Over a few years, I developed my style of preparing eggs. Even though I happened upon this on my own, I figure that eggs are like porn- if you can think of it, someone else has already done it. So, I’ll describe how I prepare my eggs so that Dopers can tell me the name of this style.
If it turns how- as extremely unlikely as this may be- that I invented this style, then we can call it Eggs Bienville.
First off, the common style to which this is most similar would be Scrambled Eggs. The variations are significant enough that I think it merits a different name, but I recognize the possible consensus that we should just call this “a variation on scrambled eggs”. I developed this style during years of vain attempts to recreate Waffle House’s Cheese n Eggs. Just last month, Time Like Tears shared some important information on that, but by then I had already developed my own style.
[ul]
[li]Eggs are scrambled in the pan (rather than whipping the yellow and white together in a bowl first) blending together with melted cheese. Since Time Like Tears’ advice, I have been melting the cheese in the pan first then adding the uncooked eggs.[/li][li]Melted cheese and still liquid eggs are blended together.[/li][li]As some of the egg becomes solid, I gather the solid egg around to form a wall around the still liquid egg.[/li][li]As the liquid egg becomes solid, it binds together the “wall” of egg. No more srambling at this point.[/li][li]Now we have what amounts to an egg “patty”.[/li][li]I allow the patty to get slightly golden on the bottom, then I flip it just like you would flip a burger.[/li][li]I allow it to cook a little longer so that the flipped side becomes slightly golden.[/li][li]Ready to serve[/ul][/li]What I like about this preparation is that the “patty” is perfect for sandwiches. When I make eggs for myself, it usually goes right on a bagel to be eaten as a sandwich. The step where I form a “wall” of cooked solid egg around the still liquid egg- I craft it into a rough circle about the same size as my bagel, fits together perfectly. I doesn’t have to be served on a sandwich, though. You could just serve it right on a plate and eat it with a fork.
The patty is what I think makes it a distinct style. The white and yellow is blended like scrambled eggs or an omelette, but it ultimately isn’t scrambled loose like scrambled eggs and it’s not folded like an omelette.
The other distinct feature is that the cheese is blended in as the egg gets cooked. (Before Time Like Tears’ advice, I was getting basically the same result because I was adding the cheese before the egg became solid- but starting with melted cheese does make for a more consistent blend).
Again, I am not so arrogant as to assume that I invented this. So, if I didn’t invent it . . . what is it called?
But the cheese is blended throughout the eggs, not laid on top. Once it’s fully cooked, there is no “cheese here, eggs there”. It’s all one in the same.
I do the same thing, although not with cheese. I was taught this method when I was a kid by a friend of the family who told me: This is the way we do it in back home. She was from somewhere in Europe, but I don’t remember where (I want to say southern Germany or Austria, but I’m not at all certain of that).
Oysters Bienville is served at brunch in some restaurants (or a restaurant?) in New Orleans.
Here are the ingredients it calls for:
24 oysters in shells
Coarse rock salt
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 beaten egg yolks
1/2 pound cooked, shelled shrimp, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs
1/8 teaspoon paprika
So I’m thinking, for instance, anything called “Bienville” should bear a resemblance. But I guess if you are the sole chef and consumer and you don’t let the secret out of your house you can call your eggs any darned thing you want!
Hakuna Frittata is awesome and if I had little kids it would become a frequent menu item.
I am basically lazy and don’t like dirtying up a bunch of dishes when I cook, so my ‘let’s see what I have too little of to use in a proper dish’ eggs is usually constructed by tossing the veggies in the skillet with some oil, sprinkling with cheese just before adding eggs, then cracking the eggs into the pan. I stir it enough to distribute the tasty bits, then flip it over when it looks dry on the bottom. Sometimes it stays in an amorphous patty-like state, and sometimes it ends up in big scrambled egg pieces. This is usually based on how much stuff I’ve added to it. If it’s crumbly, it becomes a breakfast burrito. If it’s vaguely pattyish it goes on toast or a bagel.
I admire your egg patty skills. When I want pretty egg patties for biscuits I just make a whole big piece, cut it into rounds, and let the dogs eat the leftover bits.
