Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And what better way to celebrate the arrival of dawn than with a three-egg omelette, stuffed with freshly prepared button mushrooms? Omelettes add value to eggs, and mastering the omelette-making craft is the sign of an apprentice cook already reaching for the big time. Many intended omelettes find themselves turning into scrambled eggs as all hell breaks loose in the frying pan. This recipe tells you how to avoid this embarrassing experience.
To make breakfast omelettes for four hungry diners,
you will need:
• 12 eggs • Butter • Freshly ground black pepper
• 250g button mushrooms • 2 spring onions or a handful of chives
• Kikkoman light soya sauce • Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic • 75ml Old Brown Sherry
The mushrooms are the first items on the work list. Rinse them under running water to remove any traces of the growing medium. Then cut them longitudinally into thin slices about 3mm thick. In a heavy-bottomed frying pan, bring 30ml of extra-virgin olive oil up to medium heat and sauté the finely minced garlic clove for a minute. Add the sliced mushrooms plus the 75ml of Old Brown Sherry. Lower the heat and cover with a well-fitting lid. From time to time stir the mushrooms to prevent burning. Taste from time to time to determine the degree of doneness you prefer. When ready, remove from the heat and reserve until needed later in the proceedings.
Now for the big deal: the transformation of raw egg into an omelette. This is the point at which the nerve usually fails. The idea here is to avoid turning the whipped eggs into a scrambled mess. While this – the scrambled mess – will taste just fine, the whole idea here is to take your skills up to the next level of excellence. This is best achieved with the use of a dedicated omelette pan. The key features here are mass (heavy is good) and rounded inner sides.
Now for the eggs. Here room temperature is a minor but real feature. Crack them into a mixing bowl and with a minimum of effort, lightly combine the yolks with the whites. Avoid excessive whipping: a light stir with a fork is all you need. Season with freshly ground black pepper and add a teaspoon or two of butter. Now for the pan. Bring this up to medium heat and add either extra-virgin olive or butter. Tilt the pan so that the molten butter coats the sides as well.
Now, for drama, a high heat, so that the butter begins to froth. Pour in the mixed eggs. With the egg lifter drag the already-setting eggs into the middle so that raw egg can reach the exposed parts of the pan. As soon as the eggs have set to your liking, fold the omelette in half, let it cook for another 30 seconds, then transfer to the serving plate. R emember the mushrooms? Serve these next to the omelette, sprinkle with chives or finely chopped spring onions and provide Kikkoman soya sauce for diners to use according to their desires. – David Basckin
