My Mexican Omelette

We were out on a road-trip a couple of Sunday's ago, and stopped, again, at the Golden Girls Restaurant,  2211 North Charles G. Sievers Blvd., Clinton, TN.

We have eaten there before, and it has always been a pleasing experience.  It needs a little modernizing, but I guess that's the appeal to us.  The day we were there they had suffered a little wind damage and there was a blue tarp over a section of the roof.

This trip Judy ordered okra, pinto beans, the chicken and dumplings, with fried cornbread!  I chose the "Mexican Omelette" ( or omelet), and it was spectacular!  They put whole jalapenos in theirs, and man was it hot!  But, I love hot!

So, this past Sunday morning I made my version for our granddaughter, and she was wild about it!  Of course, I served it with cheesy grits, which she also loves.

The prep takes a little while, but usually while the coffee is brewing and the biscuits are cooking you can have it done and ready to pour the eggs.

I mixed some chopped honey-ham, some Paul Newman's Salsa, some canned mushrooms (chopped), onions, yellow bell pepper, and diced jalapenos in a small frying pan and sauteed them in a little butter.  

I had already prepared the cheesy grits (Quick Grits with lots of Velveeta cheese and butter!), and coffee was brewing.  I also cooked my bacon, 2 strips per person, in the microwave.  Usually about a minute per slice, but until it's crisp.

I mixed up some eggs in a bowl, usually one egg per person, and added a little salt and pepper.

In a medium hot skillet, pour in enough egg to form a thin layer on the entire bottom of a medium pan.  The mixture should be thoroughly whipped.  If you leave some white unmixed, it will separate when you try and turn it.

When you can tell the mixture is completely cooked on the bottom side, gently squirm your spatula underneath and over to the center.  Then gently raise it up and flip it over.  The opposite side should cook quickly.  

Remove the egg and place it on a plate.  Spread the cooked ingredients in a line across the egg, sprinkle on some mild cheddar cheese, lay on two strips of bacon, and then close the edges of the egg over the mixture.  Spoon some more salsa down the length of the omelet, plop on a biscuit or the grits on the side (not both...too many carbs), and serve the plate.

It will put a smile on your face!

BTW, the jalapenos make coffee taste even better!  Try it!

MUSHY'S QUICK OMELET RECIPE

This Sunday morning my wife wanted an omelet and that sounded good to me!

I heated the oven and popped in some canned biscuits, Pillsbury, of course, and started the coffee!

I then prepped the omelet.

I chopped up some onion, and put it into a hot pan of butter, along with some chopped jalapeno from a jar, and about half a small can of chopped mushrooms.  I sauteed until the onions were translucent, and removed them from the heat.

In a bowl, I put three jumbo eggs, some sea salt, some pepper, and some Tennessee Sunshine hot sauce.  I mixed up the eggs, then plopped in a small handful of shredded mild cheese, and the sauteed ingredients, and mixed everything thoroughly, ensuring everything was coated with the egg. 

In a hot skillet coated with some vegetable oil, I poured in the mixture.  I had a rubber scrapper and plastic spatula ready for duty.  With the rubber scrapper, I ran it around the edges as it began to cook to keep it from sticking, and when it was almost cooked from the bottom up, I gently used the spatula to flip the half cooked mixture into a half-moon position.  Sometimes you have to hold the position for the omelet with the spatula.

I gave it a few more minutes of cooking time on medium heat, and cut the half-moon in half.  I could then easily flip each half over for further cooking.  Sometimes it don't flip beautifully, as the photo shows, but it all taste the same!

I served half the omelet, a biscuit, and teaspoon of Muscadine jelly to my wife, who had poured the coffee and placed it by our chairs in the living room.  We were now ready to watch CBS's Sunday Morning show, a tradition of ours since we were married 33 years ago!

Note: For those of you that have never tried jalapenos with coffee, it's wonderful!  It's a new taste that's addictive.  It's the same taste you get eating leftover pizza that has jalapenos, with scrambled eggs.  A great wake-up call!

Jeff's Brochette Recipe!

Well, it's not exactly Jeff's (of Fathairybastard fame), but it's as close as you can get.  I think most Brochette Shrimp recipes involved similar ingredients and steps.  

