Creamiest Restaurant-Style Scrambled Egg Tartine with Sriracha Aioli
You know those foods that only taste good when made either in someone else's house or in a restaurant but when made by you taste infinitely more boring, and almost inedible? Enter, the creamiest restaurant style scramble eggs. For me, scrambled eggs epitomize this food group. At home they are spongy, over-cooked, and flat but in restaurants they are velvety, creamy, and flavorful. The gap between the two left me uninterested in making scrambled eggs at home for years. Then, about a year ago I read an article from Food52. They claimed the secret to restaurant style eggs was actually through a "low and slow" method of cooking over excruciatingly low heat. I experimented with great success but the eggs took upwards of 25 minutes to make. Not cool for hungry Sunday mornings...
It wasn't until I stumbled upon an Gordon Ramsay youtube video (with 11 million reviews!) a couple months ago, that my creamy egg experimentation reached a new height. So here we are, the secrets to the creamiest, ever, restaurant style eggs (and all the things we've been doing wrong all these years!)
- Ditch the fry pan. Cook your eggs in a saucepan. Weird, right? That's what I thought until I tried it. Then I went to the famous Egg Slut in downtown la and sure enough they scramble their eggs in a saucepan.
- Low heat. If your eggs stick to the pan, your burner is too hot. (When we move next month I'm getting an electric stove. It's going to be a sob story.)
- On and off heat, whisking constantly. As Ramsay says, think of making scrambled eggs like making risotto. Stir constantly and don't take your eyes off them. Also, remove the saucepan from the burner every 1-2 minutes. The eggs will continue to cook from the heat of the pan, and will stay creamy.
- Season last. Apparently adding salt right away, like I've done my entire life, breaks down the flavor of the eggs. Add it at the very end.
- Add fat. Which I'm sure isn't news to you. For extra creamiest add an extra yolk, a knob of butter, a splash of cream; in our case we added goat cheese.
I've been making these open face egg sandwiches almost weekly since discovering the secret to the perfect scramble. They're ready in under 15 minutes, tastes fresh and restaurant-made, and keep me full for hours. If you can swing it buy cage-free, organic eggs, or better yet pasteur-raised eggs from a local farm available at most farmer's markets. Farmer's Market eggs, though a splurge, will yield the brightest yolks and richest flavor, and the chickens they come from will live happier lives. It's a win win.
Creamiest Restaurant-Style Scrambled Egg Tartine with Sriracha Aioli, Goat Cheese, and Avocado
Makes 1 tartine
For the sriracha aioli:
3 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon sriracha
pinch of salt
1 small garlic clove, minced
3 large organic eggs
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives, plus more for topping
1-2 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese
1 large slice sourdough bread
avocado for topping
Make aioli. In a small prep bowl combine all of the ingredients, stir, and refrigerate. This aioli can be made in advance and stores well in the fridge for about a week. For larger portions feel free to double or triple the recipe.
Crack the eggs into a small saucepan over medium low heat. Whisk the eggs to scramble, then continue to gently whisk. After about 1-2 minutes, remove the saucepan from the burner (keeping the burner on) and continue to whisk for about 30 seconds off-heat. The heat from the pan will continue to cook the eggs. Return the saucepan to the burner, and repeat, whisking constantly, and removing the saucepan from heat every 1-2 minutes until the eggs begin to curdle and thicken.
If the eggs begin to stick to the pan, turn your heat down. Keep the eggs creamy, be mindful not to overcook (see photos). The eggs should come completely together in about 5-6 minutes. When the eggs are about 85% done, stir in the chives, goat cheese, a generous pinch of salt, and fresh ground pepper. Toast the bread. Remove the saucepan from the heat right before the eggs are done. If you wait until they're done, they will overcook.
Top the toast with sriracha aioli (you probably won't use it all), eggs, avocado slices and extra chives. Enjoy!
Notes:
This is more of a technique than a recipe. Take 4 minutes of your time and watch Gordon Ramsay's video, which shows the technique perfectly.