King's Omelette

King's Omelette: 
Wild and Garden Herb and Vegetable Omelette


Lately, I've been reading A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin. There is a lot of exotic, detail described, freshly prepared food the characters partake of in this series. Without all that warring and conspiring, how would they ever burn off all the calories? And yet, much of the fare is mouth watering to read, especially their many coursed feasts. However, most of their breakfasts (breaking the fast as they say in ye old world of A Song of Ice and Fire) were very simple, a bit on the dull and repetitive side ( a lot of boiled eggs) , and overall failed to inspire me.

I decided it was time to create one of my own, an inspired kingly breakfast. I aspired to indulge the Ladies and Lords with a different fare: a delectable and hardy, but healthy, herb filled first (or second or third, fourth, fifth? etc) meal for ye royal appetites of olde: a breakfast fit for a King!

Zürich, Grossmünster church : Crypt with Charlemagne statue (original) of the southern tower. By Roland zh (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grossm%C3%BCnster_-_Innenansicht_-_Krypta_-_Charlemagne_2010-08-30_16-37-00.JPG

And here it is:

A many herb -including fresh dill- mushroom, spinach, tomato, and dandelion leaf omelette with roasted herb potatoes served with a dill sauce, and a side herb salad.

Ingredients:

Coffee (of course!) (I know they would do beer or mead or wine, but me, I like my coffee just fine with my eggs) (If you're really going for a theme, you can always brew dandelion root tea or roast dandelion roots for dandelion coffee. Me, I like dark roast coffee, but the dandelion coffee or tea is very nice too.)

Omega 3 Grade A Organic Eggs 

Organic Milk

Organic Unsalted Butter  (Oh those were the days when you didn't have to ask for organic)

Olive Oil Pam  (Of course, modern inventions save on calories for those of us who do not wander the kingdoms for our daily exercise routines)

Fresh Orange Juice

Fresh Dill

Fresh Rosemary

Fresh Thyme

Fresh Lemon

Fresh Sage

Fresh Dandelion Leaves (You want to harvest these fresh in the spring somewhere where there are no pesticides in the ground, before they flower or else they will be too bitter. When in doubt or out of season Whole Foods -of olde- carries them too.)

Fresh Red Potatoes

Fresh Herb Lettuce or Spring Mix  (All the fresh goodness from ye handy nearby garden or cook's greenery)

Good Dijon Mustard (I like Maille old style  -it's olde style also, so go with it, it's keeping the theme alive-  whole grain Dijon. It's a little up there in calories, but the taste is divine.)

Mayonnaise (I know but sometimes you have to) (I am still searching for taste in alternatives.)

Sea Salt

Black Ground Pepper

Black Grinder Pepper

Ground Paprika

1/2 Shredded Carrot

Fresh Baby Spinach

Fresh Brown Mushrooms

Cherry Tomatoes

Chi-Chi's Chunky Hot Salsa  (some ingredients you have to go back to the future for)

Fresh Parsley

Turmeric Powder

Grape Seed Oil

~~
Potatoes:
Thin slice the potatoes and put in a shallow baking pan sprayed with Pam Olive Oil. Spray potatoes with Pam Olive Oil, pepper generously and sprinkle with a few pinches of fresh parsley.

If you want, you can also squeeze a tablespoon or two of fresh lemon and 1 or 2 T. of grape seed oil in a bowl and brush the potatoes as well.

Put the potatoes in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, turning at least once, or more as needed, (and if using the lemon and oil, brush on again when turning). Shred (mince) 1/2 carrot, chop up some fresh dandelion, and rough cut about four cherry tomatoes and stir these in about fifteen minutes before potatoes are done.

Prep:
Place a handful of fresh herb lettuce on each serving plate.

Scissor cut about 5 loose Tbsps. of fresh dill, put 3 T in a bowl and set aside.  Set aside another T. of fresh dill on a spice plate. Throw in the remaining dill scraps over the herb lettuce portions.

Cut up about 6-7 large dandelion leaves. Chop up the stems in little pieces and the leaves in bigger pieces. Throw a couple of leaves in with the salad on the plates.

