Egg Muffins

I really believe that in the culinary world, there isn't much that is genuinely, truly new.  Things generally seem to be a reconfiguration or new methodology of an older iteration of the same basic concept.  In my day, it was the Atkins Diet that eliminated sugar and lowered carb counts.  But that was just a later version of what was called the Sugar Busters Diet.  Then, it became the South Beach Diet.  Today, it's known as the Keto Diet or the Paleo Diet.  They're all pretty much the same thing, with very subtle differences.  The cornerstone of these diets is the elimination of all forms of sugar and all starchy carbohydrates.  But in the end, low-carb is low-carb.

This recipe is another case in point.  Egg Muffins are all the rage right now.  Search for it on the Internet and you'll find dozens and dozens of versions.  But I tried this five years ago with a recipe called Flourless Mini Breakfast Quiche with Sausage and Mushrooms.  It was the essence of this recipe, but the technique is different and incorporation of the ingredients are simplified in this version such that you don't have to commit to one kind of egg muffin (or mini quiche) for the whole muffin pan.  And you can make just six muffins, all with different ingredients, or just one muffin if you wanted to.  It's that simple.

Using what we had on hand, we made six egg muffins with three kinds of ingredient mixes:  cherry tomato and mozzarella; sausage and cheddar; and bacon and Swiss cheese.  You can readily see that the ingredient combinations are virtually limitless.  With thanks to my Number One Fan for finding this recipe on the Cafe Delites website for the inspiration, the original version also had three combinations of egg muffins:  spinach, tomato and mozzarella; bacon and cheddar; and garlic mushroom and peppers.  Again, search for this on the Internet and you'll see dozens of combinations but for the most part, cheese seems to be the common thread through almost all of them.

For purposes of this recipe, I am assuming a six-count muffin pan will be used.  And I should mention, these are regular-sized muffins, not mini-muffin size. Regardless of how many muffins you choose to make, the ratio is one egg per muffin mold.  We used extra-large eggs and amended our cooking temperature to 375 degrees.  The original recipe from Cafe Delites used large eggs and a cooking temperature of 350 degrees.  All ovens vary and we know ours runs on the cool side. You may have to experiment to get your recipe in sync.

We didn't try, but read that these refrigerate well in a zip-lock bag for a few days and need a 20-25 second zap in the microwave to bring them back to an edible temperature.

Ingredients
6 extra-large eggs
1/4 cup 2% milk
2-3 heaping tablespoons of finely minced onion (we used red onion, but green onion or yellow onion would work equally well)
non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
salt & pepper to taste

Decide what ingredients you want to use and prep accordingly: finely dice a cooked sausage patty or bacon strip (we used Oscar Mayer packaged bacon bits); cut cherry tomatoes in quarters; chiffonade basil or spinach leaves; mince green chili peppers or jalapenos; slice fresh or cooked mushrooms; have grated cheeses ready.

The Recipe
Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk your eggs and milk until well blended.  Add the minced onion, salt and pepper and whisk again.  It's best to do this in a mixing bowl with a handle and pouring spout.

Liberally spray a six-mold muffin pan with non-stick spray.

Pour the eggs mixture into each muffin mold about 3/4 of the way to the top.  Add whatever ingredients you choose, with cheese going on last.  Don't go past the top of the mold; your ingredients should be more or less flush with the top of the pan as a whole.

Put the loaded muffin pan in the middle rack of the oven.  We tested at fifteen minutes by shaking the pan.  If the center of each muffin still jiggles, the ingredients are not fully cooked.  The ultimate test is to insert a knife into the middle of the muffin until it comes up clean.  Either method works, however.  We cooked for a total of 22 minutes, but probably could have removed them at 20 minutes.

The muffins will puff up in the oven and then deflate a bit when they come out of the oven.  Allow them to cool a couple of minutes, then run a sharp knife around the edge of each muffin to loosen it; it should then come up out of the mold easily with a fork or small spatula.