A NOTE ON CHOOSING EGGS: WHEREVER THEY APPEAR IN YOUR MEAL, SPARE NO pennies to get the freshest, tastiest eggs you can. I want yolks the color of saffron that sit plump and high on the clear, thick, jellylike whites. If the white is thin overall and watery at the edge, the egg may be too feeble to turn into a fluffy omelette or frittata. Eggshell color is about hen variety and is no guarantee of great flavor, but the best eggs we get are from well-tended and well-fed hens that produce brown or blue eggs. Try all the different colors and “brands” of eggs you can find, then choose the one that delivers flavor and freshness. Even the most expensive egg makes a very economical meal.
For the best flavor and performance, keep eggs cold and use them promptly.
MADELEINE’S OMELETTE with MUSTARD CROÛTONS & BEAUFORT CHEESE
TATA {AUNTIE} MADELEINE’S NAME APPEARS OCCASIONALLY ON THE MENU AT Zuni, though few know the reverence with which I regard her cooking. But such understatement suits her and her home cooking perfectly. Tata Madeleine, Jean and Pierre Troisgros’s sister, quietly complemented her brothers’ culinary teachings with a primer in basic Burgundian and Lyonnaise cooking. Jean usually feigned hurt feelings when he heard I was heading up to Madeleine’s house for a dinner of scrambled eggs, but he’d have gone as well if he hadn’t been on duty at the family restaurant, deemed by many the best in France in 1973.
At Madeleine’s house, dinner omelettes were much loved, and dinner, in that case, was an omelette for the family. Madeleine cooked the omelette in a shallow twelve-inch “tay-fahl” {T-fal} skillet. The time-honored alternative, an assiduously cared for steel omelette pan, is also a great choice, but hard to find these days. You can, of course, make smaller omelettes in smaller pans. In any case, it’s worth knowing how to produce a fluffy omelette for four or five people. Twelve eggs can be maneuvered successfully in a slick pan and become a lovely thing turned out onto a handsome platter, presented as proudly as a holiday turkey. Start the meal with a cured meat appetizer or with smoked fish, and follow with a salad of bitter greens, studded with nuts and slivers of sweet apple or pear and fennel. Madeleine would admonish you not to change plates after the omelette. « Enlève-moi pas ça! C’est le meilleur avec la salade!» {“Don’t take that away. It’s the best with the salad!”} referring to the delicious mixture of leftover egg, vinaigrette, and greens. Try that.
Beaufort is a sweet and nutty hard cheese from the Haute-Savoie in the French Alps that rivals Swiss Gruyère in character. It is best in the early winter months and worth looking for. Swiss Gruyère, Fontina, or a not-too-strong white Cheddar are all fine alternatives; just don’t use more cheese than specified or it will weigh down the eggs and quickly become the dominant flavor of the dish. In my mind, omelettes should be about the eggs, not the filling.
This scramble-then-roll technique is not really difficult, but if you’ve never made an omelette this way, consider making a 2- or 3-egg omelette, without the croûtons or cheese, to learn the motions. As with many simple culinary techniques, it will take longer to read the description than to execute. {If you do choose to make a smaller omelette, simply use a proportionately smaller pan, fewer eggs, and less filling.}
Wine: Chambave Rosso, Valle d’Aosta, “La Crotta di Vigneron,” 2000
FOR 4 SERVINGS:
For the croûtons:
2-1/2 ounces slightly stale, chewy, peasant-style bread, most of the crust removed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1-1/2 tablespoons dry white wine or dry white vermouth
1 teaspoon brown and/or yellow mustard seeds, lightly crushed in a mortar
Freshly cracked black pepper
Salt
For the omelette:
12 large eggs
Salt
Scant 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into a few slices
Scant 2 ounces Beaufort or Swiss Gruyère, coarsely grated {about 3/4 cup loosely packed}
Making the croûtons:
Preheat the oven to 400°. Take the eggs out of the refrigerator.
