NOTE: Please pardon the unnecessarily wide spacing between this entry's paragraphs. I initially wrote and posted this on Facebook and remembered I should post it here, but, for whatever reason, this sort of paragraph spacing happens when I copy and paste from stuff posted on Facebook for use here. I have no idea why this happens and no amount of futzing with the formatting during the composition phase here on Blogger fixes the problem. Anyway, with that in mind, proceed.
The legacy of my maternal grandmother.
Every now and then my sleep cycle goes all wonky and I don't find myself being able to crash until sunrise or later. Such was the case with last night's attempt at slumber, so I believe I fell asleep somewhere around sunrise and was in and out of consciousness before fully rousing myself near 1pm. As my body's schedule was thrown off, I was not hungry when I awoke and would not desire anything eat for several more hours. By the time I was finally hungry, I did not feel like making anything schmancy, so I resorted to the go-to quick-but-delicious meal that is a signature of my mother's side of the family, namely my late grandmother's famed cheese eggs. Anyone can throw together cheese and eggs, but there's a special touch that one must develop in order to craft what my grandmother came up with, and the only living people that I know of who can do it are my mother and myself. (Though there was a line cook at a Waffle House in Marietta, Georgia who came very close, with the sole divergent factor being the use of bulk processed American cheese slices instead of quality grated sharp cheddar.)
The trick to "cheese eggs a la Irene" is to set up a non-stick sauce pan over very low heat and drop in a big dollop of butter. Allow the butter to melt, slowly stirring with a spatula or wooden spoon, until the butter has liquefied but it not sizzling. Crack two fresh jumbo eggs into the butter and season with black pepper to taste. Break the yolks and slowly blend the butter and eggs into a uniform liquid state with a whisk-like motion, still over very low heat. The low heat allows you to maintain tight control over the rate at which the eggs set, and the key here is to keep the eggs fluffy and soft, though cooked. Occasionally stir and flip the eggs as they begin to firm up, sometimes chopping into the mass to even out the distribution of thickening egg. As the eggs become near firm enough to solidify into a flippable omelet consistency, flip them with your spatula and chop into them again to even out the thickness. Then add however much grated sharp cheddar cheese as you like, blend it into the eggs and then remove the pan from heat. (Don't forget to turn off the heat. Always think safety in the kitchen!) Give the eggs one more flip, making sure they are cooked just past the runny stage, with the cheese now a lovely melted component, and transfer to a plate. Allow the eggs to sit for about a minute, as their own heat allows them to set just a tad more. What results is a gooey, cheddary delight that is delectable on its own (as seen above), but pair it with some buttered toast made with quality bread, or some fresh-from-the-oven biscuits, and you have an indelible reward for your palate. (Some friends for whom I've made this over the years love making biscuit sandwiches with cheese eggs and crispy bacon.)
Lastly, and this is an important note, though loaded with yummy cheese, do NOT refer to this dish as "cheesy eggs" in my presence, or I may be tempted to fuck you up so bad, someone will have to come over and fuck you back down. "Cheesy" connotes being of of poor quality, and I pride myself on my food's ability to delight those who devour it. These are CHEESE EGGS, and they are the polar opposite of "cheesy." PERIOD.
