Steam-Scrambled Eggs
Those of you with cappuccino makers, may I have your attention? I have a weekend project for you. When you make your scrambled eggs this weekend, instead of melting butter in a pan, beating the eggs with a fork, plopping them into the foamy fat and stirring them round and round, why not find inspiration in the picture above? Those eggs, you see, are the work of renowned New York chef Jody Williams. I ate them last Sunday with my friend Jimmy at her lovely little restaurant, Gottino, and they were so cloud-like and delicious I thought they might float right off the plate. But the best part was how they were made...
...they were made with the steam wand of a cappuccino maker.
(COLLECTIVE GASP)
Yes, it's shocking, but also rather brilliant. Think about it: what do you want your scrambled eggs to be? Light, fluffy, airy--you want them to be all of those things, but it's hard to achieve that in a pan. So, instead, Chef Williams uses a magic wand--a steam wand. Not only does it make sense--again, these eggs were outrageously good--I bet it's really fun to do. There's even a how-to video on the site Food Mayhem that shows you Chef Williams's technique. She places 3 (beaten?) eggs, softened butter and a dash of salt in a porcelain jar, dips the wand in the egg mixture, turns on the steam, stirs it around until it's just cooked (and still runny). And that's it. Your kids will love it! And look at the results:
Those eggs (the ones Jimmy ordered) were served with cream fraiche, smoked salmon and caper berries. My eggs (the ones at the top) came with oven roasted cherry tomatoes (mind-blowingly good) and goat cheese. The ones she makes in the video are topped with lots of freshly grated Parmesan, pepper, and prosciutto.
So those of you with steam wands in the house, give this a whirl this weekend and tell me what you think. If you're successful, take a picture of you with the finished dish and send it to me at amateurgourmet AT gmail DOT com. Or better yet, make a video, upload it to YouTube and send me a link. If there are enough submissions, I'll do a round-up on Monday. As for me, as someone who does not own a cappuccino maker, I know where I'll be eating my eggs this weekend. I just hope if I order an actual cappuccino, it isn't yolky.
