Brinner with Jamie Oliver

A quick backstory to clue you in as to how exciting this adventure was for us- when we, Lisa and Kyle, were maybe 11 or 12, we frequently found ourselves hungry after school… and for some reason we were always craving grilled cheese.  Patience was not a virtue of ours at the time and our cooking techniques were still… emerging… so we had a hard time understanding why our grilled cheeses always came out a touch dark.  (Read, charred.)  And the cheese was not usually melted.  We always ate it, but vowed each time we’d get it right… the next time.

(Eventually we both went went off to college and learned to not cook a grilled cheese on high heat.)

Reunited in the kitchen once again, (our skills slightly more honed), this task given by Jamie Oliver was no match for our culinary savoir faire.

Lisa did the shopping, taking on the Rochester Public Market at 7am Saturday morning.  We wanted to use as much local produce as possible… and we succeeded in using everything local, including the eggs and the cheese.

Consider Rochester’s early spring heatwave and you’ll sympathize that the eighty degree temps on Sunday did not make us want to turn on the stove… another visit to the local salad shop (where Lisa has cast her vote close to every day since it opened and Kyle has enjoyed salads twice) would have been more appropriate- but we were determined to make the best damn omelet we could.  And so, here it is.

Chopping veg goes so much more quick with four hands, and in no time we were ready to sauté.  Lucky for us, we both prefer lightly cooked non mushy omelet filler, so a quick ride around the frying pan was all that was needed.  For the two of us we only needed 3 eggs whipped with some salt and pepper and although neither of us have been trained in the serious art of omelet construction, things came together nicely in the pan.

With the egg cooked, the veggies and cheese lining the middle and the first side folded in, success loomed near.  All we needed was one more fold and were were golden.

Holding our breath, we slowly flipped the whole shebang… and you know what?  For the most part this sucker cooperated.  It went pretty willingly, save for that little tail end that didn’t want to connect (even after we attempted a cheese-glue save.)  With that much filling and no test runs, who could really expect perfection?  (You will note, please, the nice color that eggs should be when cooked… we’ve moved on from our days of crunchy crusts and uncooked middles!)  Our final plating included a slice of homemade whole wheat toast, smeared with a locally made raspberry rhubarb jam.

Although we normally don’t spend Sunday evenings together (and neither of us would have chosen to have an omelet this evening) we’re in 100% support of Jamie Oliver’s efforts with the Food Revolution.  Next time we’re going to have brinner though, Jamie, we’d both prefer it to be pancakes.  In fact, please take this as a personal invite to come and have a buckwheat pancake brinner with the two of us in our hometown of Penn Yan, NY (home of the 1987 Worlds Largest Buckwheat Pancake!)  Hope to see you soon!