One Amazing Egg

Please welcome guest writer/cook this week!

I've never been a fan of omelets. Making a great omelet, particularly early in the morning for breakfast, is just too much work. Unless it's made by someone with good technique and sufficient patience, it can end up dried out on the outside with undercooked, runny ingredients within.

That's why my go-to choice for breakfast is scrambled eggs. To make great scrambled eggs, you just have to remember two things, and that is 1) use gentle heat and 2) pull the eggs off of the heat just as soon as they stop being runny.

If you're adding cheese, add the cheese in after you pull them off of the heat, gently stir, put a top on the pan, and let the cheese melt while you finalize your other breakfast preparations.

The other day at I found some extra-huge jumbo eggs. They were from and the shop is stocking them in their refrigerated case to the left just as you walk in. Also in the refrigerated case were some marinated, long-stemmed artichoke hearts and some sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil. These seemed like just the ingredients for a perfect late winter breakfast.

The next morning, I started with a pat of butter, added some chopped onions, then the long-stemmed artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes, also chopped up, over medium low heat. Then, a pinch of basil and some salt and pepper. When everything was sauteed to perfection, with the onions just starting to caramelize, I added the egg, and turned the burner to low. I finished it off with some over-the-counter shredded cheddar cheese, but I'm sure the folks at Madison Cheese Shop, or any other cheese shop, could prescribe some other selections that might take it to the next level.

The egg was so big it made enough to serve two for breakfast.

The exact recipe? It's up to you. Love onions? Load it up. Not crazy about tomatoes? Substitute in red peppers. Abhor artichokes? How about asparagus? Now that spring is here, and with farmer's markets starting up, there will be plenty of other options available soon.

When you make scrambled eggs, what do you like to add? Tell us in the comments below.

To give you some food for thought, here are some resources online about scrambled eggs and similar dishes. The options, as you might imagine, are endless.

• Want a little more guidance when it comes to the recipe, technique and timing? Check out this recipe from Alton Brown. "Remember: if they look done in the pan, they'll be over-done on the plate," he says. I agree. Below the recipe are some additional recipes, including one for scrambled eggs with ricotta and broccolini. 
• Smoky scrambled eggs, Spanish-style scrambled eggs, and scrambled eggs with ham, basil and feta. Sound interesting? Those recipes and more are on this page from Allrecipes.com. 
• Here is a recipe for Parmesan pancakes with scrambled eggs. 
• And here is a recipe for an avocado and scrambled egg torta.
• If you make the , and have ingredients left over, they make the perfect mix-ins for scrambled eggs.