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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9. 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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How to make scrambled eggs in the microwave
LED COTE
entertain@kansan.com
It's hard to find time in a college student's schedule to cook a real breakfast and we don't all have a nice, fully-stocked kitchen. So I'm going to share my technique for cooking scrambled eggs in the microwave. The beauty of this is that you can do it in a dorm room with no appliances other than a microwave and a small "dorm" fridge. It's also quick — it can be done in just five minutes.
If you've tried this before you might have found that the eggs were dry, rubbery or not cooked well, but I can show you how to avoid that. There are three keys to the process: moisture, stirring and knowing when to stop.
1. Grab a microwave-safe bowl big enough for all your eggs with room to spare. Let's say you're cooking two eggs, so the bowl you use for a whole can of soup should suffice. For the moisture, use a quarter cup of milk. You can also throw in a pat of butter if you like. That will improve the texture and flavor of the eggs, but it's optional. Whisk the milk and eggs together with a fork. Don't worry about the butter; it will melt soon enough.
2. Cook the eggs for three minutes on high in the microwave but microwaves vary so keep that in mind. The trick is to stop cooking in the middle to stir the eggs with the fork. Mix them up thoroughly, scraping them off the sides of the bowl. If you don't do this, the eggs around the edge of the bowl will overcook and the ones in the middle will undercook. Cooking more eggs will require not only more time, but more stops for stirring.
3. OK, if time is not a sure thing, how do you know when the eggs are done? Look at them. The trick here is that they're done before they look done. You should stop cooking when the eggs are mostly set up and cooked through
but just barely "wet" or "runny". This is because eggs soak up heat. While they release the heat they've stored and cool off, they will literally finish cooking themselves. So just let them set for a minute and they'll be good to go. If they don't look done in a minute or two, you can always give them another thirty seconds in the microwave but you can't uncook something that's over-cooked.
4. While the eggs are cooling, add salt and pepper for taste (I like them just fine without either) and fluff the eggs with the fork. If you want, you can mix in some shredded cheese at this point, or maybe even crumbled sausage or bacon (cooked of course). I like to cut mine out of the bowl, instead of fluffing them, and put half in a sandwich on whole wheat toast with a little light mayo and a slice of cheese. That works well because the eggs form up much like they do in those fast food breakfast sandwiches we all love, but this
way you can make your own that are cheaper and healthier.
Eggs are cheap, so this makes for a budget-friendly breakfast.
Another bonus is that this "recipe" scales well, which means you can make breakfast for your roommates or significant other with maybe some bacon, hash browns, biscuits and/or pancakes.I like to cook the eggs in the microwave while my biscuits and gravity are cooking.
Scrambled eggs are versatile. In addition to the suggestions I've made so far, some folks eat them with salsa (with or without a tortilla), put them in fried rice, pad thai or ramen noodles or mix them into hash with potatoes, ham and peppers.
So give it a try and let me know what you think with a tweet: @EdwardLCote
Edited by Kate Shelton
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
INTERNATIONAL
80-year-old Parisian zoo gets a makeover, to re-open to public
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS — Its gray, man-made mountain that might lure King Kong still protrodures over treetops, but nearly everything else has changed as Paris' zoo prepares to re-open after a multi-year, multimillion-euro (dollar) makeover.
The Zoological Park of Paris opened for a herd of journalists on Wednesday before a grand re-opening this weekend.
Gradually, the 80-year-old Paris attraction returned to life: Macaws cackled, red ibises perched on one foot on a greenhouse rail, and the stench of giraffe manure wafted through a cavernous indoor pen.
The 65-meter (215-foot) Grand Boulder, the zoo's main landmark (which actually covers a water tower) has been touched up, but isn't quite ready to host visitors for its panoramic views, officials
said. When it does it may help lure visitors out to the zoo's site near the eastern suburb of Vincennes, and away from Paris' many other highlights.
WHAT'S NEW?
When the zoo temporarily closed in 2008, its crumbling displays were a safety hazard. Without major refurbishment since its opening in 1934, the zoo was a concrete jungle of traditional animal cages. Now managers trumpet an unparalleled, top-to-bottom renovation: Winding pathways, lush vegetation, and 21st-century displays with fewer fences and cages — and clever landscaping to separate the wildlife from its watchers.
WHAT MAKES THIS ZOO DIFFERENT?
Instead of by type, the animals have been grouped by region of origin — and there are five: Madagascar, Patagonia, Guyana, Europe and Sahel-Sudan, the largest single area in the zoo and home to African savannah roamers. Rolling terrain and artificial rocks point to the effort to re-create the natural ecosystems, as best possible.
HOW DIFFICULT HAS THE REOPENING BEEN?
Most of the animals that left for the renovation won't be returning, so like modern-day counterparts of Noah the zoo keepers have had to bring in
new ones. To make sure the animals are happy in their new digs the staff are letting the creatures adapt at their own speed — sometimes a snail's pace.
BY THE NUMBERS
The zoo has some 180 species — including 74 bird and 42 mammal species — totaling over 1,000 animals (aside from the insects). Admission ranges from 11 euros (about $15) for kids aged 3 to 11, to 22 euros for adults.
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