Restaurant Reviews and Julia's Scrambled Eggs

I’ve had a couple days off from cooking. Friday we went to the Baltimore Craft Show and met with our friend Jim T. After the show we went to Ze Mean Bean Café which specializes in Slavic food. This was Cynthia’s favorite restaurant. With a menu containing stuffed cabbage, Pierogi, sauerkraut and beets, Jim was totally out of his element. He finally chose borscht and a Polish sausage sandwich. I had a salad of beet green and beets. I followed this with and a platter of stuffed cabbage, Polish Sausage and 4 different Pierogi. We drove home and decided to skip dinner as we were stuffed.
Saturday we joined friends at Magnolias at the Mill in Purcellville, VA. It is a lovely old grain mill converted into a restaurant. We had a wonderful dinner. I had a starter of fried green tomatoes. Perfectly done and followed this with a delicious piece of salmon, moist and perfectly done, not overcooked at all. They even provided pickled ginger and wasabi mashed potatoes. The other three all ordered steak, 2 medium rare, one of the medium, one of the rare with blue cheese mashed potatoes instead of garlic. Joan got Rich’s order. Jim got Joan’s, etc. We had a great time. Jim ordered a chocolate dessert.
I have been reading a delightful book of letters between Julia Child and her friend Avis DeSoto. In one letter Avis describes how perfect scrambled eggs were according to Julia’s recipe. I tried it this morning and it does really make a difference. I have always used these ingredients, but never in precise measurement and I believe that the low heat made the difference. Our eggs this AM were creamy and divine.
Scrambled Eggs 4-5 servings
Julia states in the beginning of the recipe that the preparation is entirely a matter of stirring the eggs over gentle heat until they slowly thicken as a mass into a custard.
Utensils:
Wire whip
Mixing bowl
Heavy-bottomed skillet 7-8” in diameter
Rubber spatula
Ingredients:
8 eggs
¼ t salt
Pinch of pepper
2T softened butter
2T whipping cream
Directions:
1. Beat the eggs in the bowl with the seasonings for 20-30 seconds to blend yolks and whites.
2. Smear the bottom and sides of the pan with the butter.
3. Pour in the eggs and set over moderately low heat. Stir slowly and continually, reaching all over the bottom of the pan. Nothing will seem to happen to 2-3 minutes as the eggs gradually heat. Suddenly they will begin to thicken into a custard. Sir rapidly, moving pan on a off heat, until the eggs have almost thickened to the consistency you wish. Then remove from heat, as they will continue to thicken slightly.
4. Just as soon as they are of the right consistency, stir in the cream, which will stop the cooking.
This recipe easily divides in half. Usually I look to Julia for difficult food items explained in a way I can actually accomplish it. In the movie Julia and Julie the premise is cooking through the entire book in a year. I think we all could lean a million lessons by doing this.