Lazy Sunday Brunch: Kitchen Sink Eggs

No, I don’t cook eggs in the kitchen sink.

The name comes from the colorful saying, “Everything but the kitchen sink,” which is meant to refer to a concatenation of stuff that is jumbled together, seemingly without rhyme or reason. In reference to this recipe, one could and might well say, “These eggs have everything but the kitchen sink in them,” and be essentially correct–no kitchen sink is harmed in the creation of this dish.

What is the essential ingredients to Kitchen Sink Eggs besides eggs and lots of other stuff?

A strong appetite and laziness.

These scrambled eggs into which I habitually stir all sorts of other things came about one Sunday morning when I was too damned tired, clumsy and lazy (allright, and hung-over–these eggs first came about when I was a college student, way back in the day) to bother with an omelette, but I really wanted something that tasted like one anyway. I also had lots of leftover vegetables in the fridge, along with some bits of pieces of various sorts of cheese, some shreds of ham and a mushroom or two. And, a full dozen of eggs.

So, I decided to make myself an anti-omelette.

And I did.

And it was good.

When my next door neighbor smelled what was cooking, she came over and stuck her head in the door. (We were friends–she was a medical student while I was a journalism student, and we were always in and out at odd hours of the day and night.) She blinked muzzily and rubbed her hung-over face, (we had been over to friends’ house watching movies and drinking beer, then ended up acting as midwives for his cat who went into labor on his lap until all hours) and said, “Smells good. Whazzit?”

From nowhere, the phrase “Kitchen Sink Eggs” popped out of my mouth, and a dish was born. I scraped half the pan into a plate for her and half for me, and we fell to with great glee and gusto. With a side of whole wheat toast and black coffee, the eggs helped clear our heads and fill our rebellious bellies, making us fit for human company.

Ever since that morning, I have made Kitchen Sink Eggs (henceforth to be known as KSE) for those times when I want something filling, but I don’t really want to work at it. The recipe, such as it is, is infinitely malleable. It consists of whatever one has hanging around in the kitchen that would taste good mixed into scrambled eggs. Fresh mushrooms, caramelized onions, fresh or dried herbs, spices (curry powder or garam masala is particularly nice), leftover steamed or sauteed vegetables such as asparagus, potatoes or broccoli, bits of ham or crumbled bacon or cooked sausage, shreds of leftover chicken, sliced olives, and fresh vegetables such as tomatoes or chard, mixed with a bit of shredded cheese, have all graced a batch or two of KSE over the years.

Today’s version included shreds of Alaskan wild-caught smoked salmon, a sliced fresh trumpet mushroom from my CSA, caramelized onion, raw-milk gruyere cheese, Aleppo pepper, fresh parsley, and the last of my CSA’s fresh tomatoes. (They said there may be some more next week, but I doubt it. We’ve already had one frost and while the tomato plants survived that one, I am not sure they will make it through another one.)

I have served them for breakfast, brunch and dinner to myself, family and very close friends, because they are the epitome of homey comforting food that while it looks rather ugly, is very satisfying. Unlike omelettes, which can be dressed up to become elegant and presented on dainty plates for the most refined of guests, KSE are not really meant to be anything but rough-edged, down and dirty, quick, hearty sustainance.

There is nothing wrong with that, of course. Lazy Sundays are not the time for culinary flash, but instead are the perfect moment for something filling and flavorful, which these eggs most certainly are. Try them the next time you think you might want an omelette, but don’t much feel like making one. The recipe I am giving today is the way I made it today, using what I had on hand. Just remember that the recipe is infitely mutable, and use what you have in your fridge in order to make your own unique version of KSE.

Kitchen Sink Eggs

Ingredients:

3 fresh eggs, well-beaten
1 tablespoon whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes or red chile flakes to taste (or black pepper to taste)
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium trumpet mushroom, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 ounce Alaskan wild-caught smoked salmon, shredded
3 heaping tablespoons shredded gruyere cheese
1 very small tomato, sliced thinly, each slice cut into quarters
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
salt to taste–optional (with the cheese and the smoked salmon, I needed no salt in this batch of KSE)

Method:

Beat eggs well, then beat in milk until combined. Set aside.

Melt butter in a cast iron or non-stick skillet or wok over medium heat. Add Aleppo pepper, red chile flakes or black pepper, and onions. Cook until the onions are well light golden and transluescent. Add mushroom, and cook until the mushroom is golden and softened and the onion is well-caramelized and fully brown.