Dill Sauce for Potatoes:
In the bowl with three T. of fresh dill, add 3 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt and pepper, 4 teaspoon of good Dijon, and 1/2 cup loosely packed mayonnaise. If you want to stir this the olde way, you can just take a fork or a whisk (Did they have whisks in ye olden times?) and whisk this to a cream. Or, if like me, you want to dash back to modern appliance times, just throw it in the Magic Bullet for a few seconds. Set aside.

More Prep:
Chop fresh thyme and rosemary and sage pieces and set aside with the T. chopped dill.

Begin Vegetable and Herb Saute:
In a  small fry pan, coated with Pam Olive Oil, add 1-2 T. butter. Add some of the thyme and rosemary and sage and dill pieces, then saute a whole pan of sliced mushrooms. Add pepper and  a touch of paprika.

In a second small fry pan, melt 1 T. butter and then put the butter in a small bowl and mix with 3/4 teaspoon of ground turmeric.

Check the potatoes:
They should be about 30-35 minutes by now with another 10-15 minutes to go.
(If they aren't cooking, raise up the oven to 450 and turn again in 10 minutes before proceeding. )
When the potatoes seem close to ready, proceed.
If you are using the lemon and oil mixture, brush on one more time. Stir in the extra ingredients (shredded carrot, minced cherry tomato, and dandelion accents) into the potatoes. (The last ten - fifteen minutes is a good time for this, so they integrate, but don't get fried over the longer time the potatoes need.) Also, you can add some lemon zest over the potatoes either now or just before serving.

Continuing the Sauteed Vegetables:
When the mushrooms are starting to brown, add in about 6 (sliced in half or thirds) cherry tomatoes. A few minutes later, stir the turmeric butter into the pan as well. Continue sauteing. Towards the end, throw in a handful of the chopped up dandelion stems too.

Begin Omelette:

Stir 2 eggs per person with milk in a bowl.*

*Note: This recipe is for one hungry person, or, if you aren't that hungry, you can split it. But if you are cooking more, keep to a 2 egg + milk omelette in a small pan for each portion; there are a LOT of veggies in this and a bigger one may not flip well.

Melt another 1/2 T. of butter in the second pan. Add egg mix into the heated pan. Add more of the chopped thyme, rosemary, sage, and dill and pepper. Add the chopped dandelion stems and then the leaves. Add spinach leaves. Let wilt a minute in the egg mixture while the omelette sets up. Add all or a lot of the sauteed mushrooms and cherry tomatoes mixture over the top. Sprinkle with more pepper and lemon zest.

Let this set up and omelette brown nicely before turning. When you turn, add in 1/2 T. more butter so that omelette browns nicely on opposite side.


Serve:
Serve with potatoes on plate with drizzle of dill sauce over. Serve omelette with Chi Chi's hot salsa on side or over. Leave salad undressed. Pour orange juice and fresh coffee with milk.

This omelette is so colorful, so exotic, and so healthy!

Yumm!

-bbffair
(Ye Olde King's Cook - (or Queen's)- whoever wins the Game of Thrones)

Omelet Béarnaise

Fresh Baby Spinach and Mushroom Omelet with Béarnaise Sauce


This is my favorite omelet.





  

[Spinach Farmers Market Baby by mcolletterogers courtesy of photobucket.com]

Grocery List:

-eggs
-whole milk
-Sunflower Oil
-Soy Free Earth Balance Spread or Unsalted or Lightly Salted Grass Fed Butter

-Pam Olive Oil

-dry Béarnaise Sauce package (like Knorrs or other dry package, some are better than others, I like mine less salty)

-fresh ground pepper

-fresh baby spinach
-fresh brown and white mushrooms
-one tomato

~~

Slice a tomato on your plate and set aside.

In a small sauce-pan mix the Béarnaise sauce altering the directions by using 2TBSPs of Soy Free Earth Balance or 2 TBSPs Butter (in place of 4 TBSPs of richer butter or margarine, you don't need that much). Set-off the heat when cooked, but leave the burner on.

