Free Under the Table by Katherine Darling Page B

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    Oeufs Brouillés (Gently Scrambled Eggs)
    These succulent eggs bear as much resemblance to the leathery American breakfast staple as the NFL does to the sport of le football. These eggs take time and patience and are better served as part of a special dinner that encourages lingering and savoring every mouthful, rather than as part of a quick and dirty eat-and-run sort of meal.
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    8 fresh large eggs
    4 tablespoons heavy cream
    Generous pinch of salt
    Several grinds of fresh pepper
    4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs gently with 2 tablespoons of the cream and the salt and pepper.
Place a large, heavy sauté pan over very, very low heat. Gently pour in the egg mixture and add the butter. Whisk slowly but thoroughly, never stopping for a moment. Eventually, the eggs will begin to coagulate into small, fluffy curds. This should take 10 to 15 minutes.
When the eggs are set but still quite soft and a bit runny, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons cream. The eggs will continue to cook a bit even off the heat, so remove them a little before you think they are quite ready. Adjust the seasoning as needed and serve on warmed plates.
    Serves 2 for dinner or 4 for brunch. Can be doubled easily.
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    NOTES: I like to use a well-seasoned cast-iron pan of my grandmother’s. Add a generous scattering of Parmesan or even shavings of fresh truffle for that very special person.
    Perfect Poached Eggs
    Poached eggs do not require any special equipment, contrary to what the kitchen gadget stores would have you believe. The only equipment needed is a large pot of salted water, an ice bath at the ready, a slotted spoon, and a thermometer. Bring the water to a steady, gentle simmer. Crack the egg gently, and with a steady but patient hand, pour the egg into the water. That’s it. No swirling and dropping the egg into the vortex left by the spoon, no special egg holder, nothing. The egg will hit the bottom of the pot and spread out just a bit. There will be a few loose “strings” of white that trail away from the central mass, but these are easily trimmed when the egg has finished cooking and been plunged into its ice water bath.
    The quality of the egg being poached is very important in this method: the fresher the egg, the more tightly it will hold its shape in the simmering water. An old egg will be looser and less cohesive, due to the breakdown of the proteins. A very old egg should not be poached at all; better to use it in a recipe calling for hard-cooked eggs or for baking—the older the egg, the easier it is to separate the white from the yolk.
    Once the egg has been gently slipped into the water, be sure to keep an eye on the temperature. While it is easy to poach a half dozen or even a dozen eggs at once (if your pot is sufficiently large), the addition of so many cold things to the simmering water will drop the temperature dramatically, and it will take quite some time to return the water to its proper temperature. Conversely, it is also easy to let the temperature get too high. This will cause the egg to cook too quickly or, if the water begins to boil, may even break down the delicate texture of the egg, leaving you with something akin to egg drop soup. Once the egg is perfectly cooked, simply scoop it from the hot water with a slotted spoon and slide it gently into the waiting ice bath. If you aren’t sure how done your egg is, scoop it upgently in the spoon and prod the yolk very lightly with the tip of your finger. It should provide a bit of resistance—no resistance means a raw yolk, and a firm lump means an overcooked yolk; you want something in between. The dip in ice water will stop the cooking immediately.
    Once the egg is cool, remove it from the ice water and hold it in the palm of one hand. Using kitchen shears, trim any strings or asymmetrical bits so that the egg presents an even appearance. Place