Add salmon, and continue cooking for one minute.

Add egg and milk mixture and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring until the egg is nearly solid.

Sprinkle egg with cheese, and add tomato, continue cooking, stirring constantly until eggs are as set as you like and the cheese is melted and fully incorporated.

Sprinkle with parsley, and give one final stir before serving with well-buttered whole grain toast.

10 Comments

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1. I do those! Only we just call them Eggses.

   I’ve discovered that black olives go nicely, but only if I’m using red spices – paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes and cumin. If I’m using green spices / herbs – oregano, thyme, savory, etc. – the black olives overpower everything else.

   Comment by Scott Raun — October 22, 2006 #

2. An egg by any other name would taste as yummy (with apologies to Shakespeare).

   I call them a scramble, and depending on what goes in them, are usually known as a garbage scramble.

   A great way to feed the hubby person and I quickly, and if I’m too tired to want to think about dinner.

   Comment by Kymster — October 23, 2006 #

3. Yep! Us too. Only we call them “Vacation Eggs” Because it’s the last meal we eat before we dash off to vacation. It’s the effort to clean out all perishables out of the refigerator before we leave in hopes of not having to return to a refrigerator full of rotting produce and dairy. 🙂

   Comment by Maggi — October 23, 2006 #

4. I love it! Well, anything with eggs, anyway.

   Comment by Meredith — October 24, 2006 #

5. Ah! This is what my parents call an omelet, in defiance of French cuisine. I call it scrambled eggs, since that confuses fewer people. Tho the one time my mom tried salmon in it, it did not suit. Possibly the salmon disliked the rest of the ingredients, since otherwise that edition was a tart in ember day filling with no crust.

   I find leftover fried potatoes (or fresh ones) work very well in it. I haven’t tried olives, tho I think olives or anchovy might be quite nice with a garlic and potato heavy version. Green onion, various fresh herbs, chicken, peppers, onions, broccoli and a variety of other things have made their way in as well. It’s especially good when you cram it full of green things… not sure why.

   Comment by Emily Cartier — October 24, 2006 #

6. Barbara,
   Nothing to do with the food but it reminds me of a story by a friend of his roomate when he was in grad school at Duke. The roomate made “sinkdogs” whereby he would take hotdogs out of th wrapper and put then under the hot water faucet to heat them and then dip them into a jar of Duke’s mayonnaise. Yum! 🙂

   Comment by Dan — October 24, 2006 #

7. I’ve always called it scramlettes. One of my favorite breakfast dishes for the whole family.

   Comment by Erin — October 25, 2006 #

8. I do one with maybe not quite the kitchen sink in it–just diced red bell pepper and zucchini, chopped onion and cayenne pepper. The eggs are almost incidental, something to hold all the other ingredients together. As such, I tend to serve it as a robust lunch or light supper, rather than breakfast or brunch.

   Comment by Terry B — October 26, 2006 #

9. […] My “keeper” recipes for this week (ones that I want to try ASAP) are: Creamy Delicata Squash from A Finger in Every Pie, Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake with Ginger-Pecan Crust from alpineberry, Spinach and Feta Quiche (wow! I wish my pictures came out like that!) from Bron Marshall, My Favorite Beef Stew from Chez Mégane, Warm Tarragon Dressed Potato Salad from Coffee & Cornbread, Crunchy, Hearty Oatmeal Cookies from Cookie Madness, Baked Oatmeal from Everybody Likes Sandwiches, Paneer Makhani from Hooked on Heat, Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cider Jus and Autumn Vegetable Stew with Mashed Sweet Potato Topping from Ja Mange la Ville, Crock Pot Carnitas from Kayaksoup, Garam Masala from The Kitchen – Apartment Therapy, Paneer Pad Thai with Bok Choy from Mahanandi, Potato-Ricotta Salata Gnocchi from Porcini Chronicles, Creamy Macaroni and Cheese from Smitten Kitten, Kitchen Sink Eggs from Tigers & Strawberries, Scotch Eggs from tsogb,and Spiced Candied Pecans from Slashfood. […]

   Pingback by Columbus Foodie » Blog Archive » Friday Roundup 10/27/06 — October 27, 2006 #

10. some people out there are calling eggs like that scromlette I think scamelette is a better name.

    Comment by wes — August 30, 2009 #

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