I’ve never been much for eggs.  Just never really liked them.  However, I eat them now more than ever before.  I actually find myself craving an egg salad sandwich or a fried egg yolk about once a year.  But mostly I eat them to be polite.  Which is what I did at Cousin’s Bed & Breakfast in Beaufort, NC last weekend.

Our first morning at Cousin’s B&B (click here for website) we came down the stairs to a wonderful spread of interesting looking grits, biscuits, homemade sausage and eggs.  I was concentrating on the grits because of their unique look.  The homemade sausage looked good too.  It turns out the grits had a can of potato soup in them and the potatoes in the grits were quite nice.  The homemade sausage was delicious and spicy.  Of course, I had a small bite of the eggs to be polite, but quickly decided there was something pretty unique about the eggs because I had another giant helping.  Turns out the eggs are called Frambled:  combination of fried and scrambled.  Fry first, then scramble.  After breakfast I went in to talk to Elmo and check out his Vulcan commercial range and asked him if he could show me how to make those eggs.  Next morning at 8:30 we had a date.

Normally I would not blog a “professional” cook, but Elmo is about as close as it gets without the schoolin’.  When asked if he went to cooking school, he claims, he graduated from the Culinary School of America “Truck Stops U.S.A.”  He even has a diploma he made himself.  I was impressed.

Elmo, 78, is quite a character.  He quit high school when he was 16 and went to work on bridges.  That’s where he started to cook:  Outdoors for hardworking men and chain gang convicts.  He did have a short stent in the Navy as a fill-in cook for a few months.  He had the art of getting things the other cook couldn’t so needless to say, they weren’t too happy when the old cook returned.

Elmo and his wife, Martha, opened a B&B in Beaufort, NC 18 years ago and they love it.  It’s a dual effort.  Elmo does all the cooking and Martha does the cleaning and the shopping.  “Elmo spends too much at the store”, says Martha, “so he’s not allowed to go”.  Elmo also has a side business in spices.  He mixes his own spices called Satan’s Breath and they are quite good and unique.  Here’s his website: http://www.satansbreath.com/sbhome.htm.

Elmo designed his own kitchen.  He has a wonderful old Vulcan range and hangs all of his pots and pans up just like Julia Child.  He does not like getting compared to her though.  “She’s a filthy cook,” he says and I laugh.

Elmo’s Frambled Eggs

Elmo begins by taking a small non-stick skillet and covers the bottom with olive oil.  He heats this on medium heat until it’s good and hot.  He then adds about 2 Tbsp, give or take, of his secret ingredient, cottage cheese, to the middle of the pan.  He prefers fat free.  Although I’m sure you can use any kind.

He tops this with his garlic pepper spice mix, more pepper and some salt and then cracks 4-5 eggs on top of the cottage cheese.

Let this sit until “it comes together” and the edges are cooked.  This is the fry part.  Then he adds shredded cheddar cheese to the top and lets it sit for about another minute or so until the cheese begins to melt.  

At this point you will want to begin gently turning the egg mixture over.  This is the scramble part.

Let it cook and become shiny.  Do not overcook.

Elmo served these eggs with some hash browns which he uses Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning over (yum), bacon, and panini toasted English muffins. What a great breakfast to wake up to!