Growing up, one of my favorite weekend breakfast dishes was my Mom’s (Mary) scrambled eggs. Mary made her scrambled eggs by first dicing several slices of bacon, frying these pieces in a pan and then scrambling it all together right in the same pan.
This way of eating the eggs and bacon together was an efficient, one-pan preparation that was ahead of it’s time. I loved it.
This morning, I made a bit of a variation of my Mom’s tried and true method.
Joel’s scrambled eggs!
Mary always used eggs and a bit of whipping cream as the basis for her egg mixture. I use eggs in what I call a 3-1 ratio. What I mean is that for every three eggs that I crack, I only use one of the yolks. Plus, I use sour cream instead of whipping cream. (I got this idea from Ralphie on the Soprano’s TV Series just before Tony Soprano whacked him right in his kitchen!) I also add a dash of Frank’s Red Hot to give it a bit of a sting.
Next, I cut three slices of bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and brown them up in a cast iron pan. About 1/2 way through the browning process, I put about 1/2-2/3 of a cup of diced onions in with the bacon. Once the onions are translucent and bacon is browned, I added about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and two tablespoons of brown sugar while stirring constantly. I let this go for about two minutes and transferred the contents of the pan to a paper towel.
I added a tablespoon of Hope Butter to the pan along with the beaten egg mixture and allowed all of this to cook for about two minutes. I then stirred in the mixture of bacon and onions while cooking for another couple of minutes over low heat. I then gathered it all in the middle of the pan and added a bit of Tillamook medium cheddar cheese on top.
I turned off the heat, let this sit for a minute or two, transferred it to a plate, poured myself a nice glass of chocolate milk and got ready to feast.
Incidentally, this is probably not healthy, but not horrible, either. I did go on a nice, three mile run with my dog, Walt, prior to doing all of this. So I’ve got that going for me.
Here’s the recipe:
3 Eggs with two yolks removed
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 dashes of Frank’s Red Hot (Or, to taste if you like it hot!)
1/2-2/3 of a cup of diced yellow or white onion
3-4 slices of your favorite bacon
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon of your favorite gourmet butter
1/2 cup of your favorite shredded cheddar cheese
I hope that you enjoy this new take on an old family staple.
Below is the pan that I like to use to cook these sorts of meals. If you don’t have a go-to cast iron pan, so yourself a favor and go to your favorite sporting goods or farm store and get one.
A kitchen staple that is within every cook’s reach.