Chicken Omelette for Two

Dorothy Hartley, in her book Food in England, calls an omelette a 'friendly dish', easy to make quickly for unexpected guests. I like this very much, and I think of it a lot. While the following recipe is a large omelette meant to feed to healthy appetites, it can easily extend to three people for a light lunch. I like to make it in a stainless steel pan (now that I've learned how to cook eggs in one without sticking).

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
5 eggs
A pinch of salt
A pinch of pepper
1 tsp minced fresh herb such as tarragon, thyme
OPTIONAL
- a small handful of chives, minced
- ¼ cup minced fresh lovage (or ¼ tsp celery seed)
10 oz cubed cooked chicken
4 oz gruyere cheese, grated OR 4 oz chèvre cheese OR any cheese you like, really

1. Melt the butter with the oil in a 10" oven-proof fry pan or omelette pan, and let it heat up for 5 minutes at medium-low (in a stainless steel pan, this will prevent sticking).
2. Whisk the eggs with the addition of the salt and pepper until they are frothy.
3. Pour the eggs into the hot pan; you may want to increase the heat to medium. Sprinkle the chopped herbs over the liquid egg. As the egg cooks, lift the edges and tilt the pan to let uncooked egg get underneath.
4. With the oven rack in the middle, turn on the broiler to heat up (or use a salamander if you're so lucky to have one).
5. When the egg has half cooked, spread the chicken evenly over it. While the egg is still a little under-cooked on the surface, (not just slithery but actually jiggly), spread the cheese and slip the pan into the oven to broil
6. When the egg is set and the edges puff up a little, take it out of the oven and carefully fold the omelette, plate and serve as you will.

Pommes de terre en omelette (Potato omelette)

Although this is a simple recipe, it requires about an hour to complete, since each ingredient can only be cooked when the previous is done. It is a delicious brunch item.

A few strips of bacon (4oz/120gr) cut into lardons or paper clip-size pieces
1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter 
1 onion, chopped (6oz/170gr)
1 clove garlic, chopped
Splash of balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter (yes, another one)
4 medium potatoes (about 2lbs), peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
5 eggs
½ tsp salt
Pepper, to taste

1. Heat a cast iron pan at a medium-high temperature. Cook the bacon until just starting to brown. With a slotted spoon, remove the meat and reserve in a medium sized bowl.
2. Lower the temperature to medium, add a Tbsp of butter, and slowly cook the onion until soft and translucent. This will take a while, maybe something like 20 minutes. For the last minute of cooking, add the garlic. Strain out and add to the bacon bowl for set aside.
3. Splash the balsamic vinegar in the hot oil and cook until the spitting and bubbling almost ceases - this is when most of the extra water will have been cooked away.
4. Add the potatoes with another Tbsp of butter and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until it is soft and starts to brown.
5. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, add the salt and pepper.
6. When the potatoes are cooked, use a slotted spoon to remove from the pan and pop into the bowl with the bacon and onion. Pour out all but 1 or 2 Tbsps. of bacon fat. 
7. Put the bacon, onion and potato back in the pan, stir to mix well, and then pour the egg on top, settling everything with the back of the spoon to make an even surface. 
8. Cover and cook at a low temperature until the egg sets, but the surface remains a little soft or runny or, conversely, cover and bake in the oven at 350°F until set.
9. Serve with cornbread muffins and a fresh salad or pickled onions and beets.

Chłodnik - Polish Cold Yoghurt Beet Soup

This makes an unusual, violent pink soup that is beautiful and delicious. It's great for a lunch on early fall days, with the warm, buttered potatoes and the cool, colourful soup.

Serves 8

One bunch of young beets with leaves (about 6)
1 tsp lemon juice, to taste
1 garlic clove, minced
5 cups of boiling water
1 English cucumber, quartered and finely diced
about 10 radishes, halved and sliced
4 spring onion tops or chives, chopped (40 to 60g)
A small bunch of dill, minced
4 cups natural yogurt or cultured buttermilk
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
golden caster sugar to taste - optional
4 to 6 hard boiled eggs to serve
1 to 1½ kg cooked baby potatoes to serve
1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter for potatoes

1. Wash beet leaves, stems and roots. Peel roots and dice them, chop leaves and stems (if there are lots of leaves use only half).
2. Boil water, add beet material along with garlic and lemon juice. Cook covered until beets are soft but still crunchy.
3. Remove from heat, add cucumber, radishes, half of the dill (reserve the rest to sprinkle over potatoes), spring onions and set aside to cool down a bit. Add yogurt (or buttermilk), season to taste with salt, pepper (and sugar if using, but good young beets should be plenty sweet already) and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
4. Serve chilled with freshly cooked baby potatoes topped with butter and dill and hard boiled eggs on the side.
5. Add more boiled water if the soup is too thick or too intense in flavour.
6. If you have too many beetroot leaves, wash and chop them and freeze to use later in different soups.

Blue Cheese and Fennel Quiche

I have my standard quiche recipe which more or less (less or more) follows the instructions I've mentioned in my earlier post for quick and easy quiches. I use a mild blue cheese called Bleu Claire from a local cheese maker - my niece came for dinner and she thought she didn't like blue cheese, so I made half the quiche with Gruyere, but slipped in a sliver with blue, and she liked it. I agree that some blues have an overpowering flavour - unlike aficionados, I don't like the feeling of the cheese mould entering my sinuses from the blue. But the Bleu Clair has the flavour of blue cheese without the aggressiveness of the stronger types, perfect for blue-virgins and sensitives like myself.

1 pre-baked pie shell, completely cooled

2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter

1 lb fennel, finely chopped

8 oz crumbled blue cheese or grated Gruyère

Optional: handful of toasted walnuts

5 eggs (3 eggs and 2 egg yolks)

1 cup cream or crème fraîche

salt and pepper to season

1. Melt the butter and sautée the fennel until it starts to brown and is soft. The fennel will not cook while the custard is baking, which means it has to be thoroughly cooked in the pan.
2. Meanwhile, mix the eggs and cream together and season the mixture with salt and pepper.
3. Layer the fennel at the bottom of the baked pie crust, then layer with the cheese of your choice (and toasted walnuts if using).
4. Pour egg mixture over the filling. Bake the pie at 375°F for 25-30 minutes, or until the filling is set.
5. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.