on the VCR and be there to pause during the commercials (this is a whole other story), but I liked to sleep in, was very lazy, and extremely impatient. I’d stumble into the kitchen at about 10:45, throw six eggs in a bowl and grab some different spices to toss in and by 11, I’d be eating sometimes good, sometimes godawful eggs and recording The Three Stooges.
Eventually, around the 7th or 8th week of the NFL season (which ended at Candlestick park when Mark Rypien and Earnest Byner fumbled a hand-off to basically end the playoff game and my favourite team has FUCKING SUCKED ever since…anyway…), I had what I’d still argue to this day was the best scrambled eggs recipe ever created.
My palate has moved on to a more vegan friendly diet, but I still make the same recipe using extra firm tofu in lieu of eggs and I’ve never actually measured the ingredients before now, but the following should be close enough.
Egg/tofu mix:
- Crumble 1 brick of extra firm tofu or whisk 6 eggs
- Add 1 tablespoon turmeric
- Add 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Add 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- Add 1 teaspoon paprika
- Add 1 tablespoon oregano
- Grind some sort of amount of pepper
For tofu, you need quite a bit of olive oil as it absorbs quickly:
- Put oil in a pan set to medium heat
- Add chopped onions (optional – not lazy enough?)
- When the onions are soft (roughly 1 minute), add chopped garlic (optional – not lazy enough?) for another 30 seconds to a minute
- Add eggs/tofu mix and fry with medium heat until finished/texture to your liking
- Add 1 tablespoon of mustard (yes, the condiment-trust me on this)
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup
- Salt to taste
And there you have it!
This is also great for lunch:
- Crumbled tofu/scrambled eggs
- Hummus spread
- Sliced tomato
- Avocado
- Spinach
- Salt and pepper
Slap that shit on a sandwhich! The Three Stooges are over and football is starting.
You lost me at the maple syrup. Is it particularly noticeable?
11 year old me thought it’d at least balance off the tang from the mustard…there is no knowledge behind this recipe. It’s more of a ritual at this point.
As a Canadian isn’t it law that you have to put maple syrup in everything?
I was trying to be respectful toward butcher, but yes! and how dare he ask such a question?!
As a former New Mexican, Green Chile is the universal ingredient, so I suppose I can understand the maple syrup thing in Canadia.
Once a year, Mrs. Butcher and I go to Vermont. While there, I pick up a 1/2 gallon of Very Dark syrup (the old Grade C). That Amber stuff has almost no flavor at all.
Eggs were one of the first things I learned to cook too. When I was in HS my best friend’s father was a lobbyist and spent a lot of time in DC. His mom went too and left my friend and his younger sister home alone . We threw big parties And in the middle of the night I’d cook eggs for whoever was left hanging around.
I like scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and chives. I prefer fried eggs or omelettes. For omelettes I like to sauté mushrooms and shallots in a little butter and shave some fresh Parmesan on top.
Lately, I’ve taken to making omelettes with goat cheese and the preserved roasted red peppers from last year’s harvest. Mmm, mmm.
My primary go-to however is the breakfast burrito: eggs, fried potatoes, onions, green chiles, tomatoes, and cheese. Wrapped in a tortilla, and smothered in either red or green chile. Heaven.
That all sounds delicious.
butcher- do you ever make pasta sauce with those roasted red peppers? Delicious!
Actually, that’s one thing I haven’t done. I typically save the roasted reds for things like omelettes and salads. I use raw peppers for the pasta sauce, but this could be the year that I expand my roasted red pepper horizons.
This is anothe Moosewood recipe.
Saute 1 chopped onion and 4 cloves garlic in olive oil, add a couple of diced roma tomatoes, cook for about 5 minutes, add 2 cups roasted red pepper, salt, black pepper, and basil to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes or so. That’s it. I like to puree half of the sauce and add it back in. If you don’t like chunky sauces you could do the whole batch. It’s really good!
I’m trying that this year. Thank you.
Chives add to almost anything – and are easy to grow. hmm – this is meant for Hannibal – apparently I lack comment-fu today.
We have a chive plant that’s been around for over 10 years. It’s in a pot on the upper deck. We don’t do anything to it except snip it to cook with.
I love eggs! sunny side up, poached, scrambled, omelets; it’s all good. add ham, cheese, pepper(s), onions and I’m in heaven!
Soft boiled with toast for dipping. 😋
yes. they don’t last long though!
Are you British? I think you’re talking about “soldiers.” You place a soft-boiled egg in an egg cup (those are tough to find nowadays), remove the shell from the top, slice the toast vertically, and dip. This is considered children’s food but I do this periodically because I have a couple of egg cups, of course I do. The more adult way to do it is to put a runny egg on a plate and sop it up with toast but what’s the fun in that?
I’m not British but I remember reading it somewhere as a child and had to do it. And everyone should have egg cups, they’re cute and functional!
When I was obsessively watching Downton Abbey egg cups appeared every so often at breakfast. So did the sideboard where everyone would wander in and help themselves out of chafing dishes, and then sometimes they’d be served at table but only when it was convenient for the plot for the server to overhear something. This prompted me to root out my own egg cups and do soldiers. On DA they ate the egg out of its shell using small spoons, which is civilized. But not fun at all.
“Eggs cups” has escaped me…do you mean “poached”?
No, they’re literally cups for soft boiled eggs to stand up in. The egg is still in its shell, and you crack off the top and eat the egg out of its shell while using this very convenient cup to hold it.
https://www.kitchenniche.ca/bia-cordon-bleu-marrakesh-egg-cup-set-p-6481.html?currency=USD&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6fjPspzD6AIVmInICh3IlwJ1EAQYASABEgLU_vD_BwE
My mom had those to decorate Easter eggs…I had no clue people ate out of them with straws? I’m guessing.
How did you do that? I was trying to post a gif earlier today and couldn’t figure it out.
For security reasons, people are unable to post gifs (for now), but if you post a comment with a giphy embed (and let me know), I’ll edit it for you in the meantime.
Not with straws, lol. Little spoons.
Canadians. What are you gonna do?