eggs

How to Make the Perfect Scrambled Eggs

June 12, 2017

I know what you are thinking, scrambled eggs are scrambled eggs. It shouldn’t really make a difference how you make your scrambled eggs, they will all turn out the same. But I promise you, making a couple small changes to how you make your scrambled eggs will make a huge difference!

Before learning this method, here are the two ways I would typically make my scrambled eggs:

break some eggs into a bowl, whip them up with a fork, pour them in a pan and cook them.
break some eggs into a bowl, pour in some milk, maybe add some cheese, pour them into a pan and cook.

Sure, they turned out fine. I mean, is there really a better way to make them? Well, Gordon Ramsay taught me that yes, there most certainly is.

HOW I MADE THEM

Instead of cracking the eggs into a bowl and whisking them up first, I cracked the eggs directly into the pan while it is still cool, then I turn on the heat. I add a bit of ghee (or clarified butter) and start whipping them up with my spatula.

I continually stir them with the spatula while moving them on and off the heat.

Once the eggs are just about cooked, I add in some sour cream and whip that in.

At the very end I add in the salt and pepper, and maybe some cheese if I feel like getting crazy (which is 83% of the time).

The resulting eggs are super creamy and fluffy! I know it doesn’t seem like the Gordon Ramsay method is a whole lot different than how you currently make your eggs, but it really comes down to the order in which the steps are performed. Like adding the salt and pepper at the end instead of at the beginning. Or whipping the eggs in the pan over heat, versus in a bowl before adding them to the heat.

From now on, I will now make eggs any other way. Sure, it takes a few more minutes, but it’s totally worth it.

Also, I should mention that Gordon makes his eggs in a sauce pan. And that’s fine and all, but I have come close to ruining my sauce pans making eggs that way. Eggs have a way of sticking to everything and cleaning up is a nightmare. I will only make my eggs in this pan. The eggs do not stick at all to the pan and cleaning up is a freaking breeze.

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5 Minute Hollandaise Sauce (Made in a Blender!)

April 19, 2017

If you want to add a little decadence to your meal, add hollandaise sauce. It should be the definition of decadent. How could egg yolks blended with butter be anything but!

Making hollandaise can be a little bit of a pain in the butt, however. I’ve tried to make it on a couple of occasions and it has always been more work than it’s worth. Then I learned you could make hollandaise in a blender and my life was changed! It couldn’t have been easier. No more double boiler. No more constant whisking. I could just throw everything into the blender and let it do the work for me.

There are only a few ingredients in hollandaise sauce: egg yolks, butter, lemon juice, cayenne, salt, pepper, and a bit of water. First add the eggs, lemon juice, and water to the blender and give that thing a good blend. You want your egg yolks to be nice and pale and frothy.

Melt the butter, and while it is still hot gradually pour it into the egg mixture with the blender running. Be prepared to get a little bit splattered.

Keep the blender running until the sauce thickens…then blend it a little more.

The last step is to add some seasoning. Julia Childs likes to add a bit of cayenne in addition to some salt and pepper. I am not one to argue with Julia, so I, added some cayenne, too. You could also add a dash of hot sauce or paprika.

And that’s all you have to do to make some delicious hollandaise sauce! Easy right? I bet you thought hollandaise sauce would be a lot more complicated! I sure did.

Hollandaise sauce can go on a lot more than just Eggs Benedict. I drizzled this on top of an asparagus tart, which was delicious paired with the lemony sauce. I hear it is also amazing with most vegetables, especially root vegetables, eggs, ham, and fish.

Now that you know how to make a quick and easy hollandaise, you can use that as a base to make lots of other sauces (that’s why hollandaise is considered one of the French mother sauces)! Here are some ideas to get you started!

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Frittata Pizza

January 9, 2017

Do you love pizza? But are you restricted by your low-carb diet? I have the solution for you!!

I hope you read that in the most “info-mercial voice you could think of.

But seriously….I do have the solution for you!

In an effort to try to get my eating back on track after the holidays, I have been trying to cut back on some of the carbs in my diet. Other than the 4 cookies I just scarffed down, it’s been going pretty well. That’s not to say I haven’t had cravings for some of my favorite foods. I have definitely missed my peanut butter toast in the mornings. But I have also found some good alternatives, like this frittata pizza!

When my husband was out of town last week I was looking for something easy to cook for just myself with what I had available. Since we always have eggs, a frittata seemed like a good, healthy option. But pizza is actually what I had a hankering for. So I combined the two!

I started by blistering a handful of cherry tomatoes in the pan. Since I wasn’t going to use any sauce, these tomatoes gave me the same tomato flavor that I would expect on a pizza.

Then I poured in a mixture of eggs, egg whites, oregano, basil, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper and let the eggs start to solidify. Once a layer of cooked egg had formed on the bottom and around the edges, I used a spatula to pull in the sides so that the uncooked egg could spill over into the gap.

