Weeknight Dinner: California Omelet Plate
The preparation and serving of food and drink has an interesting history in the movies, especially in pictures from the golden age of Hollywood. It is impossible to imagine Nick and Nora Charles
volleying quips without their pitcher of martinis, or Philip Marlowe
killing an afternoon with a lucky bookshop girl without his flask of rye. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis would never have met Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot 
without the intervention of both bourbon and bootleg. Lana Turner serves the best burgers on the outskirts of L.A. in The Postman Always Rings Twice
. Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray connived in a local grocery store in Double Indemnity
. And in Mildred Pierce
, Joan Crawford built an empire and won an Oscar on her character’s strength of will and talent as a cook.
Such rambling old school eateries as Nick the Greek’s
, Mildred’s Fine Food
, or their corporeal counterparts such as The Brown Derby and Musso and Frank created an aesthetic of cooking and serving food and drink. If these restaurants glamorized this cooking, the L.A. Farmers Market
gave it a venue to happen, by creating a space where the farmers working the land surrounding the movie colony could meet to sell fresh groceries to private and public cooks.
This cooking combined local traditions and abundance with the techniques and traditions of migrants from back east. It is solid home-cooking, filtered through the vogues of the silent era, early talkies, and war-time pictures, utilizing California ingredients. Viewed through a modern lens, this cooking could be interpreted as old-fashioned, even quaint. But before there was such a thing as California cuisine, in which this jumble of influences became fusion cooking and whose light touch revolves around wine rather than spirits, there was this cooking. And it is Oscar-worthy.
I would like to thank the Academy for the chance to offer this interpretation of a classic from yesterday's California lunch counters: a blue-plate omelet special. This is a towering Denver omelet accompanied by a welcome side of that great California dish, hash browns. When I was in L.A., plates often came from the kitchen crowned with a twist of orange and a half-peach, a touch so charming and referential to California's orchard abundance that I've included it here. Serve your blue-ribbon blue plate with hot coffee in a thick white mug or, after dark, a bourbon old-fashioned. Put some jitterbug on the jukebox and imagine ducking into Mildred Pierce's restaurant for a quick but satisfying dinner. Just be sure to stop yourself before you conceal a loaded revolver in your mink and point the Packard toward the beach house -- that kind of solution really only works in old movies.
CALIFORNIA OMELET PLATE
Like any recipe based on a road house grill, preparing this dish is a matter of establishing a rhythm; once you get going, it moves quickly. Rather than the fry cook's griddle, this recipe uses non-stick skillets -- these are indispensable for cooking and are widely available. If you can't get sourdough bread for the toast, use plain white; here's a supermarket brand I like. If you don't have a chunk of holiday ham in the freezer, get a small ham steak at the supermarket.
For the omelets
4 large eggs
One small ham steak, approximately 8 ounces
1 small red bell pepper
1 small green bell pepper
1 small yellow onion
6 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Butter
For the sides
Two medium baking potatoes
Butter
Two slices sourdough bread
For the garnish
One orange, preferably organic
One can of peaches, preferably home-canned
Ground cinnamon
1. Empty the peaches into a colander; set aside to drain.
2. Clean the orange under cool water (if the orange is not organic, use a commercial produce cleaner, following the label directions). Once the orange is clean, dry with paper towels. Lay orange on its side (stem end facing left or right) on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut the orange into rounds. Set aside until ready to garnish the plates.
3. Place a non-stick skillet on the burner and heat on low. Add a pat of butter to the skillet.
4. Set the ham on a cutting board. Remove membrane and bone if present. Use a sharp knife to cut the ham lengthwise into thin strips. Cut across the strips to form dice. Scrape the ham into the non-stick skillet; turn the burner heat to medium- low.
5. Lay each pepper sideways on a cutting board (stem end facing left or right). Chop the stem and cap ends off of each pepper and then slice each pepper in half lengthwise. Remove the pith and seeds and flatten each half. Set one half of each pepper aside for another use. Slice each remaining half-pepper lengthwise into strips, then cut along the strips to form dice. Scrape the diced pepper into the skillet with the ham.
6. Peel the onion and remove the root and stem ends. Halve the onion from root to stem; halve each half. Slice each quarter into crescents and then cut across the crescents to form dice. Scrape half of the diced onion into the skillet with the ham and the peppers; set the remaining half aside for the hash browns.
7. Cook the ham, onion and pepper mixture until the vegetables are soft and the ham is slightly charred, approximately 10 minutes.
8. While the ham, onion and pepper mixture is cooking, peel and rinse the potatoes. Use a paring knife to remove any soft or discolored spots. Using the large holes on a box grater, grate the potatoes into a bowl. Add the remaining diced onion from step 6 above. Sprinkle the potato-onion mixture liberally with salt and black pepper; toss the mixture until ingredients are well incorporated.
