Looking to God

As part of Freedom Friday, let me introduce to you my favorite dish I make on a hurried Wednesday night. I’ve been making this for years. Sometimes I add to it, sometimes I take away from it. But most of the time, it remains the same: eggs and hash browns.

Wednesday is Costco night for us. This means a night where I head over to the consumer warehouse and buy everything in bulk. It’s amazing how far my dollar stretches when the product comes bundled in boxes. By the time I get home, I’m too tired for anything else. That’s when the routine developed of cooking eggs on Wednesday night. They’re quick, easy, and it takes me twenty minutes tops from idea to plate.

Fried Eggs—This is the easiest recipe. Crack a couple of eggs in a frying pan and away you go. It may seem easy, however if the pan isn’t greased properly, sunny side up eggs will become scrambled in no time. I use an extra large chrome skillet and prep it with olive oil, allowing the oil to cover the entire bottom of the pan. Not a lot—just enough to coat. Then I turn on the burner to medium heat. How do you know if the oil’s hot enough? Dip your finger in water and allow a drop to fall into the pan. If it pops, it’s ready.

Start cooking the eggs (you don’t need me to tell you to crack them and place them into the pan, do you?) When the egg white turns white, drop the heat to a minimum temperature, this will prevent the bottom of the eggs from burning. To know if the eggs are ready, I touch the top of the yolk with the pad of my finger. Do this until the eggs feel room temperature (I don’t know what to tell you if your eggs didn’t come out of a fridge). Also, as it cooks, use the spatula to lift carefully the edges. Once it’s done, the eggs should naturally slide off the pan into the plate.

Scrambled Eggs—There’s a trick to making good scrambled eggs: never allow them to cook long. They have to remain fluffy and moist. Not like rubber, where you chew it and it tastes like the inside of a boot (not that I know what that tastes like, nor do I want to know). Attaining fluffiness is easy. Crack a couple of eggs in a bowl and beat senseless. Well, at least until they have a creamy texture to them. If you like, you can add a touch of cream or milk to them, but I usually don’t bother.

Now, prepare the pan just as I’d described in the fried egg paragraph. There’s a difference though. Once the eggs hit the pan, turn off the burner and continually fluff them with a spatula. Keep doing this until the eggs look loose but not soggy. When you get them to that consistency, you’ve got yourself a fluffy scrambled egg.

By the way, a few things you can do with scrambled eggs to make them interesting is while they’re cooking, add some spices to the mixture. I do this in the bowl where I beat them. I like paprika, cumin, and garlic and onion powder. I’ll then season it with little salt and pepper.

I have an omelet recipe, but I think I’ll save it for another time.

As for the sides, I’ll make hash browns, which take about twenty minutes to cook. I tend to time my eggs so everything pops from the stove all at the same time. Depending on my mood, I’ll add baby carrots or celery as another side dish. Cucumbers are cool, but I find the taste less desirable—I don’t think it makes a good combination. Maybe I’m wrong. Oh, and during the summer, I eat salads, so that’s something to consider when making any of the egg dishes I described.

Do you have any egg recipes you’d like to share? What would be your choice of sides?