Jacque Pepins' Scrambled Eggs

Jacques Pepin’s Scrambled Egg

After my success with Julia’s version, I am ready to attempt Jacques’s version of the perfect scrambled eggs. I want to refresh your memory on Jacques’s version. I am using the recipes found in the book Cooking at Home by Julia and Jacques.

Jacques’ version calls for the exact same ingredients:

·        2 or 3 large eggs

·        Salt and Freshly ground pepper

·        1 T or more unsalted butter

·        1-2 T Heavy Cream

The difference comes, however, in the equipment and the method of cooking. If you recall, Julia insists on cooking eggs on moderately low heat, in a non-stick frying pan (10 in top diameter), with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.  Jacques on the other hand, requests a 2- or 3-quart heavy saucepan and a medium wire whisk, and he insists on higher heat.

The sauce pan request is odd to me…I have never, ever seen anyone cook eggs in a sauce pan, nor with a whisk for that matter!

Pepin writes:

“The purpose of scrambling eggs in a saucepan is to produce the smallest curds possible, and to cook them quickly, before they are toughened by the heat. You need to have a pan with high sides and a small bottom surface, so you can whisk the curds, breaking them up and moving them off the bottom….The eggs must still be very soft and loose when you take the pan off the heat.”

‘Soft and loose’ ….hmmm….I seem to have a bad memory associated with that description (flashbacks of that 1^st attempt are still rather vivid and haunting).

Pepin is also specific about the state of the butter when adding the eggs. He says when the “butter foams” is when to pour the eggs into the hot pan.  He continues to say to immediately start whisking and to steadily continue throughout, breaking up any lumps and making sure to dislodge any egg that may stick to the bottom corners. This should go on for about a minute or so until the eggs are uniformly thickened but still quite soft, with very small and creamy curds.

Then remove the pan from heat, whisk in another spoon of butter and 1 or 2 tbsp of cream and quickly serve.

Ok, so I followed the recipe and had great success. The whisking was fun because it seemed a better method for breaking the up the eggs. I personally also preferred the saucepan versus the frying pan. I like this way of cooking eggs better, it was fast and easy. The result looked exactly as he wants “small and creamy curds”!

I am not used to the appearance of either Julia’s or Jacques’ eggs, I am use to a more pillow-like appearance rather than small curd-like appearance. But the taste is amazing! What a wonderful first stepping stone in the challenge! Here are some of my photos:

            Because of the higher heat the cooking process is quick! Make sure to get all your ingredients ready!

                                               Whisk up the eggs and add salt & pepper

                                           My butter has foamed, it's time to add the egg mixture

                                           Immediately start whisking, and continue throughout

                                                          Eggs are uniformily thickened, but soft.
                                         This is when I pulled off the heat and added a tablespoon
                                                                of Heavy Cream and butter!

                                                                   Small and Creamy Curds!

                                                                     Bon Appetite!

If I had to choose which egg I liked better, I did like Julia’s egg a bit better. Jacques egg was very good; in fact my cousin loved it! But, it seemed that it would go best in addition to a garnish (which actually he mentions in the cookbook). And in all fairness, I will need to try them a couple times to compare.

So, the 2^nd scrambled egg was a success! I can now cross this off the list and move on to the fried egg.

I hope you all out there give these recipes a try, if you haven’t already. I think it is always great to try new things, even if it is a different twist to an old idea.

Happy Cooking Everyone!