9. Once the ham, onion and pepper mixture is cooked through as described in step 7 above, use a silicone spatula to transfer the mixture to a bowl. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil to keep the omelet ingredients warm.
10. Return the pan to the heat; add another pat of butter, swirling to coat the pan with the melting butter. Use a silicone spatula to scrape the hash browns into the skillet. Place a lid on the skillet and cook for five minutes.
11. While the hash browns are cooking, place the bread into the toaster, and set the dinner plates near your cooking station. Sprinkle the peaches in the colander with ground cinnamon; use your hands to gently toss to coat.
12. After five minutes, remove the lid from the skillet and use the silicon spatula to gently lift the bottom of the hash browns, which should be nicely browned and crunchy. Slip another pat of butter into the skillet, and gently flip the hash browns so that the undercooked top side is now on the bottom. Recover the skillet with the lid. Continue to cook the hash browns until nicely browned and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, uncovering the pan if necessary, approximately 10 minutes.
13. Place the second non-stick skillet on the burner and turn the heat to medium-low.
14. Break 2 eggs into a bowl. Add a sprinkle of salt and several grindings of black pepper. Use a whisk or handheld mixer to beat the eggs until frothy.
15. Turn the heat to high. Place a pat of butter onto the pan's surface; swirl to coat the pan as the butter melts.
16. Pour the eggs into the pan, using a silicone spatula to get every bit of egg into the pan.
17. Swirl the eggs in the pan so that they reach up the sides. Settle the pan onto the burner.
18. Once eggs have begun to cook on the sides, swirl the spatula under the sides and push the cooked eggs to the middle of the pan. Let the uncooked eggs settle onto the outer edge of the omelet, swirling the pan if necessary.
19. As eggs begin to settle, scatter half of the pepper-onion mixture and half of the cheese across the surface.
20. As cheese begins to melt, use the spatula to fold one third of the omelet's edge onto the middle, and then fold the remaining third over that.
21. Press the toaster lever to start the toast.
22. Use the spatula to quickly flip the omelet so that it is seam side down in the pan.
23. Place a chunk of hash browns onto the plate and slide the omelet next to the hash browns. Garnish the plate with a spiced peach and an orange round, and a slice of buttered toast. Serve immediately.
volleying quips without their pitcher of martinis, or Philip Marlowe killing an afternoon with a lucky bookshop girl without his flask of rye. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis would never have met Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot without the intervention of both bourbon and bootleg. Lana Turner serves the best burgers on the outskirts of L.A. in The Postman Always Rings Twice. Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray connived in a local grocery store in Double Indemnity. And in Mildred Pierce, Joan Crawford built an empire and won an Oscar on her character’s strength of will and talent as a cook.Such rambling old school eateries as Nick the Greek’s
, Mildred’s Fine Food, or their corporeal counterparts such as The Brown Derby and Musso and Frank created an aesthetic of cooking and serving food and drink. If these restaurants glamorized this cooking, the L.A. Farmers Market gave it a venue to happen, by creating a space where the farmers working the land surrounding the movie colony could meet to sell fresh groceries to private and public cooks.This cooking combined local traditions and abundance with the techniques and traditions of migrants from back east. It is solid home-cooking, filtered through the vogues of the silent era, early talkies, and war-time pictures, utilizing California ingredients. Viewed through a modern lens, this cooking could be interpreted as old-fashioned, even quaint. But before there was such a thing as California cuisine, in which this jumble of influences became fusion cooking and whose light touch revolves around wine rather than spirits, there was this cooking. And it is Oscar-worthy.
I would like to thank the Academy for the chance to offer this interpretation of a classic from yesterday's California lunch counters: a blue-plate omelet special. This is a towering Denver omelet accompanied by a welcome side of that great California dish, hash browns. When I was in L.A., plates often came from the kitchen crowned with a twist of orange and a half-peach, a touch so charming and referential to California's orchard abundance that I've included it here. Serve your blue-ribbon blue plate with hot coffee in a thick white mug or, after dark, a bourbon old-fashioned. Put some jitterbug on the jukebox and imagine ducking into Mildred Pierce's restaurant for a quick but satisfying dinner. Just be sure to stop yourself before you conceal a loaded revolver in your mink and point the Packard toward the beach house -- that kind of solution really only works in old movies.
CALIFORNIA OMELET PLATE
Like any recipe based on a road house grill, preparing this dish is a matter of establishing a rhythm; once you get going, it moves quickly. Rather than the fry cook's griddle, this recipe uses non-stick skillets -- these are indispensable for cooking and are widely available. If you can't get sourdough bread for the toast, use plain white; here's a supermarket brand I like. If you don't have a chunk of holiday ham in the freezer, get a small ham steak at the supermarket.