Tear the bread into small, fluffy wads, 3/4 inch and smaller. Tear a few of the wads into crumbs. You should get 2 to 2-1/2 cups.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan, then remove from the heat and whisk in the mustard, wine, seeds, and lots of pepper. The mixture should be the texture of a thick vinaigrette. Add the bread wads and toss well to coat. Rub the bits of bread against the sides of the pan to grab all the “dressing,” then massage them gently, to make sure the “dressing” reaches the inside of the wads. Taste for salt.
Spread the bits of bread out on a sheet pan and roast for 5 to 10 minutes, until unevenly golden on the outside but still slightly chewy in the middle. The smaller crumbs will be crisp through, and the contrast is delightful in the omelette. Keep the croûtons in a warm spot.
Cooking the omelette:
Set your chosen omelette pan over very low heat. Don’t skip this step~gently heating the pan for a few minutes means that both the bottom and sides will be hot enough to sizzle the arriving eggs. This is especially important when making a large omelette, which otherwise challenges burner power. I’ve found that large, heavy nonstick pans may take up to 5 minutes over very low heat to heat thoroughly and uniformly.
Crack the eggs into a deep bowl and add a pinch of salt per egg. Beat them enough to combine the yolks and whites, but leave the eggs bouncy and ropy. Don’t look for homogeneity. Overbeating~or beating the eggs in advance~weakens or tears the protein strands and results in a thin, homogenous slurry that won’t trap and hold the air necessary to make your omelette light. I use a dinner fork and count about 50 strokes. {If using fewer eggs, count proportionately fewer strokes.} Get out a wooden or heatproof rubber spatula.
Check the temperature of the pan by adding a trickle of water and tilting the pan: the water should bubble as vigorously on the sloped sides as on the bottom. If the water bounces and sputters, the pan is too hot; let it cool until water only boils on contact.
Turn the heat to medium-high. Add the slices of butter and swirl the pan to coat the sides with butter. When most of the butter is sizzling but is not yet coloring, dribble a tiny bit of egg into the pan. When the egg begins to puff, add the remaining eggs. The eggs should “cluck” pleasantly as they bubble on the bottom of the pan. Within a few seconds, a ring of puffy cooked egg will form around the edges. {If not, raise the heat.} Once it does, wait for about 10 seconds, then use the spatula to cut through and scramble the thick layer of puffy, cooked eggs for a few seconds. {If you notice that any of the egg folds are chestnut brown, reduce the heat slightly.} Scrape the sides, then leave briefly to set a new puffy layer of egg, which you should then scramble nearly as wantonly as you did the first batch. Continue this process until about half of the egg has set, then scatter the surface with the warm croûtons. Use the spatula to mass the cooked egg against the back {or front, it makes no difference} slope of the pan, then tip the pan forward {or backward} to allow the raw egg to flow off the cooked folds down to the hot surface of the pan. Don’t worry if some of the croûtons slide out with the eggs, they’ll brown on the surface and be delicious. Push the newly cooked folds of egg into the mass. Continue tipping and enlarging the mass of cooked egg until nearly two-thirds of the eggs are set, then sprinkle the cheese in the center of the cooked egg folds. Tip the pan forward and slide or push the cooked mass to the far edge of the pan. Then tip the pan more aggressively, give it a little yank, and use your spatula to nudge the far edge of the mass to roll over on itself. It will feel like a sluggish sauté gesture {which I explain more fully here}. Repeat to form a cocoon-like shape. Don’t worry when the omelette cracks or breaks, the surface will reset with the next roll, and the wrinkles and folds will be lovely. Some of the croûtons usually peek from the cracks. I push any escapees back into the folds so the next rolling gesture traps them back in the omelette. Repeat this tipping, nudging, and rolling gesture until all of the eggs are enfolded, then continue rolling until the “cocoon” is cooked to your taste. If you aren’t comfortable guessing doneness, use a fork to pry open one of the folds and check inside. If the omelette is already nice and golden on the outside but is not yet cooked to your taste, simply reduce the heat and keep rolling the omelette every few seconds until it is as firm as you like. Tip onto a warm platter.
