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Scrambled Eggs with Ham
Cut two ounces lean cooked ham into very small, dice-like pieces and lightly brown in a frying pan with one teaspoon melted butter for two minutes. Carefully break eight fresh eggs in a bowl, add half gill cold milk, half teaspoon salt and two saltspoons white pepper; sharply beat up with a fork for one minute, then pour the beaten eggs over the ham. Stir with a wooden spoon while briskly cooking for six minutes. Pour into a hot dish and serve.
A straightforward dish whose only real problem is the timing, which belongs to an era of coal ranges and diners who liked eggs firm.
- Half a gillA gill is 5 fl oz in British measure, 4 fl oz in the American books of this period, so half a gill is 2 to 2.5 fl oz, roughly 4 to 5 tablespoons. That is a modest amount of milk for eight eggs; much more and the curd weeps.
- SaltspoonsA saltspoon is a quarter teaspoon. Two saltspoons of white pepper is half a teaspoon, which is assertive; start with less if your pepper is freshly ground rather than long-stored.
- Six minutes is the hingeSix minutes of brisk cooking will give you dry, grainy eggs. Over medium-low heat, eight eggs come to a soft curd in three to four minutes, and they should leave the pan while still visibly loose — carryover heat finishes them in the hot dish.
- "Briskly cooking"Read this as steady rather than fierce. Constant motion with the wooden spoon is what keeps the curd fine; the moment you stop stirring you are making an omelette.
- The hamTwo ounces of lean cooked ham for eight eggs is a seasoning, not a filling. Any dry-cured or boiled ham works; brown it only lightly, since it will keep cooking in the eggs.
- ButterOne teaspoon is spare by modern habit and assumes a well-seasoned iron pan. A tablespoon in a nonstick or carbon steel pan is more forgiving and improves the texture.
- YieldEight eggs serves four generously, or three as a main breakfast. Warm the serving dish properly — cold china pulls the heat out and the eggs slacken.