A can of soup has been a secret ingredient for home cooks since cans of soup were invented.  I suspect that it’s a secret of a few sly professionals as well.  Just a couple of Tablespoons of a cream of soup concentrate can dramatically change the flavor of scrambles, omelets and frittatas… almost always for the better.

This recipe was part of a vintage 1958 magazine ad for Campbell’s Soups called “Souper Special Budget Beaters.” (To see the full ad, click here.)  Above, you can see the dish as it appeared in the classic ad.  Below, you can see my revamped recreation.

I adjusted the recipe to make 2 servings.  My ingredients were 3 eggs, 2 Tablespoon butter, about 1/3 can cream of mushroom soup, a small handful of cheese and some parsley.  Not part of the original recipe, I also added 3 sliced button mushroom and some finely chopped chives.

The trick to working with soup is stirring it by itself first.  They make mention of that in the original recipe.  If you don’t stir it until smooth, you get lumps of soup in the egg mixture.  Those lumps will cook down in the frying pan, but why mess with it.  A quick initial stir of the soup just helps everything distribute more evenly.

My Super Souper Mushroom Scramble:

Saute the mushrooms for about 6 minutes in 1 Tablespoon of butter over medium heat until they became very tender and fragrant.  As they cook, beat the eggs with the soup.  Stir cooked mushrooms into the egg mixture.

Pour the egg mixture into the same pan.  Sprinkle with chives.  Stir and scramble until the egg is fully set.  Turn off heat.  Sprinkle with cheese and cover until melted.  Garnish with parsley and additional chives.

That’s all there is to it.  For all my fancy sautéed modifications, the star of this recipe is still the humble can of mushroom soup.  It was nice to get a more complex buttery mushroom flavor, but if you don’t want to mess around, just stir some soup in your eggs. The (mush) rumors are true.  It’s soup-erbly eggs-cellent!

I hope you have a souper day!

This article is a companion piece to the following recipe on MrBreakfast.com:

Souper Scramble

For over 150 other great scrambled egg recipes, visit the Scrambles Collection on MrBreakfast.com.

Check out other vintage breakfast recipes:

The Retro Breakfast Recipe Collection at MrBreakfast.com

Have you ever wanted to experience the beauty of Tuscany… in your breakfast?  Today’s hot breakfast is a melange of tender scrambled eggs with Tuscan kale, Italian cheeses, sweet peppers and a simple basil pesto.

As you’ll see in upcoming posts, if a particular dish looks sophisticated and requires a bit of finesse, it was probably made by my fiance Kellie – the soon-to-be Mrs. Breakfast. This last weekend, I woke up to the amazing aroma of basil being ground into a pesto.  As my sleepy senses soon discovered… that pesto became the perfect garnish for a scramble filled with an array of different Italian-inspired flavors.  I can personally vouch for this dish.  I ate it and I loved it. Ti amo!

Without further adieu, I’ll turn the writing over to Kellie for this post that we’re subtitling “Kale-ifornia Dreamin'”.  Take it away Kellie…

Scrambles are so convenient.  I find that when Mr. Breakfast feels like sleeping in, a scramble is my go-to breakfast dish for him as I can usually just find great ingredients in the refrigerator without having to plan ahead.  On a trip to Tuscany last year, I fell in love with cavolo nero – or what we call black kale. If you’re not using kale in your kitchen, you must start immediately.  Fall is the season for kale, and I have a few types growing in the garden right now.  You can substitute spinach, but kale has a sweetness and warmth when sauteed that reminds me of caramelized onions and cabbage.  And it’s what makes this dish.

I like to top this dish with a very simple pesto – it’s optional – but definitely recommended.  If you want to make it, do it before you start to cook anything so the oil can absorb the flavors of the basil.  I just chop up a bunch of fresh basil by hand with a chef’s knife, until the basil is minced very finely. Then just stir it into a bit of walnut or olive oil (I use both!) and a pinch of kosher salt and hot red pepper flakes.  Super easy!