A NOTE ON WHY TO COOK OMELETTES HOT AND FAST: A FLUFFY omelette always begins with fresh eggs, but it ultimately depends on your cleverly trapping air in them. You start by rapidly vaporizing the water that is in every egg; this requires fairly high heat. That vapor stretches and unravels the raw egg proteins, which you then need to keep very hot until they set in that state. This means that where there was steam, there will be little air pockets in the cooked egg~this makes an omelette fluffy. Reducing the heat too much or too soon lets the steam out before the proteins set and can deflate a promising omelette {this is also the basis of the “don’t-open-the-oven-on-a-rising-soufflé” rule~although soufflés may actually be less vulnerable than omelettes in this regard}. The obvious risk of high heat is burning the eggs or butter; avoiding this depends on practice and attention, until you become familiar with how your pan conducts heat and find just the right setting on your burner for the results you like. But a lightly browned omelette is not burned, and my ideal omelette is mottled golden in patches~the slightly browned butter smells and tastes delicious.
Note: If you are in the slightest way intimidated by these issues of heat and rolling and tipping over, I suggest the kind and worthy alternative of softly scrambling as many good, fresh eggs and adding the mustardy croûtons just as the eggs begin to set. This is a different dish, but not a compromise.
Variation MADELEINE’S POTATO & BACON OMELETTE
We alternate the above omelette at the restaurant with Madeleine’s potato and bacon omelette, which is scrunched and folded around a few ounces of peeled and roughly cubed yellow-fleshed potatoes, well cooked in very salty water, drained on a towel, and then irregularly browned with a few batons of streaky bacon per person. Madeleine browns them directly in the omelette pan. Add a little less butter, due to the bacon fat, and the beaten eggs, and proceed as described above. If your pan is not in perfect condition, this omelette may stick, but a strategic scrape with a wooden spatula will usually make it cooperate.
FRIED EGGS in BREAD CRUMBS
I LIKE THESE CRUNCHY EGGS FOR DINNER WITH A SALAD OF BITTER GREENS. At Zuni, they appear on the Sunday lunch menu accompanied by house-made sausage or bacon and grilled vegetables or roasted mushrooms. This is a very easy dish and fun to eat when you are alone, so I provide proportions for one person. For more people, make it in a larger pan, in batches of four to six eggs.
Wine: Cline Cellars Mourvèdre, Ancient Vines, Contra Costa, 1999
FOR 1 SERVING:
3 tablespoons packed, fresh, soft bread crumbs made from slightly stale, crustless, chewy, white peasant-style bread {see here}
Salt
About 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
A few fresh thyme or marjoram leaves or coarsely chopped fresh rose-mary {optional}
2 eggs
About 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or sherry vinegar
Sprinkle the crumbs with salt, then drizzle with enough of the oil to just oversaturate them.
Place the crumbs in a 6- to 8-inch French steel omelette pan or nonstick skillet and set over medium heat. {If you like your fried eggs over easy, reserve some of the oiled raw crumbs, to sprinkle on the top of the eggs just before you flip them over.} Let the crumbs warm through, then swirl the pan as they begin drying out~which will make a quiet staticky sound. Stir once or twice.
The moment you see the crumbs begin to color, quickly add the remaining oil, and the herbs if using, then crack the eggs directly onto the crumbs. Cook the eggs as you like.
Slide onto a warm plate, then add the vinegar to the hot pan. Swirl the pan once, then pour the drops of sizzling vinegar over the eggs.
Note: If you are preparing the eggs for more than a few people, it is a little easier to toast the seasoned, oiled crumbs in advance in a 425° oven instead of in the skillet. In that case, toast them to the color of weak tea. Then scatter them in the skillet, add the remaining olive oil, and proceed as described above.
