3153. HEARTY SCRAMBLED EGGS with BACON, ONION, and PEPPER JACK CHEESE

serves 4-6


12 large eggs
6 tablespoons half-and-half
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 oz. pepper Jack or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (1/3 cup)
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley (optional)

Beat eggs, half-and-half, salt, and pepper with fork in medium bowl until thoroughly combined.

Cook bacon in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate; discard all but 2 teaspoons bacon fat. Add onion to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes; transfer onion to second plate.

Wipe out skillet with paper towels. Add butter to now-empty skillet and melt over medium heat, swirling to coat pan. Pour in egg mixture. With heatproof rubber spatula, stir eggs constantly, slowly pushing them from side to side, scraping along bottom and sides of skillet, and lifting and folding eggs as they form curds (do not overscramble or curds formed will be too small). Cook until large curds form but eggs are still very moist, 2 to 3 minutes. Off heat, gently fold in onion, pepper Jack, and half of bacon until evenly distributed; if eggs are still underdone, return skillet to medium heat for no longer than 30 seconds. Divide eggs among individual plates, sprinkle with remaining bacon and parsley, if using, and serve.


bacon recipe courtesy of: The Science of Good Cooking: Master 50 Simple Concepts to Enjoy a Lifetime of Success in the Kitchen, by The Editors at America's Test Kitchen and Guy Crosby, PhD; Brookline, MA: America's Test Kitchen; p. 171