In a small skillet or frying pan, sprayed with Pam Olive Oil and 2 teaspoons of Smart Balance saute a whole pan of sliced mushrooms until browned. Move them to a small plate.

Beat 2 eggs in a bowl with a splash of whole milk.

Add another teaspoon of Smart Balance or butter to the pan and, on medium heat, add in the eggs.

When a bottom has formed on the omelet cover the egg mixture with fresh baby spinach (it will wilt) and all of the mushrooms. (If you have too many for this to cook right, put them on the plate with the tomatoes, but I love mushrooms. More is better!)

When ready, and slightly browned, flip egg over and cook the rest and rewarm the Béarnaise sauce.

Put omelet on the plate and cover with about 1/4 of the Béarnaise sauce.

Yumm.

375 calories and lots of flavor and vegies!

-bbffair

Note:
Béarnaise sauce (French: Sauce béarnaise) [be.aʁnɛz]^[1] is a sauce made of clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks and flavored with herbs. It is considered to be a 'child' of the mother Hollandaise sauce, one^[2] of the five sauces in the French haute cuisine mother sauce repertoire. The difference is only in their flavoring: Béarnaise uses shallot, chervil, peppercorn, and tarragon, while Hollandaise uses lemon juice.
In appearance it is light yellow and opaque, smooth and creamy.
Béarnaise is a traditional sauce for steak*.     (*But I love it on eggs too!)

[copied from wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9arnaise_sauce]

Southwestern Hit-It-Hot Omelet

I'm Hungry! This is no time to mess around. I need nourishment now.

Here is one of my sure fixes. It's a Southwestern Hit-It-Hot Omelet.

[Orange Bell Pepper by Sirenne Courtesy of Photobucket.com]

For your Grocery List, you will need:

-2 Eggs
-2 TBSP Soy Free Earth Balance (cooler health food section) or Fresh Butter
-2 Big Fresh Brown Mushrooms (or 1 white, 1 brown)
-Slices from 1 red or orange and 1 yellow sweet pepper
-1 Tomato
-Baby Spinach
-1/8 Avocado
-Fresh Black Pepper
-Dried Parsley Flakes
-Chi-Chi's medium thick and chunky salsa
-Shaken Cold Tropicana Orange Juice

~~

In a small skillet or frying pan sprayed with Pam Olive Oil, add 1 TBSP Earth Balance or Butter and heat up pan hot to about level seven (medium high).
Cut a 1 inch section from each of your two peppers and cut into thin strips and toss into the pan.
Cut the 2 mushrooms into thin strips and then again and throw the pin size pieces into the pan after the pepper. Make sure the peppers really, really cook while sauteing the mixture. Let the mushrooms get good and brown too. Pepper and add dried parsley flakes.

Chop 2/3 of the tomato into small pieces and 1/3 into bite size pieces. Put the 1/3 part on a plate along with 1/8 of an avocado wedged.

When the peppers and mushrooms are nice and tender and browned, throw in the 2/3 tomato pieces and add another TBSP of Earth Balance.

Beat two eggs with a dash of whole milk in a bowl.

When the liquid reduces from the tomatoes, throw in a big handful of fresh baby spinach. Fold in and cook for another 30-60 seconds. Then throw in the beaten eggs over it all and let it sort itself out and do what it's going to do. Reduce heat to medium (about level 6) once you've added the eggs.

Pour your orange juice. Put fresh cracked or ground pepper on the table and the salsa and wait for it.

The bottom will brown nicely and then flip it. When it looks fully cooked, slide it onto the plate with the 1/3 tomato and the avocado wedges. Go ahead and cover it over with Salsa because there are only 10 calories in 2 TBSPs. You can have 6 TBSPs if you love salsa like I do.

Enjoy.

This filling meal, orange juice included, with 6 TBSPs of salsa will cost you 632 calories.

You can even have a big mug-sized cup of freshly brewed coffee with 1/4 cup of whole milk and call it 675.

You will be out of the danger-zone and feeling no hunger pain and have worked your flavor well. You'll have used your calories where they added flavor but did the least amount of harm, all while taking care of your appetite and eating a balanced and balancing meal.

