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Omelet Birthday Closing In!
10 years ago
Dragonwuff Musings
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As wuffy mentioned in his prior journal, Vrghr has been honored by a request from his co-worker to prepare breakfast for her Birthday this Friday. She would like omelets.
Of course, if you've been following this wuff, you know Vrghr can't just grab a few eggs, a can of sliced mushrooms, some "bacon bits" and a bag of shredded "cheese product", and whip up a few quick and dirty dishes. Oh no! For something like this, these have GOT to be as special as the occasion. Wuff's got to do these babies up right!
So, today is the trip to market for all the fresh ingredients to go into the omelets: Double-smoked, peppered bacon. Black forest ham. Vine ripe or heirloom tomatoes. Shallots. Fresh spinach. Cremini and Shiitaki mushrooms. (no one wants green peppers, and one person is allergic, so none of those)
Then there's the "fixings" for the omelet toppings: Fresh tomato salsa (fresh tomatoes, Italian parsley, shallots, garlic, olive oil, a touch of vinegar, and barrel-aged gourmet Sriracha). Homemade Creme Fraiche (whipping cream and buttermilk). And - maybe - Hollandaise sauce.
Wuff's a bit tentative on that latter. Hollandaise is a LOVELY sauce for eggs, but it is VERY temperamental. It hates to "hold", practically refuses to reheat, and even when you agree to those conditions, it loves to "break" back into runny butter and "all else" and just lay there. Just to spite you! Vrghr isn't entirely sure he wants to take that on, in addition to doing the rest of this extravaganza. But we'll see ...
Of course, wuff will need to ensure we have a good supply of high-quality eggs. Figuring on 3-per, with 8-10 guests, that means more than the dozen wuffy has ready in his fridge.
Then there's the "grated cheese". A good omelet demands good cheese. Vrghr is going to be grating his own from a mild, creamy, easy-melting Havarti, a middling-sharp aged cheese (cheddar or maybe gouda), and some nice Mozzarella. These ought to give a nice, rich, stringy-melty cheese component without completely overpowering the eggs and other ingredients. However, wuffy is open to suggestions on this part, since there are SO MANY wonderful cheeses that could work here.
Have chatted with the co-workers, and some are bringing coffee cake, fresh fruit, and "interesting" juices. But we seem to be a little shy for an accompanying starch. So wuff is going to also put together some nice "cottage fried" red-skinned potatoes. Wuffy posted the "going in" recipe for those in answer to a post from
yelleena in the prior journal. But here it is again, should others be interested:
We have a very large electric skillet at work, but making the potatoes fully from scratch there will take quite a few minutes. And we want to have everyone ready to start eating by 8 AM. So wuff will speed the morning cooking a wee bit but still make the 'taters fresh like so.
1) Take about a pound and a half of red-skinned or yellow skinned potatoes. Wash, but don't peel.
2) Cut into 3/8 to 1/2 inch dice.
3) Par boil in boiling water, seasoned with salt, parsley, and granulated garlic. Cook until they begin to get a little tender, but aren't completely "ready to mash" texture (about 8-10 minutes).
4) Drain, and pack in a gallon zip-top bag for the next morning. Refrigerate.
5) While potatoes are boiling, chop a med-large onion into small dice. Mince 3-4 cloves of garlic. Package together in a small sandwich bag and refrigerate until the next morning.
6) On the day of the breakfast, set the electric skillet to High (400 degrees). A 3-4 Tbs of butter, and 1-2 Tbs of Olive Oil. Allow to heat until the foaming stops. Let heating continue until the butter begins to slightly color.
7) Add bag of onions/garlic. Stir about until the onions lose some of their sharp flavor (begin to turn translucent) and the garlic become fragrant (~3 minutes).
8) Pour in the bag of par-boiled potatoes. Stir to coat well with the garlic-onion flavored butter and olive oil. Spread into a single layer if possible and let fry until the bottom it browned slightly. (4-5 minutes)
9) Stir to bring new potato surface to bear on the hot skillet, and allow to brown again. Continue to stir and brown until all potatoes reach desired stage of toasty brownness.
10) Season with selected herbs (Tarragon, Marjoram, Parsley, Rosemary?). Taste, and if desired, season with granulated garlic and onion, and salt and pepper.
