First of all, I want to let you all know that thanks to your votes, I won the Country Living Blue Ribbon Reader’s Choice Blogger Award for Cooking! I know that I’ve bugged you all about voting for me, so thank you so much for taking the time to do so – it really means a lot and I’m excited about the possibilities that this award will bring! Kramer and I had a nice, relaxing weekend. On Friday night, we went out with a few friends to a new bar called Noorman’s Kil, which specializes in whisky and grilled cheese – it’s like all of my prayers have finally been answered. They even had 12 beers on tap! Kramer and I were blown away by the grilled cheese. I had the Sylvia and Kramer had the Jane – I would never have thought to put mustard on a grilled cheese sandwich, but after tasting it, I’ll never make it any other way. After that, we headed over to Larry Lawrence, a bar that our friends suggested, and it is possibly one of the coolest bars I’ve ever been to. After a night of drinking, we of course had to grab one more late night snack, so we went to our favorite Chinese place in Brooklyn, M Noodle, for some steamed pork buns and a round Tsingtaos. On Saturday, I attended my first ballet in New York City with my friend Lindsey – we checked out Swan Lake at Lincoln Center. We got great seats in the orchestra section and despite not being allowed to eat or drink in the theater (which I will never understand and always be annoyed with – I want to have a cocktail or something while I watch a show), it was quite a show.
On Sunday, we actually did quite a bit of cooking. We woke up early and the first thing we wanted to do was make some omelets with the beautiful mushrooms that Kramer picked up at Eataly. We are huge mushroom fans, and will generally order anything on any menu if it’s got mushrooms in it. My main man, Tom Colicchio, taught me how to properly cook mushrooms in his book, Think Like a Chef
. Believe it or not, mushrooms release a ton of moisture while they cook, so there’s no need to add a ton of butter or garlic or anything to them – just let them do their thing, then add a tiny bit of butter just before they are finished cooking. Believe me – you won’t believe how big of a difference cooking them so simply will make, and if you’re a mushroom lover like I am, you’ll never have them any other way. Kramer is truly the Omelet Master, so he took the reigns this time in the cooking department, and I was there to photograph and observe, as I am the Omelet Apprentice. The key to making the perfect omelet is to lift up the edges of the eggs while they cook, so that the runny eggs in the middle are able to slide around and down underneath the cooked parts, allowing the whole thing to firm up quickly and evenly. The technique for the perfect mushrooms, and, subsequently, the perfect omelet, is simple, and the results are more than rewarding. Just take the time to practice and before you know it, you’ll be the Master Omelet Chef in your house, too!
Your ingredients – you don’t need much!
Gently clean your mushrooms by wiping them with a wet clothes (rinsing them with water can remove much of their flavor) and cutting away any unedible parts.
And grate your cheese.
Place your mushrooms in a dry saute pan over medium heat. Allow them to cook, undisturbed, for a few minutes, until they begin to release their own natural juices. You will want to cook them in small batches so that they are able to brown a bit instead of just steaming.
Add in a bit of butter after they’ve started to brown.
When cooked through and tender, set aside and continue to cook the mushrooms in batches until you’ve cooked them all.
Beat your eggs.
Melt a bit of butter in your omelet pan and add in half of your eggs.
To make your perfect omelet, allow the eggs to cook a bit over medium heat, then when the edges start to solidify, lift them up so that the eggs that are still uncooked in the middle pour underneath. This allows for even cooking.
When the omelet is almost fully cooked (but not quite), add in your desired amount of mushrooms.
And sprinkle on a little bit of cheese.
Now fold one side over, tipping the pan toward you.
Then fold the other side over, tipping the pan away from you.
Serve with some additional mushrooms and, of course, a mimosa.
- 1½ to 2 cups of mushrooms, cleaned
- 2 tablespoons of butter, divided (plus more for the eggs)
- 6 eggs, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup Fontina cheese, grated
- salt and pepper, to taste
- chives, for garnish
- To clean your mushrooms, cut off any inedible parts and just gently wipe them off with a wet paper towel. The flavor of mushrooms is very delicate, and rinsing them under water can wash away a lot of their flavor. Heat a pan over medium heat, and cook the mushrooms in small batches. Add in your first batch, and cook, undisturbed, for a few minutes, until their natural juices are released a bit. Once the mushrooms have browned slightly, figure out about how many batches you are going to cook, then divide your 2 tablespoons of butter evenly among them. Add in your first divided bit of butter (for me, it was about 2 teaspoons), and stir until combined with the butter until browned and tender. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and continue cooking until you've used them all.
- Add another 2 teaspoons or so of butter to your pan, make sure that it thoroughly covers the surface of the pan, and add in half of your eggs. You can use two omelet pans to make them at the same time, or heat your oven to 250 degrees F to keep one omelet warm while you cook the other. Allow the eggs to set a bit, then use a rubber spatula to go around the eggs so that the sides will lift up from the pan (see photos above). Lift up these edges and allow any eggs that have not cooked yet in the middle to run around and underneath the cooked parts - this will ensure that your omelet cooks evenly.
- When you're ready, add in your desired amount of mushrooms (we used about ½ cup per omelet - you will have more left over to put on top or to use the next day in a sandwich or something, as we did) and top with half of your cheese. Fold your omelet into thirds - left one side up and into the middle of the omelet, then lift the other side up and into the middle. Gently roll your omelet so that the folds are on the bottom of the pan, then gently roll the omelet onto a plate. Top with extra mushrooms, cheese, chives, salt, and pepper.
I love omelets so very much. I had a mushroom and cheese omelet at Nudy’s the other day and I could’ve rolled on the floor in happy land.
I love going out for breakfast- I would have done the same!
You had me at Mushroom, and left me salivating with Fontina… looks scrum-diddly-umptous! You always have the most perfect looking omelets – NYC dining establishments need to take a lesson from you, they are always over cooked when I order them!
It’s all Kramer, believe me!
PLEASE be on MasterChef!
I think Kramer should be on it, first!
Congratulations on your win!
Mushroom and cheese omelets are my go-to diner breakfast, so I’m definitely going to have to try this some weekend soon.
I hope you do, Emily!
Congrats on your win dear…Enjoy…BTW that omelet looks absolutely delicious…Thanks for the recipe dear..
Thank you very much!
I love omelets and greatly prefer savory over sweet for breakfast — this one looks very tasty.
And congratulations on the win! You’re on quite a roll, lately.
I’m doing what I can, haha! I prefer a savory breakfast, too – nothing’s more savory than mushrooms!
Wow! I have never seen baby mushrooms at the store like the ones you used…growing in a moist box like little sprouts! Those are so adorable and I would have snatched them up right away too. The omelette looks yum – will have to try it sometime.
Kramer found them – I’ve never seen anything like them, either, but he thought they were so cool that he just had to pick them up.
Man… That Kramer is quite the keeper. From his pastry and bread making ability to his skill at omelets. Bravo sir
Always glad to see another guy in the kitchen doing his thing.
I couldn’t agree more!
Hey I’ve been following this site for more than a year now and notice that you usually advise to wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth instead of washing them. So far I usually just give mushrooms a rinse, I find that that makes more dirt come off and easier as well, but also thought that perhaps there might be some truth in what you advise because of the potential loss of flavour. But I just read an article (http://www.thekitchn.com/hey-you-can-wash-mushrooms-54939) that confirms you can actually wash them, and in the comments even Alton Brown also did a mythbusting thing where mushrooms don’t actually soak up water very much and lose flavour! so I thought I might scurry over here and post it to let you know!