frittata? omelette? is it all in a name?

Food Monday!

(huh? food is pleasurable every day of the Week!!)

Today, I made an omelette. My mom calls it an omelette. I, on the other hand, am not sure that it really is an "omelette." In fact, I would use the word "fritatta."

I checked on line and saw that there are certain differences between omelettes and fritattas. Omelettes are cooked very quickly at high heat. The filling is placed on top of the egg mixture as it cooks. When the omelette is served, it is folded so that the filling doesn't fall out of the delicious dish.

But I think that I made a fritatta:

The first thing that I do is to gather my ingredients, which includes the onion that I have chopped. I find that, if I refrigerate the onion, it doesn't cause me to weep. My mother suggested running the onion under cold water in case I don't have a refrigerated onion.

I get my pan ready by pouring some olive oil in it. I used to use butter but olive oil doesn't seem quite as greasy. I use a very light olive oil for sauteeing, and I use an extra virgin olive oil when I want to make a salad dressing or some other cold dish that calls for olive oil.

Of course, I must garnish my plate. Today, I have chosen to garnish my plate with fruit. I cut up some strawberries, and I add fresh raspberries to the mix.

Well, most of my prep work is done, so I sit down with my mom and enjoy the "first course." Every other day, we begin our breakfast with little Clementines. On the alternating days, we enjoy half a grapefruit. Today was a day to eat a Clementine or to listen to (click here) the song "My Darling Clementine. If you click on "click here," you'll get a lovely version of the song, complete with some beautiful harmonies, as presented by a women's chorus. The soloist has an appealing, warm quality to her voice.

After I eat my Clementines, I decide that I may as well add half of an apple to my garnish, since we have a nearly endless supply of apples, thanks to an extremely fruitful (yes, pun intended) apple tree that has the unfortunate habit of throwing its fruit all over the sidewalk, the driveway, and even the street!

A cup of warm tea is a fine addition to the meal. I squeeze some lemons in the handy dandy juicer because we love our tea with fresh lemon juice. I also add honey to my tea, which makes the tea delicious, sweet, and refreshing.

Yummy!

Now it is time to start taking care of the eggs. Today, I am using brown eggs that I buy from a local farmer.

The cliche is that you have to break some eggs to have an omelette, but I suspect that you also have to do the same egg breaking to have a fritatta!

The water is poured, and it is time for the tea to steep. I usually add the honey before I pour the water. There is a local beekeeper who sells honey. When that honey is available, I use that. When it's not, I buy honey from the supermarket. This was the supermarket honey. I added two flavors: orange blossom honey and buckwheat honey. The orange blossom honey is more delicate, while the buckwheat honey has a more robust flavor.

I am starting to cook the onions. I cook them on medium heat until they start to become transparent.

At this point, I add the garlic.

While the onion and garlic mixture are cooking, I prepare the eggs. I add the spices (salt, garlic salt, tarragon, and dill weed), as well as grated parmesan  or parmigiana cheese, and I mix with my handy dandy wire whisk.

This is one of the things that I think makes my breakfast a "fritatta," and not an "omelette." I add the egg mixture to the sauteed onions and garlic. I also add shredded mozzarella cheese. In other words, the filling is cooked in the fritatta, not added to the top, as it would be if I were making an omelette.

I cover my pan and turn the heat down slightly to let the eggs set. I generally give the eggs three minutes before I take the lid off...

... and get this... I flip the fritatta and cook for another three minutes...

While I am waiting, I garnish my plate. I do not garnish my mom's plate because she prefers to eat her eggs with two slices of light wheat bread.

Here is the underside of the fritatta.

And, in true fritatta style, I serve it open faced, not folded.

Breakfast is served!!! (according to the uncle in It's a Wonderful Life, "breakfast is served" is one of the three most wonderful sounds in the English language (I am sure that you can guess the other two, lol).

And now, my question to you. How do you like to cook your eggs? What do you like to add? Feel free to talk about eggs in the comment section below.

And bon appetit. Or, I could say buon apetito.