Fluffy Omelette à la Mexicana
Just before typing up this post, I was trying to remember how this dish came about, what inspired it. And I seriously can’t remember. All I know is that last night after work I went food shopping and was looking for ingredients for something Mexican style. No idea where the omelette thing came from, though, but once I’d thought of it I knew which recipe I was going to modify to make it. I have a sweet recipe for fluffy strawberry omelette and just left out the sugar and added some lime zest and hot spice instead.
What I was pondering was whether I should make the omelette mega-fluffy, cut it open and fill it with the other ingredients, or maybe add some of the ingredients to the batter. In the end I decided to bake the omelettes, then load everything on top. The other thought was whether to use raw ingredients for topping or cooked, so I cooked the onions, the beans and the frozen corn. Initially I had intended to use Cheddar cheese but didn’t feel like queuing at the cheese counter, so I decided to use something that was the total opposite of Mexican, namely Swiss Gruyère. Turned out to be a good choice.
I definitely wanted fresh coriander sprinkled over the omelette, but I couldn’t get that anywhere last night. So today after meeting friends for breakfast I took a detour home and stopped at a garden center to get the coriander. Perfect. Just as the weather this morning, quite cold but very sunny and bright.
My idea of this Mexican style omelette turned out quite perfect, too. It was quick and easy to make and tasted great. I had a little mishap when I separated the eggs, though – the third egg yolk decided to take a dive straight into the three egg whites. Grrrrr. Luckily I had three more eggs left.
And then, just when I had taken the last picture with my DSLR and grabbed my point & shoot camera, I leaned on the table slightly – this is a new acquisition for my balcony – and then CLANG! The blasted table folded together, the plate jumped up in the air, landed unbroken with the omelette still intact, only a few stray beans and strings of cheese escaping, and the water glass broken with water all over the floor. Double GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. How could something that started out so perfectly go so wrong!? And yet I was lucky – no real damage, and my pictures were done.
Fluffy Omelette à la Mexicana
Omelettes
3 egg yolks
zest of 1 lime
a splash of squeezed lime
½ tsp salt
1 – 3 shakes of powdered chilli [I used Spicy Tangerine Rub]
1 tsp cornflour
3 egg whites
butter for frying
makes 3 omelettes in an 8in / 20 cm pan
Topping
¼ avocado
splash of lime juice
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp crème légère
grated Gruyère cheese
1 red onion
black beans
(frozen) corn
pickled jalapeños
cocktail tomatoes
fresh coriander
Start with preparing the topping ingredients, otherwise your omelettes will go cold and the cheese won’t melt. Squash the avocado with a fork, add mayonnaise, crème légère, and a splash of lime juice. Halve onion and slice thinly, then fry in a little oil until softened. Take out of pan, then heat the corn and beans. Slice the cocktail tomatoes, chop the coriander, and grate the cheese.
Beat egg whites until stiff and put aside. Beat egg yolks together with a splash of squeezed lime, lime zest, and salt. Add the cornflour and chilli powder. Add the beaten egg whites, mix well, then heat butter in a small frying pan and bake three fluffy omelettes.
When each omelette is ready, load immediately with the toppings: Spread the avocado-mayo-mix onto the omelette, sprinkle with cheese, and add remaining ingredients (if the beans and corn are still hot, you can add more cheese on top), then sprinkle with the fresh coriander.
Looks delicious. Escaping dishes happens to the best of us. I was watching Andreas Viested (New Scandanavian Cooking Show – http://www.newscancook.com) and one of his finished dishes went over the dock if I remember correctly. He likes to cook outdoors. I think it was a big gust of wind that whipped it out of his hands. It was pretty funny seeing the plate in the water and him climbing down after it, but if it happened to me, I wouldn’t have been laughing! He is funny anyway besides being educational and a great cook.
Ha – relieved to hear it happens to professionals, too!
At least I was inside and my dish couldn’t fly over the balcony rail or something…
- This is exactly why I love WP and food bloggers. I would never have thought of this combination, which has to be perfect. I just do plain ol’ omelette!
- For the first time ever I broke a jar of chutney in a supermarket yesterday as I was packing. Funny thing was, it wasn’t even from that store.
I agree – the WP arena can mightily inspire! Even though sometimes it seems like a small world as you meet the same food bloggers in other people’s blogs/comment sections, there is so much great stuff out there to trigger something you could make, and the best thing is if it turns out to be something completely different from the thing/dish that’s triggered it…
This looks just wonderful!!
Thank you, Bernice!
Your omelet sounds delicious and has all the flavors that I enjoy.
Thank you, Karen!
This looks like such a great dinner. I’m thinking about a little crumbled fresh queso on top but am sure the gruyere was relish as it always is. Brilliant idea stopping at the garden store.
I love the lime and corn flour in there too.
So did you do these on the stove top in a frying pan? Did they spend any time in the oven. Going on my weekly dinner menu!
Thanks, Wendy! I did them on the stove top in a small 9 inch frying pan so the batter wouldn’t have too much space to spread, and would thus make a higher/thicker omelette.