For the omelets
4 large eggs
One small ham steak, approximately 8 ounces
1 small red bell pepper
1 small green bell pepper
1 small yellow onion
6 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Butter
For the sides
Two medium baking potatoes
Butter
Two slices sourdough bread
For the garnish
One orange, preferably organic
One can of peaches, preferably home-canned
Ground cinnamon
1. Empty the peaches into a colander; set aside to drain.
2. Clean the orange under cool water (if the orange is not organic, use a commercial produce cleaner, following the label directions). Once the orange is clean, dry with paper towels. Lay orange on its side (stem end facing left or right) on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut the orange into rounds. Set aside until ready to garnish the plates.
3. Place a non-stick skillet on the burner and heat on low. Add a pat of butter to the skillet.
4. Set the ham on a cutting board. Remove membrane and bone if present. Use a sharp knife to cut the ham lengthwise into thin strips. Cut across the strips to form dice. Scrape the ham into the non-stick skillet; turn the burner heat to medium- low.
5. Lay each pepper sideways on a cutting board (stem end facing left or right). Chop the stem and cap ends off of each pepper and then slice each pepper in half lengthwise. Remove the pith and seeds and flatten each half. Set one half of each pepper aside for another use. Slice each remaining half-pepper lengthwise into strips, then cut along the strips to form dice. Scrape the diced pepper into the skillet with the ham.
6. Peel the onion and remove the root and stem ends. Halve the onion from root to stem; halve each half. Slice each quarter into crescents and then cut across the crescents to form dice. Scrape half of the diced onion into the skillet with the ham and the peppers; set the remaining half aside for the hash browns.
7. Cook the ham, onion and pepper mixture until the vegetables are soft and the ham is slightly charred, approximately 10 minutes.
8. While the ham, onion and pepper mixture is cooking, peel and rinse the potatoes. Use a paring knife to remove any soft or discolored spots. Using the large holes on a box grater, grate the potatoes into a bowl. Add the remaining diced onion from step 6 above. Sprinkle the potato-onion mixture liberally with salt and black pepper; toss the mixture until ingredients are well incorporated.
9. Once the ham, onion and pepper mixture is cooked through as described in step 7 above, use a silicone spatula to transfer the mixture to a bowl. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil to keep the omelet ingredients warm.
10. Return the pan to the heat; add another pat of butter, swirling to coat the pan with the melting butter. Use a silicone spatula to scrape the hash browns into the skillet. Place a lid on the skillet and cook for five minutes.
11. While the hash browns are cooking, place the bread into the toaster, and set the dinner plates near your cooking station. Sprinkle the peaches in the colander with ground cinnamon; use your hands to gently toss to coat.
12. After five minutes, remove the lid from the skillet and use the silicon spatula to gently lift the bottom of the hash browns, which should be nicely browned and crunchy. Slip another pat of butter into the skillet, and gently flip the hash browns so that the undercooked top side is now on the bottom. Recover the skillet with the lid. Continue to cook the hash browns until nicely browned and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, uncovering the pan if necessary, approximately 10 minutes.
13. Place the second non-stick skillet on the burner and turn the heat to medium-low.
14. Break 2 eggs into a bowl. Add a sprinkle of salt and several grindings of black pepper. Use a whisk or handheld mixer to beat the eggs until frothy.
15. Turn the heat to high. Place a pat of butter onto the pan's surface; swirl to coat the pan as the butter melts.
16. Pour the eggs into the pan, using a silicone spatula to get every bit of egg into the pan.
17. Swirl the eggs in the pan so that they reach up the sides. Settle the pan onto the burner.
18. Once eggs have begun to cook on the sides, swirl the spatula under the sides and push the cooked eggs to the middle of the pan. Let the uncooked eggs settle onto the outer edge of the omelet, swirling the pan if necessary.
19. As eggs begin to settle, scatter half of the pepper-onion mixture and half of the cheese across the surface.
20. As cheese begins to melt, use the spatula to fold one third of the omelet's edge onto the middle, and then fold the remaining third over that.
21. Press the toaster lever to start the toast.
22. Use the spatula to quickly flip the omelet so that it is seam side down in the pan.
23. Place a chunk of hash browns onto the plate and slide the omelet next to the hash browns. Garnish the plate with a spiced peach and an orange round, and a slice of buttered toast. Serve immediately.
Sounds delicious! My only addition would be what I learned from my father about making hash browns - he always adds grated parmesan cheese, which enhances both the flavor and the crunch of the hash browns. MMM It may be Father's Day this Sunday, but I suspect my father will be doing the cooking for me!
ReplyDeleteI can't think of any way I wouldn't want to eat hash browns. They alone could get me to move back West!
ReplyDelete