It's not wise to skip grocery-shopping when you know you're low on staples, but I was sleepy last night and needed to get home to feed the cats only a little later than normal because Tam (who usually gets their evening meal) was out of town for the day.
But I had and there I was at 0500, hungry and wondering what I could come up with. Eggs we had, but no breakfast meat. Bread but I didn't want to just do toast... Half an onion, some black olives, some hard-toasted French bread rounds (think giant croutons) left over from Midwestern "chili"* the other night and a little balsamic bellavitano cheese: clearly, the Fates wanted me to have an omelet!
A couple of the rusks broken up and with some water over them sat and soaked while I chopped and cooked a little onion (with black pepper and paprika). I beat two eggs into the bread and water with a pinch of sage and thyme, took the onion out and poured the eggs into the pan. Once the omelet was starting to set, I added most of the onion, diced cheese and a few olives, folded the omelet and finished it: yum!
That combination works well. Sorry, I ate it as soon as it was plated rather than taking a photo.
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* The skeptical quotes are a compromise, as Tam and people in the southwestern U.S. look askance at what we call chili up here in soybean-and-corn country. It's a flavorful stew with ground beef, canned tomatoes, red kidney beans, onion, a little chili powder and, typically, elbow macaroni. I skipped the pasta and added a small can of mild green chilis, some hot Italian sausage with the beef, a single fresh tomato along with the canned, and good dark chili powder. It's still nothing a Texan would call chili, so I put the word in quotes or name it by describing the contents, in order to avoid a long conversation on what does and does not constitute chili. In truth, "chili" is whatever you call chili, usually a red stew with meat, much as "science fiction" is whatever science fiction readers read, usually about the future.
Good with rice, too. I occasionally follow the Texian dictum - "If y'all know beans about chili, ya know chili dasn't has beans" - but it is what you make of it. The Bosslady abhors pasta in chili so she gets it her way...
ReplyDeleteI too subscribe to the red meat stew appellation for chili. I've spent a lot of time in Texas and when the purists get shirty, I always ask if they started with chili infused pemmican.
ReplyDeleteThe omelette sounds very tasty, some of the best omelette/scrambles I've ever made started with whatever was left over from the week.
ReplyDelete" In truth, "chili" is whatever you call chili,..."
*Applause*
A billion or so years ago, when I was but a lad, my sisters competed horses in southwest Oklahoma. Local food trucks sold their wares to the spectators.
A local foodstuff back then was a concoction of chili ladled over a single-serving sized bag of Frito-Lay corn chips. While still in the bag, it doubled as a disposable bowl of sorts.
Mmmmmmmm.
Gaseous good memories.
Is all your chili up there like that Skyline Chili?
Here in MI, when we put the pasta in, we call it chili mac. But the rest of it is spot on for what I am familiar with. Of course, venison, when it is available, is a favorite of many up here, in chili, or spaghetti sauces, etc. I have found that the chili powder you can buy in stores is kind of generic. It is one of the few spice blends that I seek out better quality ones, sometimes at specialty shops.
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