FRITTATA & ELABORATIONS
BY “FRITTATA,” I MEAN A SKINNY BUT FLUFFY CAKE OF SCRAMBLED EGGS, JUDICIOUSLY studded or veined with perfectly cooked and seasoned vegetable or meat condiments and delicately fried to be wrinkly golden on both faces. These skinny frittatas~scarcely an inch at full “puff”~have the right amount of inside to outside to set without toughening. Use only very fresh eggs, which will remain thick and viscous after a brief beating. And choose a fragrant extra-virgin olive oil; this simple dish will showcase its fruitiness. Use a well-seasoned steel omelette pan or a nonstick pan, but beware~brand-new nonstick is emphatically that, and your eggs may spread unstoppably up the curved sides of the pan. This results in a thin-edged, flat frittata, more like a crêpe.
I like frittatas best when they are freshly made, with a salad, or on a pool of light tomato sauce or sandwiched between split focaccia.
Basic Method for a 5- to 6-inch frittata, fried in an 8-inch steel or nonstick skillet:
Crack 2 eggs and beat with a few drops of water and 2 pinches of salt: beat to combine the yolks and whites, but stop short of homogeneity. I count about 30 strokes, using two splayed forks as a makeshift whisk.
Heat 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil in the chosen pan over high heat. Test the heat by spilling a drop of the egg into the oil. If it puffs instantly, the pan is hot enough to set a fluffy frittata.
Add the beaten eggs, count to 5, then stir and mass the eggs back in the center. Count to 5 again, stir again, then re-mass the egg in the center of the pan. Swirl the pan to make sure the frittata isn’t sticking, then flip it and cook for 15 seconds on the other face. {This is an easy motion to learn; see Sautéing, here, for a simple lesson.} Slide onto a plate immediately, so it doesn’t overcook.
Note: For 3 eggs, use a 9-inch pan.
ONION FRITTATA with BALSAMIC VINEGAR
This is especially good made with a sweet onion variety, such as vidalia, Walla Walla, Granex, or Maui. Sweet red onions are also an option. An artisan-made balsamic won’t be squandered here, but a good-quality commercial product is fine.
This frittata makes a great sandwich on a tender bun.
Wine: Silverado Napa Valley Sangiovese, 1998
FOR 1 SERVING:
2 large eggs
Salt
A few drops of water
1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
About 2 ounces thinly sliced yellow onion {1/2 cup}
1 to 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, artisan-made or a good-quality commercial product
Beat the eggs with the salt and water as described in the Basic Method {here}.
Warm the olive oil in the pan over medium heat and add the slivered onions; they should cover the bottom of the pan in a lacy layer. The oil should sizzle as the onions hit. Let the onions color slightly, then toss them once and lightly brown the other side. Cook until nutty tender, a minute or so. Add the beaten egg and continue as described in the Basic Method. The onions will tend to cluster and drag in the frittata, so each bite is different, which I like. Slide onto a plate and dribble with the balsamic vinegar.
FRITTATA with FIDEUS & TOMATO SAUCE
This frittata has a great texture and is a delicious way to revisit leftover fideus pasta. You can also make it starting with uncooked cappellini; see the Note below.
Wine: Ribera del Duero, Viña Pedrosa Crianza, 1998
FOR 1 SERVING:
2 large eggs
Salt
A few drops of water
1/4 cup fully cooked fideus noodles {2 ounces} {see here}, at room temperature or see Note
1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Tomato Coulis {here}
1 thin slice prosciutto or 2 thin slices smoked prosciutto or coppa, cut into wide ribbons {optional}
Beat the eggs with the salt and water and start frying the frittata as described in the Basic Method {here}. Add the cooked fideus when you stir the eggs the first time. Finish as described in the Basic Method and slide onto a warm plate. Set the pan back on the heat, add the Tomato Coulis, and swirl until it bubbles. Pour over the frittata. Garnish with the cured meat, if using, and serve instantly.