So, don't attribute this recipe too much to Jeff.  Suffice it to say, the boy drove over 960 miles (just my part...he also visited another friend that's a smart piece out of the way), keeping it all iced down,  just to bring my wife and I a taste of the Texas good life!

The Internet roughly describes the process he completed, in an attempt to duplicate some restaurant's dish, as:

Ingredients

• 2 pounds large shrimp - peeled, deveined and butterflied
• 1 (8 ounce) package Monterey Jack cheese, sliced
• 3 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and julienned
• 1 pound bacon, cut into thirds
• 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning, or to taste
• skewers

Jeff's dish as it came out of the oven!

Directions

1. Preheat a grill for high heat. Soak skewers in water.
2. Place a strip of jalapeno into the opening of butterflied shrimp. Wrap with a piece of the bacon, and thread onto skewers so that the shrimp is pierced once through the head, and once through the tail, and bacon is secure. You can usually fit about 6 shrimp on a skewer. Make sure there is a little space between the shrimp, this will help the bacon cook better. Season both sides of the shrimp generously with Cajun seasoning.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Place shrimp skewers on the grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on one side. Turn, and place slices of cheese over the shrimp. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, until bacon is browned, and cheese is melted.

Like I said, this isn't his recipe, but it approximates it!

Jeff's take is similar to Pappasito's Cantina, and it goes like this: Just one skewer through the head of the shrimp. Slice the shrimp and put a small chunk of cheese and a slice of pepper in there and wrap it with bacon. Then slide the bacon on the skewer. I whip up a mixture of white wine and butter, with fajita seasoning, onion powder and a few other things whipped into the butter. Pour that over the shrimp before you grill them, and then whip up some more to dip the shrimp in. At Pappasito's, where I (Jeff) got the whole idea, they do a MUCH better job.

Just look at the finished product and the eagerness my wife is exhibiting!  Jeff is just like me, never eats without a camera nearby!

That's our traveling chef at the end of the table, enjoying his Fat Tire!  I want to thank him for this "guest post"...maybe he'll share more with us.

So, here is his finished product!  He whipped up the Mexican rice once he reached my kitchen, but the rest was just heated up!  It was well worth the wait!

ANOTHER VERSION OF MY BREAKFAST PIZZA

It seems I've been talking about pizza a lot lately, but, hey, it has all the food groups!

Judy and I love a breakfast pizza, almost as much as left over pizza and scrambled eggs.  However, it is a little more trouble to make, but worth it all, and, if I can do it, you can do it!

Start with you pizza pan, spray it lightly with your favorite cooking oil and then spread out the dough.  I use Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.  There seems to be just enough triangles to fill the center of the pan.  Then take a small rolling pin, or glass, or anything that will flatten the dough out evenly.  Be sure to close the gaps between the strips of dough, and to push the dough all the way up to the edge of the pan.  I even create a little lip up the sides to ensure the beaten eggs do not get under the dough.

It takes at least 4 eggs to fill the top of the pizza, so in a bowl crack 4 eggs, add salt and pepper, and sprinkle in a some diced jalapeno peppers.  It depends on your taste as to how much, but I love the taste it gives my coffee!

Next I put pepperoni all around the pizza in two rings.  Between the pepperonis I layered on fresh spinach leaves, washed with the stems broken off, and some sliced tomatoes.  I then sprinkled on bacon I had fried and crushed earlier.  I made sure some bacon bits got on top of the spinach leaves and tomato slices to ensure the juice helped cook them.

Finally I generously spread shredded cheese over the entire pizza.  I put the pie in a oven according to the cooking directions on the crescent roll package.

When if came out...BAM...it was looking might good and the taste, with my coffee, was terrific!

This usually makes 8 to 9 slices, which is enough for us to enjoy two mornings!  Reheat what's left the next morning on a cookie sheet for about 10 to 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

LEFT-OVER BREAKFAST PIZZA

I can't remember if I've ever mentioned this on this blog or not, but I tell my family and friends that they must save some pizza for their next morning's breakfast!  It is simply wonderful with scrambled eggs!

Last evening, my family had a "goodbye" gathering for our granddaughter Katie Bug.  Today is moving in day at Tennessee Tech and we are going to sorely miss her!

