Scrambled Eggs & Smoked Salmon Wrap

There are various ways to scramble eggs; so, use your own method. Some people add water, some add milk, some add cream, and some see the addition of any of these liquids as heresy. Then, some people draw in the edges of the cooking eggs, some start in the middle and move them outward, some just start stirring. None of this will end civilization, unless we choose to make it the next silly thing we say we will fight to the death over. Four ounces of cream cheese is simply half of a typical "block" package of cream cheese. In the U.S., smoked salmon is more typically sold in flat small packages with one or more thin slices of smoked salmon per package, but you may also find it in pieces that you can slice yourself. I added the optional red chilies for chili pepper lovers, but if you love the taste of smoked salmon, you should probably leave the chilies out of the recipe, as they will likely overwhelm the other flavors. Finally, if you haven't worked with avocados, once you cut them open and remove the seed, you can the scoop out the flesh in one piece, with a large spoon, and then slice it, but you must squeeze some lemon juice over the avocado, or it will begin to darken.

Ingredients (4 wraps)

1/4 pound smoked salmon, cut or torn into bite size pieces

2 tablespoons butter (more if needed)

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt 

(Optional) 2 to 3 small red chilies, chopped

4 tablespoons evaporated (canned) milk

4 ounces cream cheese, cubed

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 avocado, sliced with some lemon juice squeezed over it

4 slices tomato, chopped (remove the seeds, if you'd like)

hot sauce to taste

4 flour tortillas (8 inch diameter size)

Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the evaporated milk, ground black pepper and salt; then, whisk the egg mixture well, until there is a little foaminess in the eggs, set aside briefly. You can heat the tortillas in the oven, but I run some water onto a paper towel, wring it out, then cover a tortilla with the paper towel on a microwave safe dish, then zap it for about 20 seconds; repeat individually for whatever number of tortillas you are using. In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter over low heat. Whip the eggs again briefly, and the add the eggs to the skillet and, if using chilies, quickly scatter the chopped chilies around to prevent them from piling up in one or two locations, and creating a flamethrower for the person getting them (of course, if you or others love the heat, pile them on). Then spread around the salmon pieces and cream cheese cubes. While this has only been a few seconds, the eggs will be motoring right along; so, scramble the eggs by your own method, but I begin to draw the edges of the eggs in toward the middle, then keep moving them around (swirling motion, I guess is best to describe it). You can lift the skillet off of the heat while you're moving around the eggs, but if there isn't much "liquidy" egg to be seen, turn off the heat. Remember, the residual heat of the skillet will help cook any remnant of uncooked egg. When finished, divide the cooked eggs and place a portion that runs through the middle of each tortilla. Top the eggs with a little raw onion, a couple of slices of avocado and some chopped tomato. Sprinkle on a few drops of hot sauce (or more than a few, for those who like some sizzle). Fold the tortilla around the filling and you're ready to eat.

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Fawn (Fetus)-"Fawn" is the noun for a baby deer (the verb, often used with 'over,' in 'to fawn over,' is a different and unrelated word). "Fawn" is related to "female" and to "feminine," Latin-derived words borrowed by English from Latin-based French. "Fawn" goes back to Indo European "dhe(i)," which meant "to suck, to suckle." This gave Old Italic "fetos" (the Indo European form rendered as "f" in Italic), which gave Latin "fetus," meaning "an offspring, the production or fruit of a plant" (fruit in the general sense, not the specific classification). This gave Latin the noun "fetonem," with the meaning "young animal." This passed into Old French as "feon," meaning "a young animal," with more of a tendency to usage for "a young deer," and also with the spelling "faon." English borrowed the word in the mid 1300s, with the spellings "foun," "fowne," "fawne," before the modern form, and by which time the usage for deer type animals had become pretty much the exclusive meaning.