Note: If you don’t have leftover fideus, toss 1/2 ounce cappellini, broken into 1/2-inch pieces {1/4 cup} with about 2 drops of oil and toast to the color of cornflakes in a 325° oven, about 10 minutes. Place in a small saucepan, moisten with a few tablespoons of water, and add a pinch of salt. Set over medium-low heat and simmer until the water is absorbed, then add more water by the spoonful, as necessary, until the noodles are just tender. This should take 10 minutes or less.
SLOW-SCRAMBLED EGGS with BOTTARGA, & VARIATIONS
THIS IS A BASIC, SHAMELESSLY RICH FORMULA FOR A FRENCH BROUILLADE, A “disorder” of eggs. The method is foolproof and the result is so suave that it makes a fine hors d’œuvre, spooned onto warm crostini, or a comforting, indulgent little meal paired with a salad of lightly dressed arugula, baby lettuces, chervil sprigs, or baby greens. These eggs laced with bottarga di tonno are a personal favorite.
Wine: Morgan Monterey Chardonnay, 2000
FOR 3 OR 4 SERVINGS, OR TO GARNISH ABOUT 20 HORS D’œUVRE CROSTINI:
3 to 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
8 large eggs
A small chunk of bottarga {see Note} {enough to grate 1 teaspoon or more, to taste}
Salt
1 garlic clove, peeled
Cut the butter into little slivers. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat with a few slivers of butter, a few pinches of finely grated bottarga, and a pinch of salt.
Barely melt a few more slivers of the butter in a 1- to 2-quart nonstick saucepan or a 6- to 8-inch nonstick skillet, just to coat the pan, then remove the pan from the heat. Add the eggs and return to the lowest-possible heat.
Generously rub the bowl of a wooden spoon, front and back, with the garlic and use this to stir the eggs almost constantly while you incorporate the remaining butter, sliver by sliver, over 8 to 10 minutes. If the eggs begin to set in folds, the heat is too high or you aren’t stirring enough. Use a Flame Tamer if you can’t keep the heat low enough, or pull the pan from the heat for 10 seconds at a time to control the cooking. As they first begin to heat through, the beaten eggs will look somewhat like buttermilk~heavy with occasional flecks of curd. Gradually they will thicken and the curds will proliferate. The eggs will keep cooking off the heat, so pull the pan off the burner while they are still quite soft and stir for another minute. The finished brouillade should be slightly curdy, like creamy cottage cheese.
Serve a few neat spoonfuls per person, flanked with warm, dry toast and a small salad.
Note: Bottarga {also botargo and buttàriga in Italian and botargue, boutargue, and poutargue in French} is dried, salted fish roe. A tradition that dates to ancient Egypt, it is still a useful, if not well-known, condiment. Bottarga di tonno~tuna bottarga~is quite strong in flavor, more pungent than salted anchovies. Bottarga di muggine~from gray mullet {Mugil capito}~is milder. Both show best as a counterpoint to an unchallenging partner, such as shelling beans, plain risotto, skinny noodles, or eggs. I like it shaved over Charred Eggplant {here}. Most bottarga is sold in chunks, usually 4 ounces or more for tuna, a few ounces for mullet. Tightly wrapped and refrigerated, your chunk can keep for months. I have also used powdered dried mullet bottarga, which is milder than the moister, chunk-version {see Sources and Resources, here}.
BROUILLADE aux OURSINS
Substitute fresh sea urchin roe for the bottarga. Figure on about 1 teaspoon urchin roe per person and stir the tender “tongues” of roe into the eggs just as you pull the pan from the heat. They should break down only partially.
Wine: Morgan Monterey Chardonnay, 2000
TRUFFLED BROUILLADE
A delicious relief from elaborate planning, truffled eggs and toast is my favorite Christmas dinner. Begin by storing the eggs in a sealed container with a fresh black truffle, refrigerated, for a day or so. The eggs will absorb the perfume through their shells. A few hours before the meal, crack and beat the eggs slightly with the minced truffle. Cover and leave in a cool spot. Season and cook as described above, omitting the bottarga.
