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You are here: Home / Recipes / Breakfast & brunch / Mushroom, Mozzarella and chive omelettes

Mushroom, Mozzarella and chive omelettes

by Jeanne Horak on November 18, 2007 8 Comments in Breakfast & brunch, Eggs, Gluten-free, NaBloPoMo 2007, Recipes, Vegetarian

Mushroom mozzarella chive omelette

Another lazy weekend, another lazy lunch.

My mom never insisted that my brother and I help her cook.  Of course, we always had to help with laying the table and doing the dishes, but she was happy to do the actual cooking herself.  (I used to think she was just spoiling us, but the older I get and the more I morph into her, I think the secret reason was probably that she was as much of a control freak in the kitchen as I am…!).  But if we were in the kitchen while she was cooking she was always happy to share her knowledge with us, and before we left home she did insist on teaching us two things:  how to make a roux and how to make an omelette.

My mom’s mother passed away suddenly when she was very young, and as a result she never had happy memories of learning to cook at her mom’s side in her childhood kitchen, and she had no heirloom family recipes.  Thinking back, I guess this had an influence on the way she cooked – as with many other things, she had to make her own way in the world and didn’t have a long family tradition to fall back on.  But along the way, she picked up diverse bits of culinary knowledge from various sources.  As a student, she shared accommodation with a friend studying to be a dietician, from whom she learned the food groups that you should include in a healthy meal as well as how to do this on a budget; from a neighbour, she learned how to make the perfect omelette; and so forth.  And seeing that this latter skill had stood her in good stead, she decided it was something my brother and I should both learn.  She always said “if you can make a good omelette and pour a glass of wine, you will never have to worry if people drop by unexpectedly for a meal”.

Who would have thought that my mother, who never heard of Elizabeth David, would unwittingly be sharing her culinary philosophy…  This one is for you, Mamma, and for Elizabeth.

 

Mushroom mozzarella & chive omelette and a glass of white wine

 

MUSHROOM, MOZZARELLA AND CHIVE OMELETTES (for two)

Ingredients
4-6 large free-range eggs
100ml milk or single cream
a generous handful of fresh chives, snipped
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 shallots, chopped
a punnet of mushrooms (I used chestnut)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
half a ball of fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed
Extra virgin olive oil for frying
butter

Method

Chop the shallots, crush the garlic and wash & slice the mushrooms.  Heat a little oil in a frying pan and sautée the shallots and garlic for about 5 minutes over medium heat until the shallots are translucent.  Add the mushrooms and cook until they just start to soften.  Set aside and keep warm.

Place a knob of butter into a non-stick frying pan (or a well-seasoned cast iron one) and set over medium high heat.  In a small bowl, beat together half the eggs together with half the milk/cream, half the spices and half the chives.  When the butter is sizzling and beginning to brown, pour the egg mixture into the pan.  Scrape the mixture away from the sides with a non-stick spatula a couple of times, swirling the pan to make sure the bottom of the pan remains evenly covered with the egg mix.  Cook, keeping an eye on it, until the egg mix is bubbling and just set on top.  (If you are struggling to get the omelette to set on top without burning the bottom, a little shortcut is to pre-heat the grill when you start cooking and place the pan under the grill for 30 seconds to a minute to set the top!)

When the egg is just set and beginning to brown on the bottom, place half the mozzarella cubes and half the mushroom mix on one half of the omelette.  Then slide it out of the pan and onto a warmed plate and flip the other half over to close the omelette.  Repeat with the rest of the ingredients to make a second omelette and serve immediately with a green salad and crusty bread.

And, of course, a glass of wine 🙂

Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month – a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here are all my NaBloPoMo ’07 posts so far.

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  1. Chris says

    November 19, 2007 at 1:36 am

    This looks so tasty. I am horrible at omelets and they always turn into scrambled mush. I may have to try again with this recipe! Looks perfect!

    Reply
  2. Kit says

    November 19, 2007 at 11:15 am

    Omelettes are the stand-by that my mother taught me too. She has a special copper omelette pan and they used to be a once a week supper. The only difference is that she never puts cream or milk in – straight eggs with seasoning. My girls have taken to them now – they like theirs with cheese in – I’m holding off on the glass of wine for them just for a few years yet!

    Reply
  3. Pam says

    November 19, 2007 at 10:17 pm

    This looks so good! I never have omelettes, except when no one else is home. It’s the perfect food for one!

    Reply
  4. sugarlaw says

    November 20, 2007 at 2:53 am

    This looks so great!!! Yum!

    Reply
  5. MonaVie says

    July 24, 2011 at 12:32 am

    I love omelette and I like that you put milk on it too. Normally if i’m too tired and wanted a quick meal I just put eggs and tomatoes plus milk…yummy. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
  6. Randi says

    August 28, 2016 at 5:38 pm

    Just prepared this for my boyfriend and I – delicious!! Thank you, and your mom, for sharing 🙂

    Reply
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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