Eggs!

[Orlion]

With the increase in gnome population, you can never be too sure.

So first, scrambled eggs. Simple, right? Break some eggs in a pan and stir constantly. Don't cook them completely, dump in a bowl and let the residual heat finish it off! What's so hard about that? Now: The main question is should one season before or after it has been cooked? I've done both, and I kinda like how the tarragon and sage are more evenly distributed when you spice the egg before scrambling. Paprika, pepper, and salt should always be placed afterwards to taste.

And for an interesting treat? Instead of tarragon and sage, use grated lemon peel and place in a wrap with some greens.

[wayfriend]

I prefer to whip the eggs in a bowl first, preferably with a splash of milk added. Makes for fluffy eggs.

However, I'd rather have my eggs runny if possible. Eggs Benedict is sweet when the eggs run. (A restaurant on Cape Cod turned me on to Philly Bennies, which is with Philly steak instead of ham/bacon. yum.)

[Menolly]

Make that a splash of water instead of milk, and you got something there, way.

I like mine with sauteed onions and belly lox.

[DoctorGamgee]

If you have the skillet on about 200° then dump in a can of Rotel diced tomato and green chilis to let it boil out some of the water and add some diced garlic, then add a pound of ground spicy sausage and brown with the tomatoes. When this is fairly well cooked, add a half dozen eggs and finish it off slowly until the mix is all well cooked and add a half cup of cheddar cheese (or a mexican blend). It makes for great breakfast tacos and it totally yummy!

[Vraith]

Scrambled eggs without something dairy in the mix are a waste of perfectly good liquid chicken...everything else, I'm flexible. And, believe it or not, military cafeteria's [yea, we don't call them cafeterias, but that's what they are] make some of the best freaking omelets in the world [or at least they did back in the '80's.] From scratch, in front of your face, a plethora of ingredients available, and done in minutes.

Menolly: what's the difference between regular lox and belly lox? Is it literal, as in the belly is a better salmon "cut" than other parts?

[Menolly]

For this Jewish raised girl, the difference between belly lox and nova is salt. Lots, and lots, and lots of salt.

I don't even know if traditionally the salty lox was used only for the belly of the salmon or not, but I do know as people supposedly moved away from sodium laden foods finding good belly lox became practically impossible. I know every deli I checked the last time I was in Manhattan only had nova; but I admit we didn't brave the lines at Zabar's nor Barney Greengrass. We probably could have gotten some there.

Next time I'll head to Brooklyn and check out the delis there.

However, SD makes a pretty decent sockeye (I think. Did you make it once with steelhead trout or was that me?) gravlox version with lots of salt per my request.

[aliantha]

Can't do fish at breakfast, sorry....

And I'm with Vraith -- milk, not water, in my scrambled eggs. Season 'em with cumin, oregano and fresh pepper, then top 'em with shredded Mexican cheese and salsa on a tortilla for another take on the breakfast burrito. Sometimes I'll layer some leftover rice between the tortilla and the eggs.

The street food carts in Denver skip the rice and use hash browns with green chiles instead -- also quite yummy.

[wayfriend]

(Never understood wanting a burrito for breakfast. "Loaded" hash browns, yes. Burrito, not so much.)

[Menolly]

Juevos rancheros are awesome, way. But for those my eggs must be up with melted cheese to firm up the whites while leaving the yolks runny for me to enjoy them. I don't recall the name of the place SD found in Albuquerque at the last 'fest, but they had awesome juevos rancheros, as well as other Mexican choices.

[Savor Dam]

Yes, my ears were burning...

I have made lox with sockeye and with steelhead on different occasions. I've been known to greet Menolly (and Beorn, when he visited last winter during his tour of west-coast universities) with freshly made lox on a bagel as soon as she / they get out of security when they arrive.

The New Mexican (not Mexican...they are different, although related cuisines) restaurant we visited the night we arrived in Albuquerque last June was Cocina Azúl. Their motto "panza llena corazon contento" (full belly happy heart) might as well be hers as well.

[Harbinger]

I prefer to lightly stir the eggs in the skillet rather than scramble them. When I do scramble them, I use a small copper bowl. The whites have some type of chemical reaction with the copper and it makes the texture awesome.

Sometimes I add a little Tiger Sauce to the eggs.

Recently, my wife and I have been sauteing fresh baby spinach with shallots and adding an egg or two. It's spinach with egg rather than egg with spinach and it's great!

[Menolly]

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?

Three.

Aww...
I love that commercial.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?

Three.

[Harbinger]

Don't forget the crunch!

(For all the people under about 33.)

[Menolly]

Well, then it has to be...

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?

Let's see.
One...
Two-hoo!
Three.
CRUNCH!!!
Three.

Tootsie Pop

The original longer version, with the cow and fox as well, is on this site. But you have to scroll to "English Vintage Commercial." I can't figure out how to link directly to the video itself.

[Cameraman Jenn]

It depends entirely on the sides for me to determine the way the eggs are cooked. If the sides are bacon and/or sausage and hashbrowns/latkas then the eggs are scrambled with cheddar cheese. Fresh veggies I like omelet style and if it is corned beef hash then it is over medium so that I can break the eggs up in the hash and mush it all together and chow down. OH and egg in a basket i.e. cooked in a pan in the center of toast with a hole cut out, it's again over medium.

Ali, about the fish for brekkies thing, my favorite breakfast is the one my gran used to make when we were kids visiting at their place on the chesapeake bay. My Boompa would get up every morning and go fishing, rain or shine and bring home fresh caught perch and clean them down at the dock, often I would go with him which was the most fun. My gran would make scrambled eggs, grits, and cornmeal crusted iron skillet fried perch fillets with lemon and pepper and for dessert we had half a grapefruit lightly sprinkled with sugar. She would make us "little girl" coffees which consisted of heated milk with a splash of actual coffee in it so we had big steaming "coffee" mugs at the table just like the grownups.

[Orlion]

Chinese Marbled Tea Eggs!


Just found out about these things and have decided to try it tonight!... So I'll know tomorrow morning how they turn out. I got the 'recipe' here (you know me, I replace ingredients, leave others out, tell others to burn in hell... it's sometimes amazing that I can end up with anything similar to the original recipe!).

I've never cooked scrambled eggs with milk, butter, or anything except olive oil. One day, I'll give it a shot just to see if I'm missing anything, but I think not.

My favorite way of preparing the egg is 'steam-basted'. Essentially, at a good egg cooking temperature, you melt some butter in a skillet, crack 2-3 eggs. then with one of the half-shells, fill with water and place with eggs and cover. I cook these until a film forms over the yoke, at this point the whites are cooked but not burnt, and the yoke is of course runny, as it should be for your toast!

And Jenn, do you cook the hash with the eggs, or the eggs with the hash?

[Dread Poet Jethro]

Way back in the day
I'd cook eggs in many styles
While the hash cooked me

[aliantha]

Well, if it's *fresh* fish, then that's different. Oh, and that thing Jenn called "egg in a basket" is known in my house as "spit in your eye."

(psst, Menolly, it's spelled "huevos", not "juevos". )

Orlion, I've seen those eggs for sale occasionally but have never bought one. I'd love to know how they turn out.

[Harbinger]

We always called them boobs in a bra.

[DukkhaWaynhim]

And I've heard it called toad-in-a-hole...but the Brits use that term for an entirely different dish. Must be a biscuits thing...

dw