Still Home

     Felt better when I first woke up but it didn't last.  Still coughing.  Moving too quickly makes me dizzy.  Sat down at the computer to try to do some work e-mails and I kept nodding off.

     So I made breakfast instead.  Omelettes don't call for much of a rush, especially if you assemble all the ingredients ahead of time.

     I started by putting some cornmeal (maybe two tablespoons, or two and a half), a pinch of salt, some fresh ground pepper and Italian seasoning in a 2-cup measuring cup and added about as much warm water as there was cornmeal; gave it a quick stir and set it on the back of the stove to soak and ponder.   I chopped up some carrots and celery, then fried a strip of bacon, planning to set aside half the bacon for Tam.  While the bacon was sizzling, I chopped up a bit of the cooked brisket from Liter House ad added it to the vegetables.

     Once the bacon was done, I set it on paper towel to drain, poured off most of the bacon fat, and added the vegetables and brisket to the skillet.  We just opened up a wedge of Manchego cheese yesterday* and it seemed like a good idea, so I cut a couple of slices from it and diced them, giving the veggies and meat a stir from time time.

There's a half-strip of bacon at the left, hiding under the vegetables and brisket.

     Next up, how 'bout that batter?  I cracked a couple of eggs into the cornmeal and water, and beat it with a fork until it was a consistent lemony color, then beat it a little more (it's difficult to go too far with this; you really want to agitate it and make it ready form new bonds).  The vegetables were translucent and the brisket was nicely recooked by then, so they went on the paper towel and the omelette batter went into the skillet.

All the light-yellow spots are Manchego, in various stages of melting.

     I offset the pan over the fire for the first part of cooking when I make omelettes.  That ensures the half I'm going to flip up gets cooked, the "hinge" stays flexible and the down side doesn't get over-cooked.  I sprinted about half the cheese on the batter once it was underway, skipping a strip across the middle.

     Once it looked about right -- starting to get a little dry on the top of the half over the fire, or just shy of that -- I added the meat and vegetables to the less cooked side along with the rest of the cheese, flipped the cooked side over it, pressed down along the join, and centered the pan up.  I put a lid over it and let it go for three or four minutes, flipped and did the same, flipped again and gave it a couple of minutes uncovered to get both sides equally done.  (I don't like 'em wet.  YMMV.)

     It was delicious.  I'd show a photograph of the finished omelette, cut in half so you could see the filling, but I was pretty hungry by the time it was done and it didn't last that long.
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* I opened up the Manchego the previous day as a topping for brisket hash, which was about as good a version as I have made: dice Liter House brisket and a couple of nice Yukon Gold potatoes diced to match, topped with Manchego and a fried egg: tasty!