Southern Appalachian Herbs: From The Omnivore's Guide to Home Cooking: Eggs, fried and scrambled

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

From The Omnivore's Guide to Home Cooking: Eggs, fried and scrambled

There are hundreds of ways to cook chicken (and other) eggs. Let’s explore a few.

Fried eggs

How you cook fried eggs depends on how you like your fried eggs. Use a well seasoned pan.

I would not recommend heating the pan higher than medium-high, and only then, if you like hard fried eggs, with crispy edges. If so, add cooking oil to the pan and cook at just under the smoke point - this is shallow frying in oil, not pan frying…even though you are frying in a pan. Crack your egg into the pan and break the yolk. Salt and pepper the top. Cook about 2 minutes, then use your metal spatula to flip the egg. You can judge how quickly the egg is cooking by how much the side that is now up has browned. I only cook eggs this way for fried egg sandwiches. My grandfather used to cook these for us when he was campaigning for political office. We would hitch up the horses to his antique surrey, a Cadillac surrey that once belonged to a governor of NC, and we would enter into parades with a sack full of fried egg sandwiches with mustard, a couple of cold sodas and maybe a few dill pickles. I told him at the age of 6-7 or so that I could make the sandwiches. We ended up with runny yolks! He laughed at the egg running down my shirt and ate them anyway - just as proud as could be that his grandson was part of the team. Never underestimate the extent to which food, memory and familial love are connected!

For medium fried or softer fried eggs, you can use less oil and a lower temperature.

Over-easy eggs are cooked like medium or softer fried eggs, but without breaking the yolk or flipping the egg. These are fried on one side only. The best way to cook eggs in this style…in my rarely humble opinion. Is to cook them in butter or bacon grease (or a combo of the two), at a temperature below which the butter will brown. Use enough fat so you can spoon some over the top as it fries.

Scrambled eggs are generally cooked in a well seasoned pan with just enough butter, bacon grease or other fat for flavor. For the best scrambled eggs, take your eggs out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature before scrambling. Break your eggs into a bowl and add no more than a teaspoon of milk per egg, and very briefly beat them with a whisk or fork until the whites and yellows come together. As I mentioned, I love soft scrambled eggs. I cook these in my favorite, well seasoned pan, with butter and bacon grease at a medium-low heat. I pour the eggs into the heated pan and allow them to set for less than thirty seconds, then I begin gently stirring and folding them with a fork or spoon. This allows for nice, big, custardy curds. If you prefer smoother, smaller (sometimes creamier) curds, begin stirring the eggs around immediately. Season the eggs with salt and pepper while they are still runny. This is also the time to add herbs and/or cheese. If you add mushrooms, onions, peppers, etc, sauté them first. You can either stir them into the eggs as they cook, or serve them over the eggs on the plate. If you are using tomatoes, it is best to add them to the plate, as the water from the tomatoes can interfere with the egg cookery. Remove the eggs from the pan and transfer to a plate when they are 75% cooked. The eggs will continue to cook on the plate, due to “carryover” heat - essentially, they stay hot for a while.

Lest you think me a scrambled egg fanatic, my way of cooking eggs is elementary compared to how Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe liked his eggs. Rex Stout was not merely the author of America’s best mystery/detective novels, he was a true gourmet and plant breeder. His passion for food and orchids was reflected in his character, Nero Wolfe. His sister, by the way, was a pioneer of organic gardening who also wrote some excellent books. In one of those classic novels, Nero Wolfe insists that eggs must be cooked over a double boiler, the pan in which the eggs are cooked positioned just over simmering water. The room temperature eggs are beaten with cream, salt and pepper. This mixture is then gently cooked in the double boiler, covered, for 15 minutes before stirring with a wooden spoon until the degree of firmness is achieved. The eggs are served with a sauce made from browned butter and a few drops of vinegar. I have tried cooking eggs in this way and the result is very creamy and delicious…. But a bit more involved than I would normally do for breakfast.