Mike is the egg person in this house and has always staffed the omelet pan…but one morning, I felt inspired and thought I’d surprise him with the PERFECT omelet. Well, as you can see above and as any omelet purist will attest, this isn’t exactly the perfect omelet. But that should only inspire you to take to the kitchen, because perfect fold technique or no, these were close your eyes “mmm mm good”. And not all that horrible for you to boot. We split one omelet (by necessity as we were down to our last two eggs but it was actually the perfect portion size) and served it with a side of lightly dressed salad and crisp apple slices. Yum!

Ingredients:
2 eggs*
1 small yellow onion, julienned
1/2 cup baby spinach
2 Tbsp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp milk
1 Tbsp butter, browned
sprinkle of garlic salt and red pepper flakes

*we use free range, organic eggs and I promise, promise, promise the “free range” part isn’t just trendy. It really does make a difference. The shells have more substance when you crack them and the yolks, bright orange, are perky and ooey gooey…rather than the watery, anemic yolks you get from supermarket eggs. We have to go to a farm to get ours, which is a bit of a pain, but what can I say? We’re hooked.

In a nonstick pan over medium low heat, get your butter to a-browning as you slice up your onion. Once the butter is a nice, rich brown shade, add  your onions and let caramelize. I used this time to wash and chop up my salad, plus assemble the rest of my ingredients. Whisk your two eggs with the milk and seasoning. Remove onions from pan and set aside. There should be plenty of butter left in the pan, but if not, brown a bit more butter or add a little olive oil. Pour the egg mixture into your warm pan, keeping heat at medium low. Let it sit until the edges are starting to tighten and pull away from the sides of the pan. One of the best things about my “omelet” was I didn’t flip. So the bottom formed a nice oniony-brownbuttery crust (not lace edges, blgh, nope, this was a slightly crisp caramelized crust). Just be extra careful to keep the heat on the lower spectrum as burnt eggs are gross.

Once there is a layer of firmness to your egg mixture with only a slight liquid on top, sprinkle your spinach leaves across the top, lay the onions in a line across the middle and top with cheese. Let cook for another 2 or 3 minutes, until the ingredients are warmed up and cheese melted. Gently fold the egg layer; either as a typical omelet, or more of a taco or as I did, a haphazard edge up on each side. Don’t beat yourself up, eggs are stubborn! I shaved a bit more cheese on top to make myself feel better about the lack of omelet perfection, turned the heat off, plated the rest of the meal and then slid the halved omelet onto each plate.

It might not have been perfect but WOW was it good. Just goes to show, pushing your limits can often create wonderful discoveries. Good luck and enjoy!