Sometimes Self-Care is Brown Butter Scrambled Eggs
Brown Butter Scrambled Eggs With Herbs
I am an admitted Francophile. I have an unadulterated love for France and the cuisine in all its buttery, wine-soaked goodness. Our first trip to this beautiful country was an earned incentive with my company and we fell in love with the whole culture. But a later trip with our toddler, who ate a lot of eggs, inspired these Brown Butter Scrambled Eggs.
Dining habits in France are quite different from the US. Meals are always served in multiple courses (minimum of two). Coffee is not served with dessert, it's a post-dessert beverage and then only in thimble-sized bracing shots of thick espresso which I love!
You are not going to be automatically served bread before dinner (nor a plate to go with it) in a restaurant. Cheese is served unaccompanied as its own course and may have a lingering "aroma", especially the oozey cheeses. And here’s the one that probably frustrates both Americans and those from the UK the most…you won’t find eggs offered for breakfast. Breakfast is typically a croissant or baguette with a milky coffee or espresso.
Our second trip was totally on our agenda (and our dime) so we decided that since we were traveling with a toddler that we would just pretend to live in France and do what we would do as a family there. We rented an apartment in the heart of Paris and frequented the shops and bistros nearby.
Omelets, quiche, and other egg dishes are served on casual bistro menus as lunch or dinner. For us, they were the saving grace of traveling with a toddler in this marvelous country. Harrison, our now 25 year old, was perfectly happy tucking into his Gruyere-oozing omelet on our many lunches out. Incidentally, he STILL loves eggs!
Upon returning, we decided to adopt this at home as well. Since we practice intermittent fasting, this works very well for us as we don’t eat our first meal until noon or later. Therefore, eggs for lunch or dinner are our only options. While I have a whole arsenal of egg recipes in my head, my favorite and the simplest way to make them is scrambling with brown butter and herbs.
What To Serve With Brown Butter Scrambled Eggs
Depending on the season, you could serve a simple mixed green salad with a lemon and olive oil vinaigrette. If it’s summer, make a tomato salad with basil and extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Roasted Veggies or potatoes would also be good. For this meal, I made a Fall salad of arugula, pears and roasted sweet potatoes. If you want to complete the French bistro experience, serve the eggs with a glass of French Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. These both complement the herbs and brown butter nicely.
Ingredient Notes:
When you make something this simple, you really need to have the very best ingredients. This is actually a secret of French cooking; buy the best ingredients and do as little as possible to them.
Eggs
Finally, being outed as a perfect protein and not the cholesterol increasing villain they once were, eggs are my friend for quick meals. Eggs are super easy and no matter what you have in your fridge, will play nice; vegetables, bits of meat, any number of cheeses. First choice are pastured eggs from your or a neighbor’s chickens or a farmers market which have tons more nutrients such as vitamin A, E and D. Vital Proteins and surprisingly Kirkland Pastured eggs from Costco appear to be as close to truly pastured eggs as you will find at national grocery stores.
Butter
Look for a European or grassfed butter as it has a much higher fat content and will taste much creamier than regular butter. Purists say unsalted, but I prefer salted, so use what you like.
Herbs
While dried herbs have their place, definitely use fresh herbs for this recipe. You can use one or several, but look for the freshest herbs you can find. They should not look dehydrated, be turning brown or wilted. You can store them in your fridge for weeks so even if you only make this recipe once and have a bunch left over, you can use them up later. I’m partial to rosemary because it’s easy to grow so I always have it around, but fresh thyme and sage are also amazing.
Brown Butter Eggs “Recipe”
This is the basic recipe for a small serving. Scale as needed.
2 Eggs
1 tbsp Butter
2 sprigs Fresh Herbs
Sea Salt & Black Pepper
Whisk eggs well in a small bowl with 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper until there are no more stringy bits.
Melt butter in a small nonstick skillet over high and add the herb sprigs. It will pop and crackle a bit. Turn the heat to medium low.
Press on the herbs until they stop popping. Flip and do the same on the other side until the herbs are crispy. Remove the herbs and when the butter is a deep brown add the eggs.
Stir until the eggs are mostly cooked through, but not dry. Crumble the crispy herbs over the top.
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