Once most of the egg had cooked, I sprinkled on some mozzarella cheese and then placed some pepperonis on top. Then I placed the entire frittata under the broiler so the cheese could melt and the rest of the egg could cook.

Once it was done, I topped it with some fresh basil, crushed red pepper, and some more Parmesan. I’m trying to reduce the carbs, not the cheese!

After one bite, this totally hit the spot. It definitely satisfied any craving I had for pizza! While you can’t totally replace the crunchy traditional pizza crust, somehow the egg “crust” was perfectly enjoyable. I think it’s the Parmesan mixed in with the eggs that makes the whole thing just taste like melted cheese. I mean, how could you not love it?

I would make this frittata pizza again in a heart beat! Not only is it a tad healthier (depending on which macro-nutrient you are trying to avoid), from start to finish, the whole thing took about 15 minutes or less. It was the perfect meal to for just one person. If we are being honest, it’s probably plenty of food for two. But of course I ate the whole thing myself.

It was just that good!

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PIN NOW, MAKE LATER

Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Egg Casserole

May 25, 2016

I have probably eaten more eggs in the past 6 months than I have in the last 6 years. I may be exaggerating a little, but not by much. Since changing up my diet at the beginning of the year to be more protein and fat rich, I have had to learn to enjoy more egg-filled breakfasts. Something that did not come easy to me. At the beginning of my first Whole 30, I reluctantly ate eggs for breakfast just about every morning thinking that all I had to do was get through those 30 days, then I could go back to my oatmeal or yogurt. Well, guess what. 5 months later I am still eating eggs for breakfast.

While now I appreciate the nutrition and energy they give me to start the day, they can still be a little boring. I am always trying to find new ways to cook them, finding inspiration everywhere from blogs to the Trader Joes. The latter is exactly where the inspiration for this recipe came. I was rummaging through their meat section reading the back of every label trying to find a sausage that didn’t have sugar in it when I came across this sun dried tomato and basil chicken sausage. From there the wheels started turning and eventually I decided that a sun dried tomato and basil egg casserole would be a great new way to eat my eggs in the morning.

Can you tell I do all my shopping at Trader Joe’s? I promise, this isn’t a sponsored post, it’s just that it’s where about 80% of the food in my kitchen came. Of course, the sun dried tomato and basil chicken sausage is the muse of this dish, but I am pretty certain you can find a similar sausage flavor at almost any store. For some additional flavor and to add some veggies to this egg casserole, I also added some peppers and onions. To make it easy on myself, I used the fire roasted peppers and onions, but you could also saute up your own and they would be great!

I first sauteed up the sausage then added it to the bottom of a baking dish along with the peppers, onions, and sun dried tomatoes. I poured over the eggs then topped it off with some freshly chopped basil.

The egg casserole only took about 30 minute to bake. I know it’s completely cooked through when the egg on top is no longer runny. Once it’s out of the oven I like to let it cool for a bit before I cut into it. Hot eggs can just fall apart when they are cut into.

What I love about an egg casserole like this is that it’s an easy breakfast or brunch option to make for a large group, or it can be made in advance and eaten throughout the week, which is exactly what I did. It fed me for a week and I didn’t get sick of it. The flavors in this are wonderful if not a little bit unexpected. It tastes decidedly Italian thanks to the basil and peppers, but eggs and Italian food aren’t two things I normally put together. Fortunately, it totally works! How could sausage and eggs not work?

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Spinach and Cheese Egg Muffins

December 30, 2015

Egg-Muffin-1

Over the past few months I have been trying to ween myself off of Greek yogurt or smoothies for breakfast and eat more the protein-packed eggs. This is partially in preparation for the Whole 30 Challenge that I am going to attempt again at the beginning of the year. The last time I tried the Whole 30 Challenge, breakfast was my hardest meal because I couldn’t eat anything I normally would: yogurt, toast, cereal, granola, etc. But I am also not a big egg eater. Especially on week days, eggs can take too long to prepare, and by the time I get to work and eat them, they are cold and soggy.

So in come the egg muffins! They can be made in advance and just heated up in the microwave when you are ready to eat. This particular version has spinach and cheese mixed in with the eggs. But once I start the Whole 30 Challenge, the cheese will have to go.

Spinach and Cheese Egg Muffin

To make the muffins, I started with 12 eggs. I use 3 whole eggs, and 9 egg whites to reduce some of the fat and cholesterol. But you can use all 12 egg yolks and whites (you just might make more muffins). I then mix in about a cup of thawed and drained frozen spinach, 3 tbsp of shredded cheese, and salt and pepper.

Egg-Muffin-2

The only take 20 minutes to bake, and once they are done I just let them cool to room temperature before storing them in the fridge. Then, in the morning before work, I pack 2 or 3 to go and heat them up at the office. They are just like little, portable, fritatas.

Once the Whole 30 Challenge does start, I will make these muffins with ham, bacon, peppers, onions, tomatoes. I am hoping to mix it up enough that I don’t get sick of eating eggs for 30 days straight.

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