Fennel & Caerphilly omelette
I just had a really lovely and really simple dinner, so I'd like to share. (It didn't look like much, so no photos.)
It started like almost every other meal: I minced a small onion and crushed a large clove of garlic, and started them in some olive oil in a large pan on medium heat, with a bit of pink salt.
Then I added a medium-sized bulb of fresh fennel, diced. (I used an inch or two of the stem, but found the stemmy bits rather tough - next time I'll just use the bulb, or else cook the stem parts longer.)
This all got cooked until it was translucent, then I poured 4 beaten eggs over it all (I always use organic free-range eggs). It was barely enough egg to hold it all together, but managed to stay intact.
I put the lid on and turned the heat down and left it for a couple of minutes, until the egg was mostly set.
Then I added about a 1/3 C of crumbled Caerphilly* cheese, and put the lid back on to let it finish setting and get melty.
It was absolutely delicious - the fennel is slightly sweet, crisp and fresh, with the mildest of licorice scents to it, and the smooth salty cheese is a great compliment, and the eggs came out thick and fluffy. I enjoyed it on the patio with a vodka-and-tonic with garden-fresh mint and a couple of citronella candles to keep the 'squitos at bay, and finished with a bowl of fresh raspberries. Yum! Perfect for a hot, humid day.
*If you don't know Caerphilly, I strongly recommend trying it. It's a mild, salty, crumbly cheese with a slightly cheddaresque flavour, which comes from Wales. I'd been eying it in the 3-for-$10 cooler at the fromagerie at the market for a while, largely because in my head it sounds like "carefully" and that amuses me for some reason, but I think it's going to become one of my favourite cheeses.
Other cheeses I got today: Queso de Murcia al Vino, and Trappe d'Isigny. I don't know what they're like yet.
It started like almost every other meal: I minced a small onion and crushed a large clove of garlic, and started them in some olive oil in a large pan on medium heat, with a bit of pink salt.
Then I added a medium-sized bulb of fresh fennel, diced. (I used an inch or two of the stem, but found the stemmy bits rather tough - next time I'll just use the bulb, or else cook the stem parts longer.)
This all got cooked until it was translucent, then I poured 4 beaten eggs over it all (I always use organic free-range eggs). It was barely enough egg to hold it all together, but managed to stay intact.
I put the lid on and turned the heat down and left it for a couple of minutes, until the egg was mostly set.
Then I added about a 1/3 C of crumbled Caerphilly* cheese, and put the lid back on to let it finish setting and get melty.
It was absolutely delicious - the fennel is slightly sweet, crisp and fresh, with the mildest of licorice scents to it, and the smooth salty cheese is a great compliment, and the eggs came out thick and fluffy. I enjoyed it on the patio with a vodka-and-tonic with garden-fresh mint and a couple of citronella candles to keep the 'squitos at bay, and finished with a bowl of fresh raspberries. Yum! Perfect for a hot, humid day.
*If you don't know Caerphilly, I strongly recommend trying it. It's a mild, salty, crumbly cheese with a slightly cheddaresque flavour, which comes from Wales. I'd been eying it in the 3-for-$10 cooler at the fromagerie at the market for a while, largely because in my head it sounds like "carefully" and that amuses me for some reason, but I think it's going to become one of my favourite cheeses.
Other cheeses I got today: Queso de Murcia al Vino, and Trappe d'Isigny. I don't know what they're like yet.