Breakfast for Breakfast, Breakfast for Dinner

My husband, Sonny, loves breakfast food. We usually eat breakfast food for breakfast...but sometimes we eat it for dinner, too! Either way. Breakfast is a quick and easy meal to get on the table.

There are lots of opinions out there on how to make a proper omelet. I personally learned how to make one by watching Julia Child's The French Chef. She felt very strongly about eggs and how they should be made. I've always done it her way and it's always worked.

At this point, I feel that I need to prepare you for a future post on my love and admiration for Julia Child. I watch her show and pretend we are friends. I also do this with Ina Garten. I like to pretend that Julia, Ina, and I hang out and cook together (which would be impossible because Julia died several years ago). But that's for another day, another post.

Julia's Omelet Technique
(I'll take pictures next time I make one)

Don't be afraid of the amount of steps listed...it's not that complicated. I just wanted to be really detailed.

2 or 3 eggs per omelet
Salt
Pepper
Butter
Endless option for filling (more on that below)

1. Determine the amount of eggs you will need and crack them into a bowl.
2. Whisk vigorously with a fork until the eggs are beaten. Add a bit of salt and a bit of pepper.
3. Use a small pan (I use a an 8 inch...when I try to use bigger, it doesn't work as well). Turn your burner up to high and let the pan sit on it to get hot.
4. Once the pan is hot (a couple minutes) drop roughly a tbsp of butter into the hot pan. Immediately pick up the pan and rotate it so that the butter coats the whole thing (including the sides).
5. You'll know the butter is hot enough when its bubbling dies down. Don't let it sit there too long or it will turn brown and not taste right.
6. Pour just enough of the egg mixture into the pan to thinly cover the bottom.
7. This part is important. Immediately begin to shuffle the pan forward and back over the heat (which is still on high). This allows the eggs to cook but keeps them from sticking to the bottom or becoming overdone. Rotate the pan around to allow the uncooked egg to flow to the sides to cook.
8. This is the point where you add filling such as cheese, vegetables, meats, etc.
9. Allow the filling to melt or heat up for just a moment and then take off the heat. Julia is a stickler about not overcooking the eggs.
10. To un-mold the omelet onto a plate, begin to shuffle one edge out of the pan. Once you get about a third of the omelet onto the plate, bring the pan upward and flip the rest of the omelet over-top of the part that's already on the plate. It sounds complicated, but it's really easy. Once you do it a few times, it's as simple as can be.

Fillings: There is no end to the things you can put in an omelet. I usually just find odds and ends that didn't get used throughout the week. Here are couple ideas/pointers:

• Any meat that you put in cannot be raw...cook it first.
• Unless you like your vegetables really crunchy, saute them beforehand.
• It's best to heat the meats or vegetables before adding them to the omelet because sometimes there isn't enough time for them to get warm while the eggs are cooking.
• Sonny and I love to put mushrooms, chedder cheese, and red peppers in our omelets.
• Other options are spinach, swiss cheese, broccoli, any kind of pepper, sausage, prochiutto, mozzarella cheese...really anything that sounds good to you.

Sometimes, for a treat, I'll make homefries to go with our omelets. They are also very easy. Begin the homefries before the omelets because the potatoes take longer to cook and the omelets are done within minutes.

Simple Homefries

1 all purpose potato per person (for a smaller servings, 1 potato could serve two)
Olive Oil
Butter
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Fresh parsley, rosemary, or thyme (if you have any...I don't always add them)

1. Cut up the potatoes into little cubes. I try to get them to be around 1/2 inch. They are not going to be perfect at all, they just need to be about the same size so they will cook evenly.
2. Heat up a tbsp (or more if you are making lots of potatoes) in a large frying pan. Throw a slap (tbsp) of butter in there too. Oil has a high burning temperature so you can get it really hot. Butter has lots of flavor...so you get the best of both worlds.
3. Add the potatoes in an even layer to the hot oil and butter. Let them cook a bit and then toss them around to get the other sides cooked. The time this takes relates to how many potatoes you are making...it typically take me about 10 minutes when I make two potatoes. Do it by feel...if they are golden brown and crispy, they are ready
   
4. Add salt, pepper, and chopped fresh herbs to the hot potatoes and toss with a wooden spoon or spatula.
5. Serve hot beside a yummy omelet.

If you want something sweet with your breakfast meal, you can make Healthy Banana-Blueberry Muffins or you could make scones. Here's my favorite recipe that I learned at The Kitchen Workshop. You can use the basic recipe (without the orange zest and cranberries) and add anything you'd like to it (lemon zest, cinnamon, raisins, etc.)

Cranberry Orange Scones

3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 sugar (sometimes I put a smidge more in for kicks)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 baking soda
1 tbsp orange zest
1 1/2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 pieces
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into a large bowl.
3. Mix in orange zest
4. Add butter and rub in with fingertips or pastry blender until mixture resembles course meal (the size of peas)
5. Mix in dried cranberries.
6. Gradually add buttermilk, tossing with fork until moist clumps form.
7. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface.* Knead briefly to bind dough, about 4 turns.
8. Form dough into a 1 inch round and cut into 8 wedges. Transfer wedges to a scone pan** or greased cookie sheet.
9. Brush one egg mixed with a tbsp of water onto scones and bake until tops are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* Sometimes I just knead it in the bowl to save time and mess. I just form it into a flattened ball and cut it into wedges right in the bowl. This really only works when you are pressing the dough into a scone pan.
** A scone pan is a really neat thing to have if you are in to making scones. It's super easy to use because you can just press the dough into the pan.