Wine: Carmignano, Villa di Capezzana, 1999
BROUILLADE aux ORTIES
A final variation, just as earthy, but more affordable, calls for a gloved handful of coarsely chopped nettles to be stirred into the eggs when you first pour them in the pan. Omit the bottarga. The combination is as compelling as it is unusual.
Wine: Carmignano, Villa di Capezzana, 1999
EGGS BAKED in RESTES
RESTES ARE FRENCH LEFTOVERS. This is a by-product dish that I enjoy as much as the parent concoction. It capitalizes on leftover oxtail, brasato, or short rib–braising liquid, studded with whatever scraps of meat you can pick from the bones and scrape from the pan. {See Oxtails Braised in Red Wine, here; Brasato, here; or Short Ribs Braised in Chimay Ale, here.}
Choose a shallow baking dish appropriate to the amount of liquid and number of eggs you are using. The reconstituted braising liquid should be about 1/2 inch deep in the baking dish before you add the egg or eggs.
Wine: Montes Alpha, Colchagua Valley, Chile, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva, 1999
PER SERVING:
About 3/4 cup braising liquid {from braised oxtails, brasato, or short ribs}
1/4 to 1/2 cup scraps boned meat and vegetables from the braise, coarsely chopped or shredded
To correct the liquid {as needed}:
A splash of water, red wine, or Chimay; Chicken Stock {here}, or Beef Stock {here} {depending on the source dish}, and/or juice from canned tomato
Pinch of sugar {optional}
If you are shy on scraps, or if you just want more solid stuff {optional}:
1 tablespoon drained, chopped canned tomato or wild mushrooms, sliced, or both, plus a trickle of mild-tasting olive oil to cook them in
To finish the dish:
1 or 2 eggs
Freshly cracked black pepper
A slice of chewy, peasant-style bread
1 garlic clove, peeled
A trickle of extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat the oven to 500°.
Warm the braising liquid in a small saucepan over medium heat. Reduce the heat and stir in the scraps of meat and vegetables. Bring just to a simmer. Taste and rectify the texture and flavor as needed. The liquid should have a little body, like maple syrup; if not, reduce it slightly, taking care it doesn’t become oversalty. If it is quite thick already, thin as needed; if added wine or tomato makes the sauce too acidic, add a pinch of sugar.
If adding the tomato and/or mushrooms, warm them in a little olive oil in a small skillet and stew until their juice has evaporated and they are quite tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Add to the braising liquid, bring to a simmer, and taste again.
Pour the simmering mixture into the chosen baking dish. Crack the egg or eggs into the center. Barely prick the surface of the yolk {or yolks}~this will keep it from setting a rubbery skin. Set on the top rack of the oven and bake as you like your eggs, allowing 5 to 7 minutes. The meaty juices should bubble and begin to set a skin at the edges.
Eat or serve from the dish, with black pepper and warm toast or grilled bread rubbed with garlic and drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil.
EGGS COOKED in SPICY TRIPE STEW, OR VERITABILE UOVA in TRIPPA
EVEN IF YOU ARE ONE WHO TURNS THE OTHER WAY WHEN YOU SNIFF TRIPE, THIS dish may change your mind. The double-blanching technique tames the scent, a bit, and the generous blend of friendly flavors like tomato, onion, and pancetta is easy to embrace. This stew is fine without the eggs and also makes a good crostini topping, with or without a grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano or aged pecorino. Tripe stew keeps well for days and benefits from cooling and reheating.
Raw or cooked, tripe is unlike anything else in the menagerie of comestibles. The honeycombed second stomach of a calf, or ox or cow, when still intact, resembles a tough, deformed bathing cap. Blanched, slivered, and patiently stewed, tripe becomes silk-satiny and looks like ruffled ribbons.
