The Good Plate

Archive for March, 2010

Okay, you don’t have to have this on Friday, and you don’t even have to have it for breakfast at all. I made this on a Saturday afternoon.

Scrambled Eggs with Tomato, Basil and Salmon Cream Cheese

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp chopped basil (preferably fresh)
• 1 fresh tomato, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh, unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp Philadelphia Salmon Cream Cheese
• Himalayan Pink Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper for garnish

Method

Beat the egg with the basil and milk until you cannot see any of the egg white.

Put a skillet on the stove and heat it to medium. Put the butter in the skillet, and swirl it around so it coats the sides of the pan as well.

As soon as the butter is melted, add the egg mixture. Scramble the eggs, and just before they are finished, add the tomato and cream cheese. Mix in the pan.

Serve with the salt and pepper. Enjoy

Recipes in this Post

• Armenian Coffee

As I sit here writing, I am enjoying a cup of coffee. My friends think I am a little crazy because of the many different ways I have of preparing coffee.

I remember watching commercials for coffee when I was a little girl. At the time, I thought coffee was nasty, and I was right – in America coffee was nasty. The commercial I remember was for Yuban, and one hostess could only get her guests to drink one cup of coffee, while the Yuban hostess’s guests asked for refills.

Coffee was still pretty nasty for me as an adult, I had to add sugar and half and half to make it palitable. One day, visiting friends in San Francisco, I had really good coffee at Square One restaurant. I liked it so much that I had three cups, and I couldn’t sleep that night. I had no idea why that coffee was so good. Coming back to Beveryly Hills, I had another good cup of coffee, and asked the waiter what kind it was. He brought me a package and the package said it was Arabica coffee. I found out later that it was Robusto beans that were in most American coffee, and they just don’t taste as nice. You have to remember that I found all this out without the Internet – this was a few years before it became available.

My favorite coffee is Cafe La LLave from Don Francisco. It is available in supermarkets, and is usually less expensive than the other espresso blends – and tastes better, too. How do I make coffee, let me count the ways:

1. French Press – very nice and even makes crema
2. Stove Top Espresso pot – when I don’t feel like dealing with the espresso machine
3. Espresso machine – when I am in the mood to impress
4. Percolator – when I want that comforting sound from childhood, and that wonderful aroma that comes out of it.
5. Drip Coffee maker – I don’t use this often, sometimes at someone else’s house
6. Melita Ready Set Joe – I put the filter thingy on top of cup, put a filter in it, put coffee in the filter, and pour hot water on top. Mmmm! Even my boss gets excited when I make it.

And sometimes, when the mood hits, I have to have Armenian coffee. If you have never had, this, it is truly a treat. The important thing is the coffee must be very finely ground, almost a powder. I would not try to use my beloved La Llave for this, I buy Edna’s or sometimes, I get it freshly ground at my local Armenian store.

I have a little Armenian coffee pot that I put on the stove, and some nice demi-tasse cups that I serve it in. The method is really simple, and very satisfying: