Colorado Springs Omelet

April 25, 2022April 30, 2022 / More Time at the Table / 2 Comments

Here in Colorado and perhaps even elsewhere in the U.S., there’s no diner breakfast more famous than the Denver Omelet — except maybe biscuits and gravy. You know how the Denver Omelet goes — lots of browned onions, green peppers, diced ham and some ooey-gooey orange cheese. It should be cooked firm and golden brown unlike the pale and buttery French omelets. And while I’m totally fond of a Denver omelet or a French omelet (mushrooms, please), for that matter, I have for quite a while enjoyed a different sort of southwestern egg breakfast here in my kitchen in Colorado Springs. My tender little elegant omelet is whisked with salsa rather than cream or water. It’s cooked slowly and gently in a covered skillet rather than at breakneck speed with constant whisking in an open pan à la française (like the French). Occasionally I turn the burner off toward the end, but leave the covered pan on it for another minute or two to slowly finish cooking my omelet. Good trick to have up your sleeve for any eggs (and some other things, too) you make to avoid an overcooked fry-up.

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Tomato and Basil Omelet — A Good Reason to Garden

July 10, 2018July 11, 2018 / More Time at the Table / 4 Comments

The blog, Dave, doggies, and I are on vacation for a bit. See you soon!

Omelets are the perfect example of,

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again…

Only you can eat the sad-looking/happy-tasting evidence over..and over…and over. No matter what, you’ll have breakfast, lunch, or dinner in under a couple of minutes because omelets are perfect for any meal and maybe especially so during hot muggy summer days. They’re also inexpensive, healthy, full of protein, and encourage creative invention. Leftover chicken and cheese? Stuff that in your omelet. A bit of salsa along with a half piece of grilled zucchini? There you go. Nothing at all but parsley? You have an herb omelet. Not even a sprig of parsley, but a tablespoon of sticky jam at the bottom of the jar? That, too, makes for a tasty omelet filling.

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Spinach Omelet with Tomatoes, Mozzarella Balls, and Olives… … … … … … … …Or A Baker’s Dozen Egg Dishes for Fast Dinners

February 22, 2016February 23, 2016 / More Time at the Table / 9 Comments

If I had to come up with a cooking mantra from friends, family, students, and neighbors, it could very well be,

I just don’t have time to cook.

Sometimes that makes sense to me. Like I’m in the middle of cleaning out closets, in a frenzied rush to pack and leave for a trip, or between a deadline, picking someone up from the airport, and a trip to the movies. Ok, I’ll have some cheese and crackers. Tuna out of a can. Slice an apple.

But when I take this little meme and run with it, I come away with the knowledge that includes visions of lives running and running on empty or on the fast track without a centered vision of what it means to live in a home. Kind of like we run around a lot because we can. We watch cooking on tv, talk “Chopped” with our spouses, and then refuse to grocery shop because it takes too much time. Don’t set the table and, instead, eat standing up dropping cracker crumbs in the sink.

Do we really have so much to do that we don’t want to feed ourselves well and healthily? It’s a question for which there’s no answer. Work triumphs. Health and emotional well-being suffers. Soccer, tv, and the computer win. Laughter, easy talk, difficult conversations, and connections around the table are lessened. Rather sad. Continue reading →

Almost a Spanish Omelet with a Walnut, Mozzarella + Kalamata Salad

May 13, 2014May 14, 2014 / More Time at the Table / Leave a comment

You’re gonna need a bigger boat…

On one more freezing May night after a day of jury duty, I opened the fridge expecting to find a few leftovers for supper, but there were none to be had. Somehow we’d eaten them all. I had my mouth all ready for pizza, homemade pizza at that, and found zip, 0, nada. I already had a nice little red opened to air, JAWS was on tv, Dave had called checking in from D.C., and I thought I had nothing to do but heat an oven. Instead I had to make something for dinner.

If there’s nothing made and there’s no time, there’s nothing better than an omelet of whatever variety and a glass of wine. Unless you’re too exhausted even for that, in which case you should have a cheese sandwich and go to bed.

(Above: a favorite book of mine)

I began with a 9-inch non-stick pan and good splash of olive oil well-seasoned with salt and pepper. In went a handful of cherry tomatoes, a nice chop of onions (about a 1/4 cup), and somewhat more of a beautiful red bell pepper I cut up with dispatch. There was no rhyme or reason to these ingredients, other than they were in the refrigerator and I knew they’d be good in eggs. I wasn’t thinking Spanish omelet (aka Tortilla) until I saw a big bag of small red potatoes sitting hopefully on the floor in the mudroom; I grabbed a couple.

