A lot of good cooking is in technique. What’s something that you discovered or was told that really changed something meaningful for you? For me, I had struggled a lot to make omelettes. They always wound up becoming scrambled eggs because I sucked at flipping them over to cook on the other side (I like my eggs cooked pretty well so this was important to me.) Finally, watching someone else make an omelette, I noticed they didn’t flip it. They put a lid on the pan, turned the heat down, and let the top cook that way. I tried it myself and now I make almost perfect omelettes every time. Have you had anything like this happen to you? If so, what was it?
Starting scrambled eggs (3) in a cold pot or pan with at least a tablespoon of unsalted butter (a little more or less doesn’t seem to hurt the recipe). Bring up to medium heat (alternating between on the heat and totally off the heat if you have to to keep the eggs from cooking too quickly). Near constant stirring with a spatula to keep the eggs off the bottom. Adding salt/pepper and a half a spoonful of creme fresh, Greek yogurt, or sour cream at the end just before the eggs completely set. Delicious flavorful creamy scrambled eggs. Gordon Ramsey did a short video guide and fancies them up with some tomatoes and mushrooms browned in a lightly oiled pan on the side and putting the eggs over a thick slice of toasted sourdough bread, and fresh chopped chives sprinkled over it all. So much more of the flavor of the yolk comes through when I cook eggs this way compared to other methods. I’ve used this dish to great effect to impress the (non-vegan) guests that I’ve brought home the night before. Paired with a French press of coffee and suddenly even a broke college student can feel fancy. If you prefer iced coffee, you can prepare it with cold water the night before and let it sit on the counter overnight before pressing it.
any of the videos with Jaques Pepin doing omelettes, There’s alot of things in those videos that will 100% up your omelette game. The country omellete is a favorite around here. (Also the classic scrambled, even if they’re too wet for me… certain people like them better that way.)
(by the way… Jacques fancied them up first… that’s the ‘Classic Omelette’… though that one must be newer because it wasn’t filmed with a potato)
another video where he’s showing two, a slightly different country omelette, and a classic I mention this one because what struck me is… “one is not better than the other… it’s just a different way.” (we maybe have arguments here…)
Actually, I kind of hate omelettes. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, just not my thing. I appreciate the links though, I might try them. For me it’s more like there are things I love without a adding a bunch of other competing flavors to like chocolate, bacon, coffee, a good glazed donut, and eggs.
My scrambled egg recipe can be wet, or drier if you let them cook a little longer. If not for the consistency of the whites, I’d probably prefer my eggs almost completely raw. I like the method I posted because it brings so much of that yolk flavor I love to the forefront with grossing out someone that likes their eggs completely cooked.
You don’t need to wash rice, you can just leave it to soak in water for 30 minutes and it works just as well without the assload of effort.
Making a proper (?) French omelette. Watched Julia Child do it on TV. Changed my Sunday morning breakfast game big time. Beat two eggs. Heat a 10" non stick pan over medium heat. Throw in a tbsp of butter. When the butter bubbles up, the pan is hot enough. Dump in the eggs. Shake the pan over the flame to move the eggs around. I also use a set of chopsticks to help stir it up good. The eggs set in about a minute or so. Once set, I use a spatula to flip (roll) the egg from the edge of the pan, 2 times. Then plate. Watching a video of her doing it probably makes more sense than my description. Multiple new techniques for me. It’s fast. They are light. Everyone likes them.
Buy a proper instant read meat thermometer and learn about carryover heat. Seriously, just cooking meat to where it needs to be and no more makes such a difference when cooking.
Along with that, learning when things need to be cooked to higher temps for structural reasons.
Finally, learning how to get good browning or crust formation. Its all prep and heat control but damn a steak with a good crust is life changing.
I’ve taken up bringing an instant read with me when I expect I may have to cook at someone’s house. Nothing worse than trying to make a prime rib at someone’s house, a getting handed one of those analog dial thermometers that doesn’t even have numbers on it, just “rare, medium, well done”.
When sauteeing onions and mushrooms, when they’re almost done, pour a little red wine into the pan and boil it out. Makes them amazing.
I’ve done this once after seeing it in a Chinese recipe for chicken thighs, with Shaoxing wine. Apparently the alcohol does wonders to bring the flavour out of onions.