Anyway, we saved half our Big Ed's Pizza for this morning's breakfast.

I sprinkled the pizza with jalapeno chips and put the pie on a cookie sheet and placed it in the oven for 10 minutes on 350 degrees.  That seem to be the right amount of time to crisp up the crust and get everything just hot enough.

I also had coffee ready and then scramble us two eggs for the side.

It's wonderful how jalapeno taste blends with the coffee, giving a fantastic taste combination that becomes addictive!  I usually have two cups!

So, the completed breakfast includes the pizza, eggs, and coffee.  Just the right start for the day!

I'm sorry to say that breakfast reminded me that Katie on her way to the "real world"!  I'm sure going to miss her.

A MEXICAN TWIST TO BREAKFAST PIZZA

I bought myself a new camera, not for Christmas, but for my wildflower and hiking hobby! So, this morning while we were engaged in cooking up a twist on our “breakfast pizza”, I made a few snaps of the yummy pizza being constructed!

The basics are the same, a roll of large Pillsbury “Big and Flaky” Crescent Rolls, a round pizza baking sheet or dish, some eggs, cheese, and some kind of meat!

While I gently coaxed the triangles of dough into the round shape of the Pampered Chef pizza dish, Judy chopped up some sandwich ham, cut and opened two rolls of Ole’ Mexican Food Chorizo Sausage, and half a small onion. In some EVVO she sautéed everything together until the onions turned translucent.

Having finished the dough, I then beat up 3 large eggs, added salt and pepper, and some diced jalapeños. I poured the mixture into the middle of the dough and worked it out evenly over the dough’s surface. I then took the skillet of ham, chorizo, and onions and sprinkled them over the beaten eggs. Finally, I layered on the Kraft Pizza Cheese!

I then popped the dish into a 375 degree pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes.

When the pie came out it had bubbled up in a few places, but as it began to cool it shrank back into a perfect pizza shape!

Let me tell you, coupled with our coffee, this was delicious!

We sat and watched CBS NEWS Sunday Morning, as we’ve been accustomed to doing since we were married almost 29 years ago! If you’ve never tried the taste of jalapeños with your morning coffee, you have missed an incredible taste sensation! The hot of the pepper and the coffee mingle romantically in your mouth…it can’t be described adequately, so just try…trust me!

BREAKFAST PIZZA

Judy and I discovered a long time ago that we love to drink coffee with the heat of jalapeños in our mouth. This means that we must occasionally have a spicy omelet or breakfast pizza, loaded with diced onions and jalapeños, in order to give us that special taste in our mouths.

We had the omelet earlier this week, but when we discussed what to fix this morning, we both remembered the crescent rolls in the refrigerator – naturally, we both said “breakfast pizza” at the same time!

The first step to preparing bacon, or anything fried, in our house is prefaced by the "lighting of the candles". Judy loves her candles, so there are always at least half a dozen to light! Notice the Christmas flower arrangement she made…lovely huh!?

Jeff asked, “Who died” when I shared the photo with him earlier in the week! Judy may never speak to him again!

While Judy cooked a couple of strips of bacon, and sautéed the diced onions and jalapeños, along with a couple of strips of sandwich ham, I sprayed the Pampered Chef pizza dish with EVOO, and spread out the triangles of Pillsbury® crescents with the Baker's Roller® Judy had hidden in a drawer of implements we rarely use.

The triangles want to separate, but if you work hard at kneading them together, they will eventually cooperate and flatten out together.

Once it was all spread out as far as I dared to push it, I poured three beaten eggs over the top. The eggs were seasoned with salt, pepper, and Tennessee Sunshine hot sauce. The mixture will run off the edges unless your put the dough into a smaller pan with sides, but as it turned out, on the pizza stone, the egg cooked up just right in the oven. We simply cut it from the edges of dough and laid the cooked strips on top of the pizza.

After pouring on the eggs, I layered on the bacon, and sautéed onions, jalapeños, and ham! Yum!

This was all popped into a preheated oven at 375 degrees for about 13 to 14 minutes.

The taste was wonderful and the jalapeños and coffee bit at our taste buds!