Spanish omelets –or tortillas — are a flawless puffy and crispy combination of thinly sliced or diced potatoes, onions, eggs, and lots and lots of olive oil. My version would have luscious vegetables, including the onion, only two small diced red potatoes, asparagus, eggs, and not so very much olive oil. I seasoned it all with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, crushed red pepper, and I’m sure terribly non-traditional tarragon. It would feed two of us –my son and me –with a bite or two left for the dogs. Try this:

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Ricotta, Chive, and Prosciutto Omelette-Donna Hay-50 Women Game-Changers in Food-#31

January 19, 2012December 22, 2013 / More Time at the Table / 7 Comments

Lydia Walshin (The Perfect Pantry) often has great recipe links on fb. One day, she linked to a recipe for Stir-Fried Rice with Mushrooms from Jeanette’s Healthy Living. Jeanette’s recipe came from the famous Chinese cook and cookbook author, Barbara Tropp, of whom I’m very fond. The post title indicated the recipe was part of the 50 Women Game-Changers in Food blogging effort. Each week, bloggers from all over the country feature the recipes of one of the 50 Women Game-Changers from the Gourmet Live List published last May. I had to get in on this thing and here I am the very next week, blogging down-under Donna Hay’s recipe for Ricotta, Chive, and Prosciutto Omelettes. Thanks, fellow food bloggers, for the warm welcome. I’m thrilled to be participating!

Donna Hay is Australia’s premier food editor and cookbook writer who began at the young age of 19 as a writer and food stylist. By 25, she was the food editor for marie claire. Since then, she’s published 18 award-winning cookbooks and now is the editor of the bi-monthly donna hay magazine with a circulation of nearly 400,000. Donna also has a popular weekly food column in the Sunday editions of News Limited newspapers around Australia and The New Zealand Herald, reaching over seven million people each week. She is a regular contributor to UK’s leading lifestyle magazine, Living etc. Click here for a list of Donna’s recipes and menus and here for the magazine’s ipad app.

Before I began this blogging adventure, I had downloaded the magazine app for my ipad, which I keep in the kitchen unless I’m traveling. The easy-to-use format of this beautiful app sold me as much as did the pictures that told such clear stories. While looking at food photos, the reader can click and choose between reading the recipe (including photo, ingredients list, and story/directions) and cook mode, which with just a push of the finger takes you from the first bit of instructions to the last, page by page. Right now, from what I can see, there are just a couple of issues available free. Keep an eye out for more.


My ipad with the donna hay mag at center. Screensaver: Colorado kitchen!

While not a great photo, you get the idea of how fun this is to use.

Let’s cook…

In the pan with the egg ring. Watch carefully to avoid burning.

This very quick, light meal consists of a souffle omelet (one in which the eggs are separated and the whites are whipped to peaks before the yolks are gently folded back in) with a tiny taste of salad –the spinach–and a bit of salty Italian ham for garnish and kick. Two eggs truly make two servings here. If you’re on South Beach, this will cook with just a bit of adjustment.

ricotta, chive, and prosciutto omelettes by donna hay

2 eggs, separated at room temperature
1 tablespoon pouring (single) cream
70g ricotta, crumbled (about 1/4 cup part-skim-at room temperature)
1 tablespoon chopped chives
sea salt and cracked black pepper
20g butter (about 1T–you could need a bit more)
¼ cup (60g) sour cream (I used Greek yogurt)
50g baby spinach leaves (about 2 oz or about 2 cups)
100g prosciutto (3.5 oz or about 1/4#)

Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the egg yolks, cream, ricotta, chives, salt and pepper. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the butter and place lightly greased egg rings in the pan. Pour ¼ egg mixture into each ring and cook for 3 minutes each side or until puffed and golden. Repeat with remaining egg mixture. (You’ll need to remove the egg ring-and leave it off- and very gently turn over each omelette so that it doesn’t spread too much and lose its shape.)
To serve, place omelettes on a plate and top with the sour cream, spinach and prosciutto. Serves 2.

Cook’s notes in red: Have all ingredients at the ready and prepare/cook quickly as the omelettes can deflate a bit as they wait for you to cook the second batch. I managed fine using a small nonstick omelet pan, working in batches, as my large skillets are not nonstick. Egg rings can be replaced with clean large, tuna cans with both ends removed.

After removing egg ring and turning, the tiny omelette looks a bit like a pancake in the pan.

About Grams to Ounces:

Here is a good grams to ounces (metric) conversion site.
I also used my pen and paper, as well as the Salton electronic scale to check my math.
If you do decide to get the Donna Hay app for ipad, there is a good conversion page there.

Just add Chardonnay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next up: #32 Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian

The gorgeous, intelligent locavores of the magazine world, Ryder and Topalian’s Edible series now numbers 60 editions, from Allegheny to WOW (southeast Michigan). And, despite the handicap of being free print mags, they actually make money! (courtesy Gourmet Live)

Check out how the other bloggers are honoring the 50 Women Game-Changers:

Sue – The View from Great Island
Taryn – Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan – The Spice Garden
Heather – girlichef
Miranda of Mangoes and Chutney
Mary – One Perfect Bite
Barbara – Movable Feasts
Jeanette – Healthy Living
Linda – Ciao Chow Linda
Linda A – There and Back Again
Martha – Lines from Linderhof
Mireya – My Healthy Eating Habits,
Veronica – My Catholic Kitchen
Annie – Lovely Things
Nancy – Picadillo
Claudia – Journey of an Italian Cook

Val – More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne – Eats Well With Others

If you liked this recipe, you might like:

Herb-Spinach Egg White Omelet on the Dinner Place blog

How to make an omelet

Sing a new song, cook a new recipe….

Alyce

All photos by Alyce Morgan, copyright 2012-unless otherwise noted or obvious.
Donna Hay photo courtesy donna hay magazine.