121. FLORENTINE OMELET with BACON

serves 2-3


12 oz bacon
8 oz cream cheese
6 large brown eggs
1 medium Vidalia or Mexican Sweet onion
12 oz frozen chopped spinach
8 oz fresh mushrooms
handful of fresh basil
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried ground savory
(optional) 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
salt

Pre-Preparation: Chop onion to fine chop. Dice mushrooms. Cook and thoroughly drain spinach (microwaving according to package directions works fine). Chop basil. Crack eggs into mixing bowl. Cut cream cheese into 1/8 inch slices (to facilitate melting)

Cut bacon strips into 2 inch pieces, render in large skillet at medium heat until crisp. One or two "batches" may be required. Don't drain skillet between "batches."
Keep heat under control, and don't "smoke" bacon fat! Remove and drain crisp
bacon on paper towel. Reserve as much bacon as you can keep from "tasting."

As soon as the last of the bacon is removed to drain, add pepper, onion, basil, and
mushrooms to hot bacon fat, and saute until onions are translucent and basil fully wilted. Your kitchen should smell wonderful at this point.

Add cooked and drained spinach to mixture in skillet, and stir slowly until bacon fat is fully absorbed, and all "pan drippings" are fully "released" from skillet into spinach mixture. Crumble reserved crisped bacon back into spinach mixture.

Add marjoram and savory (and cumin, if used) and stir. Allow all steam from spinach to fully vaporize, while whisking eggs to smooth, light omelet consistency. Don't overbeat eggs.

When steam from spinach has mostly escaped, dump beaten eggs into skillet, and stir into spinach. Allow eggs to cook and "set," then flip with spatula or, if adventurous, by "skillet toss" and cook on other side. In a large skillet, flipping is not very practical, and it will taste pretty much the same if you just push the mixture around with a spatula until the eggs are all done.

Cream cheese may be added to mixture after removing from heat, and stirred in with spatula, or if may be added as a dressing, or as a filling layer to conventional omelet presentation.

Salt to taste, and serve with garnish of your choice. I like a few slices of fresh avacodo alongside.


courtesy of: Paul Scheele