An omelette for not-quite-summer

After the gorgeous weather at the weekend, I was going to make a really light, herb-filled, summer omelette tonight. It's been just as sunny today, but the temperature has dropped somewhat, and dinner suddenly needed bulking up. I had a couple of mushrooms hanging around from making Nigella's Garlic Mushrooms (see note at the bottom for details...), and it occurred to me that they should add just the rich, meaty note I was in need of. Depending on your appetite, you could serve this as is, or with a piece of toast, or an entire garlic baguette!


Watercress and Mushroom Omelette

Two flat field mushrooms, or two handfuls of little mushrooms
Butter
Two eggs
Tsp dried tarragon (or 1 tbs of something fresh - parsley, dill, basil...)
50g watercress (about a large handful)
Tbs or so grated parmesan

Slice the mushrooms, and saute in plenty of butter and salt for five minutes. They need to go through the stages of absorbing the fat, releasing their juices, and then releasing the fat again; at the end they'll start to brown and this is when you need to whip them out of the pan.

Whilst the mushrooms are sizzling away, break the eggs into a bowl with more salt, some pepper, and the dried or fresh herbs, and whisk well. Chop the watercress and grate the parmesan.

Remove the mushrooms from the pan, tipping it to one side and letting any fat drip off them. Put the pan back on the heat, adding a very small further knob of butter; once the butter is sizzling again, tip in the eggs and shake vigorously (more on omelette skills here) for a minute.

Scatter the watercress and parmesan over, then top with the mushrooms. Turn the heat out, but leave the pan on it and stick either a lid or plate over to keep the heat in. The idea here is to slightly wilt the watercress and just melt the parmesan in the residual heat; it will take about as long as it takes you to get out a plate, knife, and fork, and pour a glass of wine.




PS. For Nigella's Garlic Mushrooms, just make a garlic butter with a tbs of butter, a crushed large clove garlic (use two if yours are only small or average size), and plenty of salt and pepper. Smear this over two flat field mushrooms, then roast at 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve with toast or (as she recommends) in a ciabatta bap.