{"id":7071,"date":"2018-01-04T07:00:53","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=7071"},"modified":"2018-01-03T14:11:14","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T20:11:14","slug":"elevating-the-ordinary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2018\/01\/04\/elevating-the-ordinary\/","title":{"rendered":"Elevating The Ordinary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Home App\u00e9tit – \u00a0Chefs At Home: Amanda Cusey<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Karla Wall<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chef Amanda Cusey Of The Villa Turns Scrambled Eggs And Toast Into A Rich, Decadent Yet (Fairly) Healthy Breakfast<\/i><\/p>\n

How do you take simple eggs and make them into something spectacular?<\/p>\n

It helps if you\u2019re a Cordon Bleu-trained chef.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Chef Amanda Cusey, who was hired as executive chef of The Villa in downtown Lake Charles when it opened in January of \u201817, attended the Tante Marie Culinary Academy in Surrey, England, to earn her Cordon Bleu degree, and worked at the renowned restaurant Fiorentina in Dublin, Ireland, eventually rising to the position of executive chef there.<\/p>\n

When Amanda\u2019s parents, who lived in Ireland, as well, decided to make the move to Lake Charles and its warmer climes, she decided to follow them. She put out feelers for an executive chef position. Local restaurateur Mike Sperandeo was about to open The Villa, and jumped at the chance to have Amanda on board.<\/p>\n

As an executive chef at one of the area\u2019s hottest new restaurants, Amanda works \u201cabout 50 hours a week,\u201d so she needs a breakfast dish that\u2019s simple and quick \u2014 but still worthy of a top chef.<\/p>\n

Her go-to is a simple scrambled egg and vegetable mixture on toast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my version of eggs on toast,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s simple, it\u2019s healthy-ish, and it\u2019s fairly quick to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, as you might expect, it\u2019s anything but ordinary.<\/p>\n

Amanda begins by toasting up a couple of slices of ciabatta bread (you can, she says, use any type of bread you want), without butter or oil. While the bread is toasting, she saut\u00e9s shallots, along with julienned slices of red and green peppers, in olive oil, with salt and pepper to taste.<\/p>\n

As the veggies saut\u00e9, she melts about a tablespoon of butter in a separate skillet, and adds eggs \u2014 unscrambled at this point. She lets the eggs set for a few seconds, then separates the yolks from the whites. She scrambles the whites a bit, then adds a couple of the yolks to the scramble, holding one or two yolks back until the very end, which gives the scramble a creamy texture.<\/p>\n

While the eggs set, she adds mushrooms to the vegetable mix. She lets that saut\u00e9 another minute or two, then adds cherry tomatoes, and turns the heat off under the skillet.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to over-saut\u00e9 your vegetables,\u201d she says. \u201cYou want a bit of crunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stirs in the remaining yolks to the scrambled eggs, and salts and peppers to taste.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The eggs are added to the vegetables, and finished with some parsley. Olive oil is drizzled over the toast, and the eggs and vegetables are spooned over the toast. The dish is topped with lots of mozzarella, and placed under the broiler to melt. The dish is finally finished with another drizzle of olive oil.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a big breakfast eater, but I wasn\u2019t about to pass up the opportunity to take at least one bite of something a chef of this caliber was serving up, even if it was just scrambled eggs.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t stop until my portion was gone.<\/p>\n

Amanda\u2019s technique with the eggs resulted in a soft, rich and creamy scramble that has the texture of a very soft scrambled egg but the taste of a perfectly-cooked egg over easy you\u2019ve just broken the yolk on \u2014 forget the dry, homogenous scrambled egg concoctions you grew up eating. The vegetables had just enough texture to make the dish interesting, and their flavor was front and center in every bite. The toast, lightly drizzled with oil, soaked up just enough of the buttery egg mixture to be soft, but not too soggy to provide a good base for the dish.<\/p>\n

Granted, this isn\u2019t something you can quickly put together entirely from scratch on a rushed morning \u2014 but if you prepare the vegetables the night before, and have your utensils ready to go, it\u2019s a do-able breakfast even on a weekday, and one that will have you more than ready to face whatever the day brings you. It\u2019s filling, without being heavy, and decadent without being unhealthy. It also happens to be an uncomplicated dish. Give it a try.<\/p>\n

Eggs On Toast <\/strong><\/p>\n

Serves 4<\/em><\/p>\n

8 eggs<\/p>\n

1 green pepper, sliced<\/p>\n

1 red pepper, sliced<\/p>\n

10 cherry tomatoes, halved<\/p>\n

10 slices ciabatta bread<\/p>\n

1 tbsp. butter<\/p>\n

1 tbsp. olive oil<\/p>\n

10 mushrooms, sliced<\/p>\n

salt, pepper to taste.<\/p>\n

Toast ciabatta slices. While they\u2019re toasting, saut\u00e9 peppers and shallots in olive oil. While these saut\u00e9, melt butter in separate skillet, and add eggs, unscrambled and yolks intact. Let whites set for a few seconds, then separate yolks from whites. Scramble whites for a few seconds, then scramble in the yolks, holding out one or two until the last second. Season to taste.<\/p>\n

Add mushrooms to saut\u00e9ing vegetables, and finish the eggs. When mushrooms have saut\u00e9ed a few minutes, add tomatoes and turn off heat. Season. Add egg mixture to vegetables, sprinkle with parsley.<\/p>\n

Plate toast, and drizzle with olive oil. Top with egg and vegetable mixture. Top with mozzarella, and broil a few seconds to melt cheese. Drizzle with olive oil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Home App\u00e9tit – \u00a0Chefs At Home: Amanda Cusey By Karla Wall Chef Amanda Cusey Of The Villa Turns Scrambled Eggs And Toast Into A Rich, Decadent Yet (Fairly) Healthy Breakfast How do you take simple eggs and make them into something spectacular? It helps if you\u2019re a Cordon Bleu-trained chef. Chef Amanda Cusey, who was [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":7074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1648,1640,51],"yoast_head":"\nElevating The Ordinary - BestOfSwla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2018\/01\/04\/elevating-the-ordinary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Elevating The Ordinary - BestOfSwla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Home App\u00e9tit – \u00a0Chefs At Home: Amanda Cusey By Karla Wall Chef Amanda Cusey Of The Villa Turns Scrambled Eggs And Toast Into A Rich, Decadent Yet (Fairly) Healthy Breakfast How do you take simple eggs and make them into something spectacular? 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