On to the scramble:

I learned a little trick in Florence: ricotta can make simple eggs absolutely velvety and rich.  So just start with your eggs and whisk in the 1/2 cup of ricotta.  Add in a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

Chop up 1-2 small sweet peppers,  (I used red and orange bell peppers) and 1/2 a sweet onion.  In a non-stick pan on medium heat, saute the pepper and onions with a little olive oil until the onions have begun to turn translucent.

Take 1 bunch of kale (about 8-10 large leaves) and remove the woody center rib.  Coarsely chop or tear into 1 inch pieces and saute with the pepper and onions until the kale has started to wilt.

Pour your egg mixture over the vegetables and continue to gently fold the eggs in until the eggs are fully set and everything is combined. Toss in 1/4 cup of your favorite Italian cheese.  (I used both Italian black truffle cheese and Asiago. Parmesan works great too, though.)

I like this dish with grilled bread – which is so easy – I know you’ll do it to.  Just butter 4 slices of Italian or French bread, and place them butter side down on a hot grill.  Grill on both sides for 1 minute, watching so they don’t burn.  The flavor you get from the grill is unmatched.  To serve, divide the scrambled eggs between 2 dishes, top with a teaspoon or two of pesto and serve with the grilled bread or toast.  Buon appetito!

Hi guys – It’s Mr Breakfast again.  Thanks to Kellie for the post!

If you’d like to perfect your basic scrambled egg technique, check out my article called Perfect Scrambled Eggs.

Since we’re talking about kale, here’s a couple other things you might try:

• Saute kale with sliced mushrooms for an omelet filling
• Layer sauteed kale beneath beneath Canadian bacon in an Eggs Benedict for a unique flavor and a boost of vitamins
• Try replacing spinach with kale in nearly any recipe

And finally, when we address the main question of this post, there is an alternative answer… a joke, per se…

“How do you make a Tuscan scramble?”

“Tell him his pizza is burning.”

Badda bing… and have a great breakfast tomorrow!

This post is a companion piece to the following recipe on MrBreakfast.com:

Tuscan Scramble

Smoked salmon (aka lox) pairs extraordinarily well with scrambled eggs.  It adds a rich, salty, smoky flavor.  If you think about it, smoked salmon is like the bacon of the sea.

Other recipes advise that you use heavy cream instead of milk and add a couple tablespoons of cream cheese.  I find that if you use a quality smoked salmon and scramble the eggs just right then you don’t need the added richness and calories.  Just let the simple ingredients shine.  Follow along in this step-by-step pictorial tutorial as I make my version of this brunch classic.

The ingredients are eggs, milk, smoked salmon, butter, chopped chives, dill and pepper.  Chop the salmon into fairly small pieces so it will distribute evenly throughout the scramble.

For ingredient amounts and a printable recipe, click here.

Beat the eggs and milk together until fully combined and frothy.

Place a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add butter.  As it begins to melt, tilt and swirl the pan to grease the cooking surface.  As the last of the butter melts, add the egg mixture.  As soon as you notice the egg starting to set on the bottom, use a spatula to push cooked egg toward the center of the pan – allowing uncooked egg to flow around.

For a tutorial on the art of scrambling eggs, check out my article Perfect Scrambled Eggs.

When the eggs are nearly set but still wet, add the salmon and dill.  Turn off the heat.  Stir and scramble a few seconds more until the salmon pieces are evenly distributed.

Plate each serving.  Season with freshly ground black pepper and garnish with chopped chives.

Toasted rye bread or bagels (particularly onion bagels) go amazingly well with these eggs.  I served mine with toast, fresh berries, cantaloup and a strong cup of coffee.  If you’d like to replicate this breakfast exactly, serve it on a photo-friendly table outdoors on a sunny day in front of a backdrop of bamboo.  It’s been a great morning.  Enjoy breakfast… enjoy life.

L’chayim! (Hebrew for “to life”  and a nod to the great Jewish delis that popularized this dish.)

This article is a companion piece to the following recipe on MrBreakfast.com:

Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs

Love scrambles?  Check out over 110 other recipes in the Scrambles Recipe Section of MrBreakfast.com.