Ratatouille Omelette Redux

 

 Although the weather has finally turned chilly (for a day or two), this weekend the farmer's market was surprisingly still full of gorgeous tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, etc.

So I thought I'd go with one last hurrah for summer produce and share this old post. It didn't get too much attention the first time around, so maybe more people will get to see it today.

 

Ratatouille Omelette and a Trip Down Memory Lane

Many years ago (too many to count!), one of my first jobs was as a waitress in a French restaurant. The owner was the most superb chef. He was Spanish, but his wife was French, and his cooking was definitely French and out of this world delicious!!!

I don't want to tell you how many times we would go in the fridge and steal spoonfuls of his incredible chocolate chip mousse.

Then there were the late nights when he would feed all of us after the restaurant closed at midnight. It was a heady experience for a high school student to be sitting around the communal table enjoying what Jose whipped up for us. One big family with Brigitte at the head of the table.

One of my favorites was a ratatouille omelette. Never before and never since have I had one made quite so well.

But last night when I was walking home from work (and starving because I'd had only a few mouthfuls of lunch), I decided to do my own version with some leftover summer veggies.

I didn't have any eggplant (and didn't think to buy any).

Mine wasn't Jose's but it was pretty darn tasty.

I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Wonderful summer vegetables. I love the colors!!!

Added some oregano, basil, and garlic.

And then tonight, when I got home after a late church meeting, I had the leftover ratatouille on some leftover Italian bread with garlic and cheese.

Sorry the picture isn't more clear. I was hungry!

But now I want some of that heavenly chocolate mousse!

Ratatouille Omelette and a Trip Down Memory Lane

Many years ago (too many to count!), one of my first jobs was as a waitress in a French restaurant. The owner was the most superb chef. He was Spanish, but his wife was French, and his cooking was definitely French and out of this world delicious!!!

I don't want to tell you how many times we would go in the fridge and steal spoonfuls of his incredible chocolate chip mousse.

Then there were the late nights when he would feed all of us after the restaurant closed at midnight. It was a heady experience for a high school student to be sitting around the communal table enjoying what Jose whipped up for us. One big family with Brigitte at the head of the table.

One of my favorites was a ratatouille omelette. Never before and never since have I had one made quite so well.

But last night when I was walking home from work (and starving because I'd had only a few mouthfuls of lunch), I decided to do my own version with some leftover summer veggies.

I didn't have any eggplant (and didn't think to buy any).

Mine wasn't Jose's but it was pretty darn tasty.

I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Wonderful summer vegetables. I love the colors!!!

Added some oregano, basil, and garlic.

And then tonight, when I got home after a late church meeting, I had the leftover ratatouille on some leftover Italian bread with garlic and cheese.

Sorry the picture isn't more clear. I was hungry!

But now I want some of that heavenly chocolate mousse!

How do you cook an omelette?

So this is a simple post with a big question. How do you make an omelet?

I was standing in line in my favorite local muffin shop and I noticed the counter person making an omelet for a customer. Well it took me a bit to realize he was making an omelet. At first he was just sauteing tomatoes and basil. But then he poured the egg over the top.


*lightbulb moment*

That is how you're supposed to do it???

All these years I've been cooking the eggs first and then putting my fillings on top and trying to flip it without making a mess. Sometimes it works better than others, but I'm not much on appearance.  So long as it tastes good, right????

Right??????

Okay. I hear you all snickering in the back of the room.

So I hit You tube. (There are A LOT of videos on how to cook an omelet!)

This is how I always made my omelettes (minus the salsa)

Jamie Oliver does it the same way.

But then there's this one - and he has a cute French accent. This one is not like any omelette I've ever seen. Looks more like a pancake. I don't really get how he made the eggs so fluffy. And what are sweet eggs?

Back to Jamie.

So - all of these are made the way I do it (more or less) so I was starting to feel better about myself.


 I got to thinking, maybe the person in the shop was making a frittatta?

Nope - not it. But whatever you want to call it, this looks delicious! What a great spring meal.

OH!  But the next one up in the queue was an open Spanish omelette and that was made the way I saw (just different ingredients).

So, how do you omelette?

Veggies and meat first and add in the beaten egg?

Or cook the egg part and layer the extras on top?


But then there's the BIG question. Omelet or Omelette?

From Grammarist:

For the breakfast dish consisting of eggs that have been beaten, cooked until set, and folded over, American publications prefer omelet, and this is the spelling recommended by most American English reference sources. In all other main varieties of English, the French spelling, omelette, is preferred.