How to Make the Most Luxurious Scrambled Eggs in the World

If there's one thing you should know about Naomi Pomeroy, it's that this woman loves eggs. I can't get enough of it. I know this because I spent a lot of time with her helping write her new cookbook, Taste and Technique: Recipes That Will Improve Your Home Cooking (Ten-Speed Press, $ 40), which has an entire chapter devoted to eggs and begins with the line "Eggs may be my favorite dish." Pomeroy cooks French food, which is a little sophisticated, and she doesn't really like counting calories. So it's no surprise that her scrambled egg recipe is unabashedly sumptuous, using butter, heavy cream, and halves. Eggs are whipped over low heat to give them maximum creaminess, and fresh cream with herbs and caviar is sprinkled on top in moderation, because there is no more refined combination in the world than scrambled eggs on top of other eggs.Pomeroy loves to tell the story of this scrambled egg party featuring legendary French chef Daniel Boulud and a chef-only party after the Miami Food Festival closes. "Let me set the stage," she says. “It's 3am and we're at a party at a rented house in Miami. Each of us is a chef, and we all work 17 hours a day. My sous chef and I are wandering around the neighborhood, and who do we run into but Daniel Boulud, who is in the kitchen in an apron beating these beautiful eggs. He spoonfuls them right into the mouths of passers-by, right out of the pan, pouring a huge chunk of caviar over each bite before popping it into your mouth.“He was on his own, just humming and whipping and flirting like he does with everyone, and I, as a young chef, found it absolutely charming. He could have made anything, but he chose eggs because they are so nutritious and are the perfect complement, " she says. “It speaks so clearly to the chef's mentality that hospitality never ends, that feeding people is the greatest pleasure in life." There's something about Boulud's decision to serve scrambled eggs rather than pancakes, French toast, or pizza that speaks volumes about the comfort of the meal itself. Eggs, as Pomeroy puts it, are the most perfect natural food: they are perfectly convenient in their own right, but they also serve as a clean palette for countless other tastes. Eggs can add lightness or richness, savory or sweet taste, and are equally suitable for both breakfast and dessert. They are probably given the most space to display in the morning, when they are placed in the center of an omelet, on pans, in benedicts and much more.In this recipe, the eggs are handled very carefully to match their extravagant potential. Before cooking, they should be allowed to warm up to room temperature so that they are evenly fried, and it is strongly recommended to use the freshest eggs — there are so few ingredients in this recipe that each of them really shines, so be careful when buying.Then they are sprinkled with sugar in half and slowly fried in butter over very low heat so that they do not become elastic or hard. ” You just have to be careful when making this recipe, " Pomeroy says. "Keep an eye on what's going on in the pan — if your stove is too hot and the eggs are cooking quickly, remove it from the heat. And when they're ready — or even better, just a few seconds in advance-immediately remove them from the hot pan so they don't overcook."Ready-made eggs should be soft and creamy, with a slight shine, so you know that they are not dry.Fresh cream is slightly absorbed into the finished eggs, making them even softer and richer than before. The finishing touch — caviar-is optional, although it gives the dish an undeniable element of glamour, giving a simple egg its most beautiful shape.Soft-boiled scrambled eggs with caviar and grilled creme fraiche Reprinted with Permission from Taste and Technique: Recipes That Will Make Your Home Cooking Taste Better by Naomi Pomeroy with Jamie Feldmar, copyright © 2016. Published by Ten Speed Press, Penguin Random House LLC.
In a small bowl, mix the heavy cream with the fresh cream to make it runny. Set aside.In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, shallots, and salt and leave for 5-10 minutes to soften the sharp taste of the shallots.