11) Cover and reduce skillet heat to medium low. Allow potatoes to warm, covered, until serving time. Stir occasionally, as needed.
Hopefully this means wuff's 'taters will be ready to eat in about 20 minutes or so. Which means they'll be ready to start accompanying the omelets if wuffy arrives at 0730 for the make-to-order cooking to start at 8 AM.
*Rubs his paws together* Looks like this is coming together nicely! Wuff will be doing his "mise en place" tonight and tomorrow. Dicing the veggies, frying the chopped bacon, making the salsa, fermenting the Creme Fraiche, and grating lots of cheese. Those will all be nicely packaged for the morning, so all wuff needs to do is concentrate on whipping out omelets with the desired flavors. Wuff's also going to break out his "emergency Induction hob" so he can run the omelets with a standard 8" skillet, instead of trying to use the shop's griddle or deep electric skillet. Those are just the wrong tools for easy omelet makings.
*bounces* Vrghr is both a little bit anxious, and very excited at the prospects of this! Despite all wuff's time in the kitchen, he's never done professional duty as a "line" or "short order" cook. Vrghr knows he can make these, but can he do them FAST? Fast enough to get everyone at the table reasonably quickly with just 2 skillets running (that's all the more heating sources we've got)? This is definitely going to be an interesting experience!
Wish me luck!
Of course, if you've been following this wuff, you know Vrghr can't just grab a few eggs, a can of sliced mushrooms, some "bacon bits" and a bag of shredded "cheese product", and whip up a few quick and dirty dishes. Oh no! For something like this, these have GOT to be as special as the occasion. Wuff's got to do these babies up right!
So, today is the trip to market for all the fresh ingredients to go into the omelets: Double-smoked, peppered bacon. Black forest ham. Vine ripe or heirloom tomatoes. Shallots. Fresh spinach. Cremini and Shiitaki mushrooms. (no one wants green peppers, and one person is allergic, so none of those)
Then there's the "fixings" for the omelet toppings: Fresh tomato salsa (fresh tomatoes, Italian parsley, shallots, garlic, olive oil, a touch of vinegar, and barrel-aged gourmet Sriracha). Homemade Creme Fraiche (whipping cream and buttermilk). And - maybe - Hollandaise sauce.
Wuff's a bit tentative on that latter. Hollandaise is a LOVELY sauce for eggs, but it is VERY temperamental. It hates to "hold", practically refuses to reheat, and even when you agree to those conditions, it loves to "break" back into runny butter and "all else" and just lay there. Just to spite you! Vrghr isn't entirely sure he wants to take that on, in addition to doing the rest of this extravaganza. But we'll see ...
Of course, wuff will need to ensure we have a good supply of high-quality eggs. Figuring on 3-per, with 8-10 guests, that means more than the dozen wuffy has ready in his fridge.
Then there's the "grated cheese". A good omelet demands good cheese. Vrghr is going to be grating his own from a mild, creamy, easy-melting Havarti, a middling-sharp aged cheese (cheddar or maybe gouda), and some nice Mozzarella. These ought to give a nice, rich, stringy-melty cheese component without completely overpowering the eggs and other ingredients. However, wuffy is open to suggestions on this part, since there are SO MANY wonderful cheeses that could work here.
Have chatted with the co-workers, and some are bringing coffee cake, fresh fruit, and "interesting" juices. But we seem to be a little shy for an accompanying starch. So wuff is going to also put together some nice "cottage fried" red-skinned potatoes. Wuffy posted the "going in" recipe for those in answer to a post from
yelleena in the prior journal. But here it is again, should others be interested:We have a very large electric skillet at work, but making the potatoes fully from scratch there will take quite a few minutes. And we want to have everyone ready to start eating by 8 AM. So wuff will speed the morning cooking a wee bit but still make the 'taters fresh like so.
1) Take about a pound and a half of red-skinned or yellow skinned potatoes. Wash, but don't peel.
2) Cut into 3/8 to 1/2 inch dice.
3) Par boil in boiling water, seasoned with salt, parsley, and granulated garlic. Cook until they begin to get a little tender, but aren't completely "ready to mash" texture (about 8-10 minutes).
