Winter Soufflé Omelette

It was a dreary wet morning in Derbyshire, so I set about the housework.

The rainy skies and domestic chores left me feeling that I needed a tasty lunch to perk me up. I scoured the kitchen and garden for inspiration: Witch hazel and snowdrops offered the only glimpse of colour in the garden. The kitchen yielded only tomatoes, eggs and onions. Then I saw that the kale was still standing proud, the last valiant vegetable to survive the snow and frosts.

So lunch was kale, red onion and parmesan omelette with tomato salad.

Just right for a mid-week meal and something to help me curb my need to photograph food.

After the success of the Honey Cloud Pancakes I made these in a similar way. I whisked the whites separately to the yolks, then folded them together with some lightly cooked kale, red onion and seasoning. After letting the omelette cook for a minute or two I topped it with more kale, onion and grated parmesan and then put it all in a hot oven to soufflé for 7 minutes.

It was deliciously puffed up when it came out of the oven, but by the time I’d snapped it from a couple of angles it had deflated a little. It still tasted good….as I ate surrounded by camera equipment and props.

This constant need capture images of the food that I cook is the reason that my camera always has buttery handprints on. It is also why I later found myself leaning out of the window to dust off the old packing crate; getting parmesan blown back in my face plus splinters in my hand in the process. I suffer for my art.

I am honing my egg based recipes, because our ‘2012 To Do List’ includes ‘get some chickens’. The chicken house design is just one of Ed’s works in progress. Although I don’t think he is completely enamoured with my wish list of a whimsical, wonky house with turrets and a bell tower.

I can’t imagine why.