Breakfast
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

One of the best things about working from home is being able to brunch every day of the week. Granted, not all of my brunches are magnificient affairs. But some of them are.

Today, I sat on my balcony with a proper English breakfast and enjoyed the sharp air. It's almost autumn and the trees are starting to turn. Plus, you get to watch the squirrels jumping from branch to branch. They're so fat that sometimes they almost miss.

I cribbed this recipe for scrambled eggs from Gordon Ramsay. I thought I knew how to make eggs before, but his method is far superior. There are various versions of it over the Internet, likely copied from his cookery book. But this one is far more clear.

Sublime scrambled eggs

Ingredients

• Four eggs, cold
• 15mL butter, cold
• 15mL crème fraîche
• salt
• pepper
• chives, snipped finely

Directions

1. Get a cold saucepan. Do not turn on the heat yet. I know, it sounds crazy, but trust me.
2. Break the eggs into a the pan and add the butter. Don't whisk or whip it. Trust me.
3. Now turn on a medium-low heat. Using a heat-proof spatula, stir to combine the ingredients. Keep stirring constantly, scrapping the bottom, sides, and corners. What's we're trying to get here is a very fine curd, so we don't want it to cook too quickly.
4. The mixture will start turning a pale yellow, sort of like custard. Take the pan off the heat and continue stirring. When it cools down a bit, put it back on the heat. Whenever the eggs start giving off significant steam, take them off. The idea is to cook them in a controlled manner, so they don't clump together in one big mass.
5. Continue this on-off dance with your pan until the eggs are almost dry. This should take about four minutes. They should be soft and fluffy, slightly lumpy, and not brown at all. Now, take the pan off the heat.
6. Stir the crème fraîche into the eggs. If you don't have any, a dollop of sour cream will work as well. This cools down the eggs to stop them from overcooking. It also makes them nice and creamy.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add the chives for colour. Mix well.
8. Serve immediately. Offer them up with buttered toast, jelly, bacon, sausages, ham, baked beans, fried tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, home fries, and a glass of orange juice. Or simply serve them up, by themselves, with a swirl of sweet chili sauce.

Serves 2.