4) Drain, and pack in a gallon zip-top bag for the next morning. Refrigerate.
5) While potatoes are boiling, chop a med-large onion into small dice. Mince 3-4 cloves of garlic. Package together in a small sandwich bag and refrigerate until the next morning.
6) On the day of the breakfast, set the electric skillet to High (400 degrees). A 3-4 Tbs of butter, and 1-2 Tbs of Olive Oil. Allow to heat until the foaming stops. Let heating continue until the butter begins to slightly color.
7) Add bag of onions/garlic. Stir about until the onions lose some of their sharp flavor (begin to turn translucent) and the garlic become fragrant (~3 minutes).
8) Pour in the bag of par-boiled potatoes. Stir to coat well with the garlic-onion flavored butter and olive oil. Spread into a single layer if possible and let fry until the bottom it browned slightly. (4-5 minutes)
9) Stir to bring new potato surface to bear on the hot skillet, and allow to brown again. Continue to stir and brown until all potatoes reach desired stage of toasty brownness.
10) Season with selected herbs (Tarragon, Marjoram, Parsley, Rosemary?). Taste, and if desired, season with granulated garlic and onion, and salt and pepper.
11) Cover and reduce skillet heat to medium low. Allow potatoes to warm, covered, until serving time. Stir occasionally, as needed.
Hopefully this means wuff's 'taters will be ready to eat in about 20 minutes or so. Which means they'll be ready to start accompanying the omelets if wuffy arrives at 0730 for the make-to-order cooking to start at 8 AM.
*Rubs his paws together* Looks like this is coming together nicely! Wuff will be doing his "mise en place" tonight and tomorrow. Dicing the veggies, frying the chopped bacon, making the salsa, fermenting the Creme Fraiche, and grating lots of cheese. Those will all be nicely packaged for the morning, so all wuff needs to do is concentrate on whipping out omelets with the desired flavors. Wuff's also going to break out his "emergency Induction hob" so he can run the omelets with a standard 8" skillet, instead of trying to use the shop's griddle or deep electric skillet. Those are just the wrong tools for easy omelet makings.
*bounces* Vrghr is both a little bit anxious, and very excited at the prospects of this! Despite all wuff's time in the kitchen, he's never done professional duty as a "line" or "short order" cook. Vrghr knows he can make these, but can he do them FAST? Fast enough to get everyone at the table reasonably quickly with just 2 skillets running (that's all the more heating sources we've got)? This is definitely going to be an interesting experience!
Wish me luck!
Everything sounds just delicious too. The cheese blend you chose especially sounds divine!
Vrghr chatted with his cheese monger, and in addition to the Havarti, Gouda, and Mozzarella, they recommended a Catamount Hills gourmet cheese with a sort of white-cheddar base flavor and snappy bits of Parmigiana Reggiano flavors within. It's also supposed to melt quite well. It tasted WONDERFUL, and ought to add a nice touch to the other flavors! Wuff might just make his personal omelet tomorrow a "cheese only", if this is as good as it should be.
Vrghr has been doing the prepping the last couple days. Looks like we're all ready to go now. Got the chives, spinach, tomatoes, and ham chopped and diced. Shallots minced and gently sautéed. Bacon chopped and fried (and it smelled amazing! That's some GOOD bacon!). Mushrooms sliced and sautéed with butter, olive oil, a hint of garlic, and some salt/pepper. Cheese all grated and mixed together. Salsa prepped and "melding" in the 'fridge. Hollandaise ready for prep tomorrow. Creme Fraiche resting in the 'fridge.
Tested the skillets out with both the old, old fondue heater element, and the new Induction cook top. 2 out of 3 skillets work on the Induction top (one has too small of a base for the unit to properly register). So wuff can run 2 pans on the heat, wipe out and ready the third.
Found a little 1 qt slow cooker to keep the Hollandaise "happy" in. *grins* So will give it a go.
All in all, we should be ready for the big day!
Sure hope wuffy gets time in the flow of things to snap a few pictures of this and that! This should be memorable.
It better have been - the bulk cheeses for it probably cost more than about 90% of the rest of the ingredients put together! *chuckles* It's a bit frightening to look at a block of cheese, and see a "per pound" price as high as a good beef steak! Bit it was SO YUMMY!!