Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Well, courtesy of the many ideas discussed in an earlier thread here, particularly Amy's mention of a "low and slow" George Jacque approach to scrambled eggs, my bro-in-law and culinary student's breakfast offerings have improved substantially. Now I want to add some new flavors to pretty good basic scrambled eggs. They are normally served with pepper bacon as a side, so I probably won't use bacon as flavor addition.

But things I'm looking at: Roasted Red Bell Pepper (like Nigella, I have little or no use for green bell peppers), green scallions, mushrooms (if fresh are in the market). I have traditionally roasted my peppers one at a time over a flame, bagged them, then peeled, removed the core and de-seeded. But we are going to try oven roasting a bunch at once on a pan to speed up the process. Then julienne them and store in olive oil in the refrigerator for easy use.

Things I'd like to add but either are hard to find or expensive: chives, normally all that are available are garlic chives and about one buck a small bunch. Cheese, good cheese is way expensive and I save my few extra pesos to upgrade the cheese on my pizza, cheddar would be my first choice and gruyere is my second. But cheese is running 5 or 6 dollars for two or three hundred grams (eight ounces or less) for very mundane stuff and the really good stuff buggers ... err beggars this retiree's wallet. So cheese generally saved for special occasions.

What else in the veggie area goes well on scrambled eggs? I'm looking for ideas to add variety to our meals, give my bro-in-law some new experiences, and perhaps contribute to a planned "breakfast" pizza down the road that will likely be served on an oversized english muffin with cheese, a bacon jam or spread, and topped by scrambled eggs with whatever interesting local additions I can come up with.

Note 1: Bell Pepper Conundrum

We tried roasting a kilo worth of red bell pepper in the oven. It turned into a serious cluster pluck! We got them to blacken pretty much, then inverted a second tray over them to let them cool and "steam" to loosen the skin for removal. Except it wasn't very loose at all. Previously when doing roasted peppers, I simply burnt the skin over a gas hob until pretty well blackened, wrapped in a bit of newspaper and tucked them into a plastic bag for a few to soften. But I wanted to move from doing a serving or two quantity to doing enough for a week or two.

So we washed the peppers, doused them in canola oil, arranged them on a wire rack over a baking sheet, placed it in a pre-heated oven that was running about 475F (as hot as it gets). We watched, turned occasionally and got them "mostly" black. When we cleaned them and tried to remove the skin it all went south (my apologies to the southern members) or went went pear shaped (for our British members). Yeah, we could get the skins off, sorta kinda. A whole lot of mashing and yanking and chunks of roasted pepper "meat" coming off with the skins, so it was not so much like my previous experiences.

Any one got any pointers or URL link to a better way to do this for semi-bulk processing?

Tatoosh,

First off, it sounds like you're not blackening the peppers enough before you try to peel them. The skins should be burnt. I think doing them in a 475F oven is the problem; you really need to do them in the broiler, or the peppers will be cooked to mush before the skin is black enough to remove.

As for scrambled eggs, try warming up around 2 tbs of cream and then steeping a hefty pinch of saffron in it. Beat that into the eggs and scramble them, greased with butter. Not healthful, but delicious.

Agree with Josh about the peppers.

I do a scrambled egg dish from Grace Young's Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge that is delicious. It includes cilantro, tomatoes, sesame oil, garlic, shallots, etc. It's really, really good. Kind of the anti Jean Georges approach as you stir fry the eggs. If you'd like the recipe, just let me know.

Amy

Tatoosh
I enjoy diced tomatoes and spinach in my eggs (along with some guryere), but I think any veggie you can get your hands on will be good. Asparagaus would be great, but you should either roast or blanch first. My father liked to make "eggs and onions" and more often than not, he added smoked almon (or lox). He carmelized the onions, then added the eggs and scrambled....it was a favorite when I was a child.
The other thing that would add something to the scramble would be fresh herbs....basil, dill, tarragon, thyme, etc.

Hope this gives you some ideas
ilene

I love eggs with spring onions. I also agree with the others about using the broiler for the peppers and would only add that you don't need the oil, just pop them right in the oven.

Mary

Well, I definitely understand the advantage of the broiler now. Too bad the oven by itself won't suffice. It was handy to do the peppers after we did a couple of batches of toll house cookies. Yeah, we upped the heat and let the baking stone have time to gain heat too. But next time it will either be on the hob (time consuming) or in the broiler (faster, I'm sure).

This morning when we made eggs I added scallions and roasted peppers which made a nice treat visually. I found the scallions a bit strong and may need to back them off and/or add them later instead of at the start of cooking. But it was a nice addition to the eggs.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will keep my eyes peeled for some saffron as that sounds very interesting.

And, yes yes yes, Amy, I'd love to have that recipe. I had never heard of Grace Young before but when I looked up the cookbook, WHAP!, the 2011 James Beard Best International Cookbook Award. James I have heard of before. Now something more to add to my buy and get shipped along with that smoke gun you showed us awhile back.

There is a specialty farm I heard of that specializes in culinary herbs outside of our metro area, so I plan to check it out in the fairly near future. Fresh herbs do not show up in the market nearly as much as I had hoped for here in town. But I will give Gardenercook's suggestions a go when I find a reliable source of fresh herbs.

Marygott, it was a website guide that got me to oil the peppers, I've never done that before, but then it was always over an open gas flame before. Next time I'll forgo the oil and see how we do.

Tarragon. Parmesan cheese. How about anchovies?

It's also nice to reduce the number of yolks sometimes or eliminate them, it just tastes and looks different.

How about a fried egg and tomato sandwich?

Here you go Tatoosh...

Stir-Fried Eggs with Tomatoes
by Grace Young
Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge

4 large eggs
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 t ground pepper
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced (I use halved grape tomatoes)
2 teaspoons Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
1/4 teaspoon sugar

In a medium bowl beat together the eggs, cilantro, sesame oil, salt and pepper.

Heat a 14-inch flat bottomed wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in the peanut oil, add the garlic and shallots, then, using a metal spatula, stir-fry 30 seconds or until the shallots are translucent. Add the tomatoes and rice wine, sprinkle on the sugar, and stir-fry 1 minute or until the tomatoes are just softened. Swirl the egg mixture into the wok and stir-fry 1 minute or until the eggs are just set but still moist. Do not overcook.

Tatoosh, when we do mass quantities of red peppers we do them on the bbq. We freeze them with the skins and seeds on sometimes too, just cleaning them after they thaw.