Breakfast for Dinner 2

When you’re making an omelette, you want two conditions: enough cooking fat and a thoroughly heated skillet.

This is about 1 tablespoon butter. If you don’t have enough cooking fat, your eggs will stick to the bottom of the pan. If they stick, the omelette can break apart and lose its shape.

Ideally the pan should be hot enough but not so hot that the butter begins to brown. If your pan isn’t sufficiently heated, the eggs won’t set and it’ll take longer than usual to cook. On the other hand, if you wait too long, the butter will burn. As you can see in the bottom pic, I waited 30 seconds too long before adding the eggs. A perfect omelette should be light and golden throughout without any visible browning.

Allow the butter to sizzle and the foam to subside, then add 2 to 3 beaten eggs and let them sit for about 30 seconds to a minute. With a fork or spatula (assuming you’re using a nonstick pan), draw the lightly cooked egg toward the center of the pan. As you do so, tilt the pan so that any uncooked beaten eggs flow into the bare part of the pan. Repeat this process as you work your way around the pan. After a few seconds, there should be just a little moist egg remaining. Add your filling, if any, then tilt the pan away from you. Tap the handle lightly; the far edge should fall back on itself, then turn the pan over a plate so that the folded omelette falls out.

For the pan-glazed tomatoes: Take a handful of small grape or pear-shaped heirloom tomatoes and toss them onto a hot pan along with some melted unsalted butter or other cooking fat. Cook until the tomatoes wilt slightly and/or begin to burst, about 30 seconds. Remove pan from heat; garnish omelette and serve immediately.

Omelette with peperonata filling, pan-glazed heirloom tomatoes

Click here for a high-resolution version of this picture and here for a closeup shot.

Recession Specials 4b — Monday

Radish, tomato and red onion “bruschetta”

Click here for a closeup shot.

Radishes and red cippolini onions were roasted in a 350 F oven for 30 minutes, then combined with halved Sungold cherry tomatoes and garlic chives, and spooned atop slices of toasted sourdough bread. If this were true bruschetta, I’d have used Italian bread or perhaps a baguette, but I didn’t have that luxury this time around.

Main entrée was a plain French omelette and salad greens with a white wine viniagrette.

Rather than describe how to make an omelette, this is one of those times where the best explanation is something you can view, preferably by a true master:

This blog post seems appropriate given that Julie and Julia was released last week.

Odds and Ends 1

Fettucine with summer tomato sauce

Later in the season when tomatoes get more flavorful, I usually opt for an uncooked tomato sauce or a bread salad. This sauce is great though with first-of-the-season toms like the ones pictured in the post below.

olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
handful of fresh oregano or parsley, chopped
kosher salt
freshly milled pepper
extra-virgin olive oil (optional)
cooked pasta

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until it takes on a bit of color, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and stir until tomatoes begin to relax. Check seasoning and remove from heat. Add chopped herbs and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Stir. Add cooked pasta to the pan and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Midsummer Bounty

Some pix from this morning at Union Square Greenmarket. Some of what you see in this post will appear in meals throughout this week’s menu.

Strawberries — Simple is best when it comes to in-season strawberries. I like them with cream and a bit of sugar, or with a touch of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of black pepper. Breakfast tip: try a bowl of fromage blanc with strawberries macerated in vanilla sugar and chopped mint.

Sucrine — Rooted in the French word for “sugar,” sucrine (sugar lettuce sounds better) is a smaller variety of romaine with soft, silky leaves, buttery texture, and, as the name suggests, a sweet-ish flavor. You can take the elongated core of the lettuce, peel it, and steam it — it is as delicate as asparagus and just as delicious.

Green garlic — Green garlic is young garlic which is harvested before the cloves have begun to mature. The resulting vegetable resembles a scallion, with a deep green stalk and a pale white bulb. It can often be found for sale at a farmers’ market in the spring, and can also be grown at home relatively easily. Many large grocery stores do not stock green garlic, although growing consumer demand may change this. It can also usually be special ordered through a greengrocer.

Breakfast For Dinner 1

Plain omelette, spinach and radish greens sautéed in butter, roasted radishes with marjoram and mint, rye bread

When spinach and greens are briefly wilted in butter with a little garlic, they take on a magical quality. They literally melt in your mouth.

Breakfast in Four Pictures

Omelette au fromage blanc et herbes

Fromage blanc and chive omelette
Roasted root vegetables (LaRatte fingerlings, red and white carrots tossed in olive oil and sea salt, then roasted at 375 F for 30 minutes)
Sliced heirloom tomatoes