(EDITED recipe to avoid over-cheesing)
Before I tried this, I thought of mushrooms as just another thing to fill out some chunky omelette. It turns out that the gamy taste of (non-flavorless) mushrooms goes very well with egg. The egg goes from being reasonably tasty protein ‘n fat to tasting like the meat of some delicious wild animal. I first tried it using a whole shiitake cap for 2 eggs and no cheese, but the ‘shroom flavor was a bit overblown and there was something missing. It needed more fat.
I stumbled upon parrano at the store; the label read something like, ”nutty flavor of parmagiano-reggiano, soft texture of gouda,” and I figured it would be pretty good even if that was mostly (but not entirely) true. I got it. I tried it. Believe the hype.
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cap of largish shiitake mushroom; I was amazed by how much flavor I got out of such a small amount of mushroom.
- Tiny dash of thyme, powdered probably preferable.
- grated parrano, enough to make a very thin coating on the inside surface of the omelette. Too much and you will taste nothing but parrano- not bad, but not the point.
Whisk your eggs then add the thyme and the shiitake strips and whisk a bit more. Cook in an omelette/small frying pan with the top on; I think the extra moisture and heat will help bring out the delicious aroma of the mushroom.
The rest is, to me, common-sense egg and cheese preparation 101 but I’ll write it out anyway. Flip once the egg is sturdy enough and put the parrano on top while the bottom solidifies a bit. Once the bottom is good, fold the egg in half, enveloping the parrano in warm egg. Put the top back on and remove from heat; let it stand to melt the cheese some more. I suggest eating it with some bacon and a roll of bread with olives in. Maybe it will fill you up; two eggs just gets me started.
Edit- this just in from Wikipedia: “Parrano won a gold medal at the 2006 World Championship Cheese Contest in Madison, Wisconsin for ‘Best of class, Gouda.’ It was also first runner up for the World Champion Cheese Title.” I think I would enjoy visiting the World Championship Cheese Contest.
Shiitake mushroom in omelette?? I never thought of that before but it does sound like a perfect match! I will try this next time I feel ambitious enough to try an omelette (flipping disasters in the past have made me wary).
Young Grasshopper, the flipping succession technique can only be mastered through years of mediation, practice and a healthy use of non-stick culinary equipment. Tehse flipping disasters echo similar ‘flipping disasters’ deep WITHIN YOURSLEF. It is only through inner tranquility, or the liberal use of butter, that we may progress to our true potential.
That will be 3 sprigs of sandalwood, please.
On the practical side, a good spatula is your best friend and a small omelette-sized frypan is a must for me as I eat eggs nearly every day. I never make omelettes with milk or cream in because it makes the egg slower to congeal. If the top is too liquid and the bottom is mostly solid, I like to cheat by pushing the bottom gently aside and tilting the pan so that some of the still-liquid egg can come into contact with the pan and cook. This can be done to different extents at different points in the cooking process; I try to do it to reduce the volume of liquid right before I flip it to avoid hilarious splatters.
I dreamed last night about purchasing the cheese you describe here. Not kidding.
It has its own website, which probably has contact info for people who can tell you where to procure it in old New Amsterdam.