Omelets and Frittatas - September 30, 2012

We get a dozen local farm eggs every other week in our farm box, but our friends Lynn and Kim who live in Nashville only have to walk in their back yard for eggs because they have four yard birds!  When they came to visit, they brought us a dozen beautifully colored eggs which we fried and poached for breakfast.  And they were delicious.  It got me thinking about the fact that those with chickens do have to think about using them up or finding ways to share or sell.  But, for me, eggs cooked as omelets and frittatas are also a great way to clean out the fridge.  You don't need a great amount of any one thing to make a great omelette, so it is a great solution when there are lots of little left overs in your fridge but not enough of anything to make a meal.

As you can see from my bowl, I had the last of the garden cherry tomatoes, a red pepper, a jar of olives, a small piece of cheese, some pepperoni, and some wilting parsley.  There was also a small bit of salsa and sour cream.  So, I started by sauteing everything except the salsa, cheese and sour cream in a small skillet with olive oil.  Once the juices were cooked out and everything started to brown, I cracked two eggs over it and as the eggs cooked, lifted the sides so the uncooked egg could continue to run to the bottom and cook.   

Once the omelet was mostly cooked, I crumbled the cheese on top and flipped the omelet over to hold the cheese.  This would all have been much prettier if I was willing to make a three egg omelet so it would fill the pan and make a perfect half circle.  I topped my omelet with the sour cream and salsa.  It wasn't the prettiest, but it tasted great.

Frittatas can also be used the same way to clean out your fridge.  These call for around 6 eggs with milk in a pan that can then be placed in a hot oven to cook through (see frittata recipe on my garlic blog).