-bbffair

Notes:

1.)  I can't usually eat sweet peppers because they give me kick-back, but once in awhile, when I just have to indulge, I have discovered that if I cook them nice and tender and browned that they are no problem at all.

2.)  Sometimes you just have to have a 700-800 calorie meal to get rid of the "I'm hungry's!" It's better that you have a few ideas of where to run for the right meal than taking a more calorie costly turn, (i.e., a "plan-of-action" :-D )!

Eggs and A Sort of Greek-Inspired Omelet

Eggs

Not all eggs are created equally. After buying too too many tasteless, boring eggs, I decided to investigate a little deeper. I am still learning.

But here are a few of things I am learning about buying eggs:

1. The BEST choice is to buy pastured eggs from your local farmer or farmers' market. This

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

means the chickens were raised with significant outside time in fields, just like farms used to keep them. I have read that non-soy feed is apparently best if they are fed anything other than what nature provides, but talk to the farmer. He or she would know more about that than I do.

2. If you have to buy eggs in a store, you will find your better choices in the cooler in the health food section. Look for Grade A Eggs (not AA or AAA or B). Then look for: Omega-3, grain-fed, organic, hormone-and-antibiotic-free, and cage-free. ("Cage-free" is often a questionable claim though because what matters is the hens are significantly outside in the sunlight on the earth, not on a cemented "chicken-patio" with a window, but they probably won't make that distinction.)

I have learned to write a date on the top of the carton and tear it off and put it in my egg bin. I toss old eggs. I only repurchase egg brands I have been really pleased with.

Better, healthier eggs have much higher nutritional values, less fat, and they taste better, MUCH better.

~~

Now Let's Cook!

I love omelets and have a few specialties, most of which involve the vegetables I love in them. Today, while perusing sites about fresh seasonal vegetables, I decided to be adventurous and try something different. I came across a few Greek recipe sites and I had to try something similar, ala my own version:

A Sort of Greek-Inspired Omelet

Remember my julienned vegetables? You'll need a big handful.
Tomatoes.
2 fresh eggs
2 TBSPs milk
fresh ground pepper
dried parsley flakes (from the cupboard)
Pam Olive Oil nonstick spray
Fresh Sweet Butter or Soy Free Earth Balance or sunflower oil

(All of these things should be in your kitchen if you've been following my grocery lists, except the dried parsley flakes, that I have never known a kitchen cupboard to be without.)

One small regular frying pan.
One small non-stick frying pan.

Put aside about 1/5 of one tomato, cut into bite-size slices and put on a plate.
Chop up the rest of the tomatoes.

Spray your regular frying pan with the Pam Olive Oil spray and put in 1 tsp. of butter or soy free Earth Balance or sunflower oil. Heat up the pan nicely.
Throw in one big handful of the julienned vegetables and all of the chopped tomatoes. Start out hot, tossing constantly. Add pepper and parsley flakes.
After about five minutes, lower the heat and keep cooking, turning occasionally, until the juice from the tomatoes is all reduced. This will take about 30 minutes. (Really.)

While it's cooking, add a little more pepper and parsley flakes. Do this a couple of times or to taste. It'll get very soft and gushy looking.

Whip your eggs and 2 TBSPs of milk in a bowl.

Then spray the non-stick pan with Pam Olive Oil and 1 tsp. of Earth Balance.

(Believe me, you will be glad you went to another pan for this part. I didn't and got a sort of scrambled–but still tasty :-D–version the first time, because in my recipe I'm not working with much oil.)

Heat to medium.

Toss your gooey cooked vegie mixture into the egg bowl and fold it all together. Then pour the whole thing into the non-stick pan. Cook until brown and then carefully flip it and cook the other side.

Serve on the plate with the cut up tomatoes.

It really doesn't look like your ordinary omelet and it takes a bit long to do the vegies right, and I was sure they would taste overcooked, but this was pretty tasty.

Total Calories: 340

Let me know if you tried it and how it worked for you or if you came up with any variations. I'd love to know!

-bbffair