Garlic Omelette

I had the idea of adding gently simmered garlic to an omelette earlier today.I thought the softened tones of slowly cooked garlic would work really well with the eggs and cheese. I can report that it was great. Probably not suitable for breakfast as it takes too long to prepare, but it would be superb for a small lunch, with a green salad and a mug of strong tea.

The garlic doesn't dominate. It's a soft, background flavour, which lifts the meal from a boring cheese omelette to something different and tasty.

You will need

2 or 3 eggs, depending on their size
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, depending on their size
1oz of a mild cheese that melts well
1 knob of butter or shake of oil
1 pinch of salt
pepper to taste

You may want to add

2 soft bread rolls, slices of toast or warmed muffins
some chopped parsley

Method

Bring a small milk pan of water to the boil, add your peeled garlic cloves and simmer them until they are soft and change shape when pressed with a tea spoon.

Remove the garlic from the water and let it cool on a chopping board. Chop the garlic into small pieces and then smooth them into a paste with the flat of the knife.

Chop the cheese into small pieces that will melt nicely.

Crack the eggs into a bowl or glass and beat them gently with a fork. Don't beat them too much or you'll get lots of air into them and your omelette won't be able to support the weight of the cheese and garlic. You risk a pan with fried cheese stuck to it and a lot of time cleaning up.

Heat the pan so that it's warm enough to melt the butter but not much warmer.

Melt the butter and then add the egg to the pan. It will cook slowly so you will need to wait a little bit before adding then cheese and garlic.

When it has cooked enough that you can draw the edges into the centre you can dot the cheese and garlic all over the disk of egg. You may need to continue drawing the egg mixture into the centre. Frankly, it depends on how runny you like your omelette.

When you're happy that the egg mixture is mostly cooked, fold it so that you have a half-moon shape, leave it for 30 seconds, so that it can seal itself and then deliver the omelette to the plate (which might already be covered in bread of some kind).

Season the dish with salt and pepper. Garnish with the parsley if you like.

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Frogspawn_closeup

This evening I decided to finish off the quinoa I had in my store cupboard. As I was cooking it I noticed how it looks like frogspawn while it's half cooked and then I wondered why I found the idea unpleasant.

After all, I eat chicken eggs. Regularly. I like them soft boiled, poached, fried, scrambled and as cheese and spinach omelets. And on occasion, they're good raw, too. And I also like the eggs of other species, in particular fish. Caviar is delicious, as are taramasalata and those lovely pink ikura I love on nigiri.

But the idea of eating frogspawn makes me want to vomit. I've never eaten a frog but I definitely don't find the idea disgusting. And I don't think the sliminess factor can be it because I like chicken eggs cooked so lightly they're still translucent and I like fish eggs uncooked. I've even eaten some fairly slimy risottos.

But frogspawn is like devilspawn according to my stomach. It started jiggling around as soon as I noticed the resemblance. It was a bit like looking at a jar of peanut in that respect. I suppose I'll have to add frogspawn to my list of things I don't want to eat, right under dessicated coconut.

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