Wylie Dufresne

What's the secret to the silkiest scrambled eggs ever? A dollop of cream cheese stirred in right at the end. Piling them onto a sandwich with melted American cheese takes them even further over the top.

Wylie Dufresne, chef/owner ofAlderandWD~50in New York City, shared this recipe exclusively with Epicurious. "Modernist cuisine is a mind-set," says Dufresne. "It's a paradigm shift." In this recipe, Dufresne applies his modernist cuisine ideology to shrimp and grits, reimagining the flavors and textures of the classic dish. "I've always been interested in shrimp and grits. When I came across aShrimp & Gritsrecipe on Epicurious, from an old issue ofBon Appétit,I thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool if we made the shrimpintogrits?' Again, the modernist leap here was in the idea, not the technique, which is quite simple." To transform shrimp into grits, Dufresne grinds them in a meat grinder: once when raw, and then two more times after they've been cooked. Corn powder, vegetable stock, and "a healthy knob of butter" help create the creamy, starchy quality of actual grits, while homemade pickled jalapeños lend some heat. "Adding a fried quail egg is optional," says Dufresne, "but makes it much better, of course."