Caught A Case Of Brokeness? It's Omelet Sandwich Time.
One of my earliest cooking memories is with my cousin around age eight, waiting until the nanny and our little brothers succumbed to naptime and sneaking into the kitchen to recreate her omelet sandwich (which if you are Indian you know can very well be the greatest breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack ever).
It was a really simple thing: a sautéed onion and minced serrano pepper omelet on toast served with tons of ketchup. We were yelled at so many times for using the stove, but we kept doing it. One of the nanny's many impossible jobs became "making sure the kids don't try to make omelet sandwiches."
Thanks to the magic of non-stick pans, we actually churned out some passable creations. Early on, we learned the importance of picking out even the smallest shell fragments and taking all the seeds out of the chile without touching any of them. It was my first experience with onion burn — turns out he's immune to the sting of slicing the devils (also poison ivy), so he'd do that and I'd break down the chile with my burgeoning knife skills. Then we'd beat eggs, melt butter and stare into the pan, arguing whether this would be the time the liquid didn't set, or that the pan was too hot or not hot enough. When I say omelet, by the way, I mean "amorphous overcooked scramble." Later in our 20s, we'd throw some killer dinner parties.
But I bring this up because I kind of blew out my bank account this month having an awesome summer (I stand by it) and have succumbed to, no, not naptime, but Omelet Week. I used to celebrate this sad holiday while interning in the city. It's not like Shark Week. It's nothing like Frozen Drinks Week, those are 'spensive. And the silver lining, because with lunch there is always a silver lining, is that I've rediscovered the greatest cheap-o breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack ever, and have re-mastered my omeletry. A few concepts to share, depending on exactly how broke I am:
- Caprese
- Hot smoked salmon
- Sriracha-infused eggs
-
Egg toastie (get back on the boat, Jess) - Crispy prosciutto
- Okra
- And since it's summer, stick whatever omelet you make on this.
So thank you once more to the omelet gods for not causing us children to burn our houses down, apologies to Iris for making you worry we were going to burn the house down if you took a nap and most of all, thank you eggs for being cheap and delicious, setting eventually even over the lowest heat and being there when you need 'em.
More eggs for lunch on Food Republic: