CookEat Recipe
Scrambled Eggs, Montevideo
Scrambled eggs with sweet peppers and reduced saffron tomato sauce, served on anchovy-butter toast.
Method
Steps
Step 1
For the tomato sauce, dice the four ounces lean raw ham, slice two carrots and two onions, and chop one leek, two parsley branches, one celery branch, one green pepper and one garlic clove. Melt two ounces butter in a large saucepan. Add the ham and these vegetables with two cloves, one teaspoon whole peppercorns, half a bay-leaf sprig, half a thyme sprig, one tablespoon salt and one light tablespoon icing sugar. Cook over brisk heat for about twelve minutes, stirring, until lightly browned.
Step 2
Stir the four tablespoons flour into the sauce pan and cook for five minutes. Add the two quarts fresh ripe red tomatoes cut into quarters and one quart cold water. Mix, cover and simmer very gently for one and a half hours, stirring occasionally. The diced ham must be thoroughly cooked; check that its centre reaches 70°C for two minutes.
Step 3
Press the sauce through a sieve and then strain through clean food-safe cheesecloth. Measure two gills of the actual finished sauce and keep it hot for immediate use. Divide the unused sauce into small shallow containers, cool rapidly and refrigerate at 40°F or colder within two hours; freeze for longer storage.
Step 4
For the anchovy butter, mix the three-quarters ounce softened butter with the one tablespoon commercial ready-to-use anchovy sauce and the strained juice of one-quarter lemon. Keep cool until needed; measure the actual finished butter for the toast below and refrigerate any unused portion at 4°C or colder.
Step 5
Cut the three fresh Spanish sweet peppers into small square pieces. Cook them in the separate half ounce butter in a sauté pan for three minutes, then pour in the measured two gills tomato sauce.
Step 6
Dilute the half saltspoon genuine Spanish saffron strands in the one teaspoon clean water and strain all the coloured liquid into the pepper and tomato pan, discarding the retained strands. Mix lightly and reduce the combined mixture to one third of its actual volume.
Step 7
Break the eight eggs into a bowl and add the half gill cream, separate half teaspoon salt and two saltspoons ground pepper. Beat briskly with a fork for one minute. Add to the reduced tomato and pepper mixture and cook for six minutes as a guide, stirring continually with a wooden spoon, until the eggs are set with no liquid egg remaining and reach 160°F throughout.
Step 8
Take three pieces of plain toast and trim off the crusts. Spread exactly one teaspoon of the measured finished anchovy butter over each whole toast, then cut each toast into two halves. Put all six halves on a hot dish, divide the scrambled eggs evenly over them and serve promptly.
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