{If these “Real Eggs in Tripe” don’t seduce you, you may prefer the metaphorical ones: That Uova in Trippa consists of plain well-seasoned Frittata {here}, cut into skinny strips. Pile these, Medusa-like, in a shallow gratin dish and top with spicy Tomato Coulis {here}. Bake in a 500° oven until hot through and bubbling at the edges. The fluffy frittata strips will look a little like frilly tripe.}
Wine: Barbaresco Montestefano, Produttori del Barbaresco, 1996
FOR 4 TO 6 SERVINGS {ABOUT 6 CUPS}:
For blanching the tripe:
1-1/4 pounds honeycomb tripe
Salt
1 bay leaf
A few small, dried chiles
1 medium yellow onion {about 8 ounces}, quartered
1 leafy stalk celery
For finishing the stew:
6 tablespoons mild-tasting olive oil
12 ounces sliced yellow onions {about 3 cups}
6 ounces sliced celery {about 1-1/2 cups}
1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped, canned tomatoes, with their juice, or about 2 cups ripe tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
12 whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 or 3 small dried chiles
Salt
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, cut into 1-inch strips {about 2/3 cup}
A few kale leaves, torn into bite-sized pieces {optional}
3/4 to 1 cup reserved tripe cooking liquid or Chicken Stock {here}
6 to 8 garlic cloves, chopped
A few sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
4 to 6 eggs {1 per person}
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper
4 to 6 slices peasant-style bread, grilled or toasted and rubbed with raw garlic {optional}
Double-blanching the tripe {up to 2 days in advance}:
Place the tripe in a 4-quart saucepan and add cold water to cover by a few inches. Add about a teaspoon of salt, set over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Drain.
Rinse the tripe thoroughly, and wash out the pan. Return the tripe to the pan and add the bay leaf, chiles, onion, celery, and cold water to cover by a few inches. Salt to taste. Bring to a boil, adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer, skim, and cook uncovered until just tender, about 2 hours. Leave the tripe to cool in the cooking liquid. {If preparing in advance, cool completely, then refrigerate until you prepare the stew.}
Preparing the stew:
Drain the tripe, reserving up to 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Cut into manageable 1-inch wide strips, then cut them into short slivers about 1/4 inch thick. You should get about 3 cups of little strips.
Warm the olive oil in a 4-quart saucepan or stew pot over medium heat. Add the onions and celery, stir, and leave to sizzle for a few minutes. Add the tripe and cook, stirring, for another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, peppercorns, bay leaves, chiles, and salt. Stir as the juice from the tomatoes comes to a simmer, then add the white wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover tightly, and cook, barely simmering, for 15 minutes.
Add the pancetta and the kale, if using. Gradually moisten the stew, with the tripe liquid if you want a strong tripe flavor, with chicken stock if you don’t, stirring in about 3/4 cup of the chosen broth. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce the heat to maintain a quiet simmer. Simmer until the stew becomes thick and unctuous and the tripe tender, about 30 more minutes. Add more liquid if necessary to keep the solids not quite covered. Add the garlic and parsley and simmer for 10 minutes longer. Taste. If making in advance, set aside to cool, then cover and refrigerate.
Cooking the eggs in the stew:
Transfer the tripe stew to a 3-quart sauté pan; set over medium-low heat. {If you prepared the stew in advance it will be thicker than when you first cooked it.} Taste. To make it spicier, fish out one or more of the chiles and squeeze, so the fiery juice inside drips into the stew. Stir in the extra-virgin olive oil. Make a hollow in the dense stew with the back of a ladle, then crack and slide an egg into the depression. Repeat with the remaining eggs, spacing them so they only barely touch, if at all. Shimmy the pan gently, cover, and cook at a bare simmer for 4 to 6 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs cooked.
Carefully spoon an egg each and some of the tripe stew into hot, wide soup bowls. Offer freshly cracked black pepper. Good on top of a slice of freshly grilled or toasted bread rubbed with raw garlic.