Did You Say Meatloaf Omelet?

*Note: There is no meatloaf in this omelet.

Not exactly, but we’ll get to that. One of my favorite things to do on Saturday morning is to head to the Pepper Place Farmers’ Market and shop until I drop (or at least until I blow through my $40 allowance).

Then we get home, with bags-a-bulging, and start unpacking our spoils. Speaking of spoils, the next step is to purge the crisper of last week’s wishful thinking. Even though I try to get to all my veggie friends, there’s inevitably a little bit of arugula, a lonely green onion, or maybe a mushroom or two loitering about. Good intentions, slowly going bad…

Last Saturday, instead of dooming these misfits to the rubbish bin, I invited them all to breakfast. I decided to do a Leftovers Omelet. I know this name hits about a 6 on the Repugnance Scale, but we’re not talking about meatloaf here — we’re talking about farm-fresh vegetables. Okay, farm fresh-ish.

The beauty of an omelet is several-fold. The cooking process disguises any droopiness your veggies may have acquired after a week in cold storage. ‘Wilted’ sounds so much more delicious when it’s on purpose, right? Second, cheese is the social lubricant of your omelet party. You can invite a few weirdo leftovers as long as you have plenty of cheese. Lastly, by this time, you are probably STARVING, which means your omelet will be 87% more delicious. SCORE.

See the clock? By 10 a.m., I could eat dirt omelets and declare them delicious!

The process is simple: pick your poisons, combine them in a bowl, and pour in a pan. Last Saturday, I used some leftover cappricola (a cured meat, like prosciutto), arugula, green onions, smoked mozzarella, Parmesan, and a slight glug of milk. Oh, and lots of salt and pepper.

Tip: Leftover bread-ends from Mix make delicious mini-toasts!

As far as cooking is concerned, I’ll go ahead and be honest — I think you must be God-fearing with a healthy prayer life to successfully flip an omelet. You know I love Jesus, but I drink a little. Consequently, my omelet flipping is haphazard at best. Usually I can get one done OK. Then I flip the other one and it goes careening out of the pan, nicking the stove hood, then spirals out of control, shedding bits of omelet flotsam across my stovescape.

I'm preparing to curse LOUDLY...

Caught in the act of cursing! (Why am I pointing?)

Good luck. Just use lots of Pam, pray a little bit, give the pan a jerk and flip, and be sure to CURSE loudly. My go-to omelet expletive is “Holy Shit!” …if that helps.

Have a wonderful weekend, and if you do dare to flip, take a picture of the crash site for me. Have a wonderful (and safe) Memorial Day Weekend!

Farmers Market Find to Adult Baby Food

All pics by Ray Hydrick...yes, even this one. And no, that is not baby food.

Let’s just say my wonderful Sunday wondering the farmers market didn’t exactly turn out the way I thought it would.  My dreams of taking my fresh veggie finds turned into a flash back to feeding my nieces and nephews gloppy substances from small little jars. Let me explain. 

Ray, our friend Jamie and I took a little trip to the farmers market on Findley Blvd.  I like to call it the “scary part of town” farmers market.  Regardless, I found some great stuff.  Young Vidalia onions with stems included - kind of looks like a scallion that is pregnant with a 8lb 1oz baby (Holla Kelly M.!) , squash, vine ripe tomatoes and to my surprise, pretty-little sweet peas.  They were already shelled and looked like green pearls waiting for my attention.  My mind drifts to the episode of Top Chef when one of the contestants was accused of stealing a sweet pea puree that in the end won the competition.  A winning pea puree?  I must try it.

After researching several recipes I decided on combining a few to make this dish.  I guess my expectation was to high.  I thought this would be the dish that would whisk me away to field that smelled of fresh-cut grass and warm breezes, instead it took me back to watching babies eat food that had a texture and color that was not found in nature.  Don’t get me wrong, it tasted good – the pea puree not the baby food.  Ray and I liked the taste…it was the texture.  Let me show you how I made it and at the end I’ll tell you how I would make it better.  Let’s make some adult baby food!

Sweet Pea Puree (aka Adult Baby Food)
24 ozs fresh green peas (you can use frozen)
2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 small lemon, juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

Start by rinsing the peas and picking out any bad ones. 

See...so pretty, so fresh

Place the peas in a medium sauce pan with the beef broth.  Boil peas for 5-8 minutes or until tender but not mushy (if using frozen peas, back that time down to 3-5 minutes). 

Before I pulverized the poor peas

Strain the liquid but save it, you will need it.  If using a stick blender, add cheese, olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar to the sauce pan with the peas.  If using a food processor, place ingredients in food processor.    Add half of the saved liquid, pulse or blend.  Add a little more liquid until smooth. 

Wow, that's a lot of baby food.

Most chefs place seafood on the pea puree but since Ray is allergic to fish (so he says), I used grilled chicken.

Slice grilled chicken on top of your baby food to cover it.

What would I do different?
I would have added a little more liquid to mine and add a little half&half for richness and puree to REALLY smooth. 

So maybe my day might have been disappointing but the way I look at it, I tried a new dish with fresh ingredients and I didn’t get mugged at the “scary side of town” farmers market…score!

Blue Eggs for Easter (or Breakfast!)

Even though April Fool’s Day is right around the corner, I’m totally not joking about the blue eggs. Don’t get me wrong…I love to dye eggs, but these darlings are naturally beautiful. They came from the Real Food farmer’s market, which raises funds for the Alabama Waldorf School, located in Crestwood at the old Comer Elementary School.

Since it’s early in the growing season, the selection is modest, but it’s a fun tease for the upcoming summer bounty. Don’t go expecting Pepper Place…this is small scale, but just as friendly, and just as delicious. Last week I got those beautiful eggs, as well as some lovely fresh crimini mushrooms, which inspired my first omelet (pictured above). Mushrooms for breakfast? Delicious, I tell you. That’s the fun of a farmer’s market– however big or small–they inspire  you to cook with ingredients in new and fun ways.

If you live in the area, try to stop by on Thursday. They have pretty specific hours, so take note: 8 a.m.–9 a.m.; noon–1 p.m.; and 2:30–3:30 p.m. It’s the building on the far left of the complex; go in the main door and take your first right to find the goods. For you GPSers, here’s the address: 1220 50th Street South.

Here’s the Price List for tomorrow:

By the pound:
Yukon Gold Potato   $0.50 USA
Sweet Potato    $1.00 Alabama
Portabello Mushroom   $5.50 USA
Red Onion     $1.00 USA
Broccoli Crown    $2.00 USA

By the unit:
Fuji Apple     $0.75 USA
Orange      $0.25 California
Strawberry 1 lb. container  $2.75 Florida
Dozen Free-Range Eggs  $3.00 Moody
Alabama Honey 2 lb.  $10.00 Odenville

Happy April Fool’s Day…get in the Kitchen and make some Mischief!