The omelette gets a facelift

We’re moving forward, ignoring (just for a little bit, I promise) the sinful sweets and turning to the serious savory dishes.  If until now I weren’t much of a breakfast eater, I may have converted to one…or at least to an omelette eater.  Having my parents-in-law over, we ate a lot of eggs, about two dozen eggs a week, for breakfast only.  Just between you and me, I think I’ve had my share of eggs in the morning for the rest of the year.  Anyway… The blessing about eating eggs for breakfast was that it gave me the opportunity to experiment, perfect and re-perfect an old favorite – yes, you know what I’m talking about, the vegetable omelette; and I’ve decided to put a spin on it and give it a facelift; make it fluffier and fancier!

  

The trick to the improvement has a lot to do with the “low and slow” cooking process, the cream, and the flip (you’ll see what I mean by that in a second).  In the process, the onion loses its sharpness and strength and doesn’t make you cry any longer, but becomes sweet, soft and sort of caramelized.  The red pepper softens up and goes from sweet to sweeter maintaining though its pop of color; and the garlic (if you choose to use it) emanates only a tad of a garlicky aroma because that pungent garlic scent is forever subdued by the “low and slow” tune.  The heavy cream instead of making the omelette heavy it makes it fluffy and airy. 

And then comes the stroke of genius, the flip, which gives it that much sought-after facelift.  To be more specific, the flip means that you invert the omelette onto a plate and then slide it back into the skillet for a couple more minutes.  The procedure sounds more complicated than it actually is; all you need is a bigger plate than your skillet, some muscle, and a leap of faith!  The omelette will do the rest.

Fancy Omelette

Serves:  4 servings

Ingredients:

·         4 Tablespoons olive oil

·         1 medium yellow onion, sliced

·         1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

·         Optional: 1 clove of garlic, minced

·         Salt and black pepper

·         6 large eggs

·         1/3 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

Heat up the oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and pepper, and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper.  Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook the ingredients for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally, until they become soft.  For the last 2 minutes, add the garlic if you decide to use it. 

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the heavy cream and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Pour the eggs and heavy cream mixture over the vegetables.  Turn the heat up to medium and cook the egg mixture, without stirring, until the eggs are almost set and the bottom is golden-brown, about 5 to 6 minutes. 

Now, the fun part begins.  Turn off the stove.  Take a dinner plate, bigger than the skillet, and place it on top of the skillet.  Grab the skillet by the handle, place your other hand over the dinner plate (use kitchen mittens if the plate is too hot), go over the kitchen sink (so you don’t make a mess), and invert the omelette onto the dinner plate.  Place the skillet on the stove, turn the heat back on to medium, and slide the omelette back into the skillet and cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer.  Cut into four wedges and serve.           

Note:  Make popovers to accompany the omelette and you’ll hit this breakfast out of the ball park! 

Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!)

Back to brunch

Saturday is our day to sleep in.  We don’t answer the phone or the door, and we don’t get out of bed before 10 AM.  And then we still take it easy and enjoy a nice homemade brunch, which usually consists of an omelette.  But I don’t make your traditional omelette – my omelette is something between scrambled eggs and open-faced omelette, and I love it.  Romanians don’t like to throw anything out especially vegetables.  So, on Saturday I go through the fridge and any vegetables that are on their last legs end up into my omelette.  In fact, any vegetables, mushrooms, salami, ham or chorizo get thrown into the omelette.  My favorite, though, is the vegetable based omelette.   

Vegetable Omelette

By Simply Romanesco inspired by Frittata Di Verdura: “Clean Out the Fridge” Frittata by David Rocco

Serves: 2-3 servings

Ingredients:

·         4 large eggs

·         Salt and black pepper

·         ¼ cup whole milk or heavy cream

·         ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, or Cheddar cheese, or Pecorino Romano, or any other cheese you like or you have on hand

·         4 Tablespoons vegetable oil

·         1 potato, washed, peeled and thinly sliced (I don’t peel the potato if I’m using a Red or Yukon Gold potato)

·         1 bell pepper, chopped

·         1 medium yellow onion, sliced

·         Optional: paprika

Instructions:

Heat the oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat.  Add the onion, the pepper and the potato.  Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of paprika (if using), and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.  At first, cook the vegetables over medium heat.  After 2-3 minutes, turn the heat down to medium-low. 

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and the cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.  

Pour the egg and cheese mixture over the vegetables.  Turn the heat to medium and cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring everything together.  When the omelette is cooked sprinkle more cheese on top, if desired.  

I love this kind of omelette.  It fills you up, it’s tasty, and you don’t have to throw away any wilted vegetables.  This past weekend, I found a sweet potato in my pantry from Thanksgiving, and I used it in this week’s brunch.  It was delicious, colorful and sweet.  Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!)