What do our fellow bloggers, writers, and online friends eat, first thing in the morning? We are asking some friends to share their favorite morning nourishment with us. I will cook and eat it too, and bring you their thoughts on what to eat first thing in the morning.
This morning Deb shares a recipe for scrambled eggs with chives and goat cheese on toast. It sounds simple, but as with all things wonderfully delicious, it's all in the details of this divine preparation of a breakfast classic. Deb talks us through in her usual writing style, full of wit and grace.

Deb's blog, Smitten Kitchen, is an extraordinary exploration of classy recipes. Deb explains her home-spun dishes with a superb sense of humor and real-life tenderness, not to mention gorgeous photos. This combination makes for a fantastic read and as a subscriber, I do the happy dance every time she posts a new recipe. As a reader since the site's early years, I feel as though i know Deb pretty well -- she writes with such intimacy, levity and honesty, all that good stuff and ridiculously tasty recipes.
About this breakfast Deb says:
Scrambled eggs are best made at home, and where their path from frying pan to plate to fork to your belly is as short as possible. Scrambled eggs should have a short lifespan. That’s my first tip. The next one is that they should always be taken out of the pan before they are done — I look for about 85 to 90 percent doneness, they should look a bit wet, enough to make you a little nervous. Don’t be. These blazing hot eggs continue cooking on the plate and I guarantee that by the time you get them from counter to table, fork to belly, they’ll be dreamy: cooked but not overcooked. Not even a little, thank goodness.Last, and look, I’m sure this isn’t Proper Egg Scrambling Technique or anything, but to make them the way I like them, I go easy on the scrambling. I do a pour-pause-nudge-pause-push-pause-pull thing, lots of letting them set for a second or 10 before moving them again. I get them in a ribbony pile in the middle of the pan, break it up a little with my spoon or spatula, and eat them quickly. I guess I like a few pieces to bite into, to feel like I’m consuming something more than coddled mush. And with that, that “coddled mush” remark, I think my real secret is out: you see, I am not a scrambled egg person which means I’ve got some gall advising you on yours. But when I started making them this way — plus a thick piece of toast, smear of goat cheese and sprinkle of garlic chives — I became one. I started making up for lost time; they have been breakfast, lunch and dinner in the last week; even my Sunday bagel was no longer deemed acceptable. Don’t you hate it when that happens?

I'm not surprised that Deb has shown me a better way to do something I thought I had down pat. Her 'barely scrambled' technique of 90 percent doneness makes the eggs velvety and luscious. This is how eggs want to be served! And with the addition of tangy goat cheese and peppery lightness of the snipped chives, this breakfast is absolutely elegant. It's delicious beyond compare. I expected greatness from Mrs. Smitten Kitchen and I was proved so very right. Hooray!
Deb's Scrambled Egg Toast
serves 1, scale as needed
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk, half-and-half or cream (I used cream, amazing results!)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Few grinds black pepper
2 teaspoons butter or olive oil
A 1-inch thick piece of bread (I used ciabbata, a very fine choice)
1 tablespoon goat cheese, softened a bit (though cream cheese is a great swap here)
1 teaspoon chives or scallion greens, thinly sliced
Set your table and pour your coffee. I am an absolutely nut about eating my eggs the second they come out of the pan, and to do this, your table needs to be ready for you; your troops should be gathered. Toast your bread, then smear it with the goat cheese and sprinkle it with half the chives. Set it aside. (P.S. If you decide to butter it before adding the goat cheese, I will not tell anyone.)
Beat eggs with milk, salt and pepper in a small bowl, with a fork, until combined, with a few big bubbles. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-low heat; once hot, add butter. Once butter is melted and foamy, add eggs and pause; count to 20 if you must, but let those eggs begin to set up before you start nudging away at them. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, begin push your eggs once from the outside to the center of the pan and pause again; count to 5 if you must, before continuing with another push. Continue in this manner around the pan as if you were trying draw spokes of a wheel through your eggs with your spatula, pausing for 5 seconds after each push. Go around the pan as many times as needed, until your eggs in the center are ribbony damp pile — it should look only 75 percent cooked. Use your spoon or spatula to break up this pile into smaller chunks — to taste. Your eggs should now look almost 90 percent cooked.
Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pile the scrambled eggs bits high on your goat cheese toast. Sprinkle with an additional grind of black pepper and remaining chives. Eat immediately.
Thanks Deb for contributing to our Breakfast with a Blogger series!
• Visit Deb's blog: Smitten Kitchen
Related: How to Make Creamy, Luscious Scrambled Eggs
(Images: Leela Cyd Ross, image of Deb provided by Deb)

Comments (12)
I've only been reading Smitten Kitchen for a year, but this is one of my favorite posts of hers. Every time I make eggs, that "I don't actually like eggs" narrative runs through my head. I actually have made these toasts a few times when I found myself with extra chevre on hand. They're delicious.
mmmm these look just like my favorite breakfast @ Il Cane Rosso @ the San Fran Ferry Building....This somehow even makes the avocado toast I'm eating for breakfast right now seem drab :-)
I think the #1 mistake people make when cooking eggs is doing it to hot and too fast. Smitten Kitchen has got it right with low and slow.
Gourmet published an almost identical recipe not long ago, but w/ricotta mixed into the eggs. Also very yummy, looking forward to trying it Deb style.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Soft-Scrambled-Eggs-with-Fresh-Ricotta-and-Chives-241876
I don't order scrambled eggs (nor cook them for myself) because I do so love a poached egg. This recipe, however, is giving me pause. Hmm...yummm.
the slower one cooks scrambled eggs, the better they are. i've even done them in a double boiler when i was feeling extra patient.
another thing a lot of people do that adversely affects their scrambled eggs is add too much dairy, esp. if that dairy is on the "lean" side. definitely don't add more than 1 T per egg. higher fat dairy is more forgiving (less water), and tastier, which is why cream works so well here.
i heart deb... and have you seen her munchkin? what a doll!
I made this when Deb posted it on her blog last year. Here is my post:
http://arcticgardenstudio.blogspot.com/2010/05/monday-morning-musings.html
I love reading Deb's blog for her wit, her humor, and of course her recipes. And I ALWAYS find the picture of her son Jacob before reading the full post. He's the most ridiculously cute kid!
These look great!
What a flashback: the spokes-of-a-wheel method is actually how I was taught to cook scrambled eggs in 7th grade cooking class. I've done it that way ever since (not that I cooked much before then...).
Sometimes I will leave the 85%-done eggs in a mound in the center of the pan, take it off the heat, put grated cheese on top of the eggs and then cover the pan with a lid while I grab the toast and plates. That way the cheese can melt, but the eggs stay soft and lovely.
I love SK. it's my favorite blog, by far. Her recipes are flawlessly presented, and her photography is gorgeous. Not to mention, her writing style itself literally makes me laugh out loud.
The roasted sweet potatoes she made with the goat cheese and celery topping is now in my top five favorite foods. DELICIOUS.
I've made these eggs, and they're really quite fantastic. Cannot say enough nice things about her! Just great.
my weakness... perfectly scrambled eggs with fresh cheese. any time of day- these items call to me like sirens.
If you want to get an ebook with 111 egg recipes for only $1.11, then go to www.smoothiesandeggs.com, you'll never have to wonder what kind of eggs to make again!