Eastside Road, April 19, 2013—
TWO OF THE HUNDRED plates, at least, I used to think I had mastered: omelet; vinaigrette. I've described the latter here so many times I hardly need mention it again, but I will: mash a clove of garlic with the right amount of salt — I use an ordinary dinner fork to do this. Cover the result with the right amount of olive oil and let it stand. When you're about to toss the salad, add the right amount of good vinegar and whisk it into an emulsion with that dinner fork.The omelet's only a tiny bit trickier. I used to use butter, which can be treacherous as it burns readily. Since seeing the brillian final few minutes of that excellent movie The Big Night, I've used olive oil. Heat it to just under smoky and swirl it to cover the entire inside of the omelet pan. Whisk your eggs, two of them probably, in a dish, using a dinner fork.
Oh: After I've broken the eggs I toss the shells into the compost bucket. I then rinse my hands, as they're inevitably a little sticky with raw egg at this point, but I don't dry them: using my right hand, I scrape the excess water of my left hand into the dish of eggs; then repeat with the other hands. This adds just the right amount of water to the eggs.
I don't add salt, grated cheese, chopped fines herbes, or anything else. I whisk the eggs a little, just to break up the yolks; then I slide them into the hot omelet pan.
I lift the edge of the set egg with the fork to let the uncooked egg flow underneath. I swirl the pan. I toss the omelet to turn it, and to form it into the requisite perfect oval.
TONIGHT, HOWEVER, everything went wrong. The egg stuck, because I hadn't run the olive oil out to the very edge of the omelet pan. I forgot to warm the dinner plates. I had nothing on hand to season the omelet with after it had been cooked.
Worst of all, I tried to add the vinegar to the vinaigrette with my left hand, since my right hand was busy, and splashed way too much in; so I added more olive oil, enough for the next week, and now I'll have tired old vinaigrette on my salad for a few days.
Oh well: we're fed; that's the main thing. And I've learned another little lesson about complacency. It's time to resume omelets, one a week, until they're back in the hand again. And I've reminded myself about those special tricks of the kitchen: patience, attentiveness, self-discipline — all arts I mastered years ago, but have somehow let slide…
Cheap Soave
2 comments:
I don't add water to the egg, I add a tablespoon or so of whole cream. And a little salt.
I pre-head the pan and coat it lightly with a little olive oil.
If the pan is correctly coated, the egg won't stick, and you can life the omelet, to make any shape you want.
I usually put shaved or grated parmesan and whatever spicing or other ingredients I want right onto the center of the omelet, and then fold the side (or sides) over that.
If the omelet is too thick, it may not cook quickly enough, then I have to improvise by folding the excess off the pan back on top of the forming mass.
I think the vinegar is the trickiest part of dressings. There are so many kinds, with so many kinds of flavors. Vinegar is so powerful a taste, it's difficult to get the right balance. The "little gems" salad I get at Dopo on Piedmont in Oakland is the best I've ever had (with very fresh Romano, and tiny bits of anchovy). It doesn't interfere with the lettuce. It's irresistible.
I never add salt to uncooked egg; it seems to me salt toughens the egg while it cooks. I add salt after it's cooked, rubbing the grains between thumb and fingertips and letting them fall onto the egg, whether omelet or otherwise cooked.
I like adding grated cheese to the omelet before folding it, but too often I wind up with bits of cheese adhering to the pan itself; so I more often add the cheese (or chopped herbs, another favorite) to the unfolded omelet, cooked on only one side, and then fold it onto the (previously warmed) plate.
As to vinegar: yesterday we heard Deborah Madison (Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone) in conversation with Michele Anna Jordan, and afterward bought the new books by each (Vegetable Literacy; Vinaigrettes and Other Dressings). I asked Jordan what vinegar she preferred: Vinaigre de Banyuls is her favorite, she says; but she likes many, using each for an appropriate taste.
She asked what vinegar I like. My own, I answered, which I make from the Zinfandel grapes that grow on our hillside: but the other day, for a shallot vinaigrette, I used Champagne vinegar; and I also like Sherry vinegar.
One can always water a very sharp vinegar, or cut it with a sweeter. I almost never use straight Balsamic, for example; I like to blend Balsamic and Sherry vinegars. This will probably get me into trouble.
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