Breakfast For Dinner

Breakfast For Dinner originally published on Food and Fond Memories on July 13, 2011 by sandyaxelrod Leave a Comment (Edit)

A red dinner plate topped with an omelet, bacon strips and golden brown hash browns.

Yummy Breakfast for Dinner with Bacon Added for Good Measure

An anodized pan filled with cooked eggs and onions

This is the beginning of our omelet. But wait. There’s more!

An anodized pan filled with cooked eggs and onions and covered with melted pale yellow cheese

Melty Gooey Cheesy Goodness

Friday nights are usually quite laid back for Steve and I. The work week is over and weekend relaxation has begun. So when it comes to making dinner I have to admit that I sometimes actually do not feel like cooking. Or at least I don’t feel like making anything too complicated. This past Friday I didn’t even know what I felt like eating for dinner and neither did Steve. After much consideration I decided we would have breakfast for dinner and I made Cheese Omelets with Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions and Applewood Smoked Bacon accompanied by Crispy Hash Brown Potatoes. For the two of us I started by cooking 4 slices of bacon for 18-20 minutes at 425F until crisp and brown. To achieve this I line a rimmed baking pan with foil and place a small cooling rack on top of the foil. Placing the bacon slices on the rack allows the fat to drip away making the bacon nice and crisp. When the bacon is done I remove it to paper towels to drain and I can wrap up the foil and toss it, leaving a clean baking pan. Next I heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick 10″ saute pan over medium heat. When the oil was shimmering I added a small thinly sliced sweet onion and cooked it until softened and beginning to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Next I added 8 ounces of sliced white mushrooms, Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to the pan and cooked them until they were nicely browned, 3-4 minutes longer. In a medium bowl I whisked together 5 large organic cage free eggs, 1 tablespoon heavy cream, 2 tablespoons water, 1/4 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon dried Herbes de Provence. When the onions and mushrooms have finished cooking I poured the egg mixture into the pan. At that point I always remember an ancient episode of the French Chef with Julia Child on omelets. I can still picture her teaching me how to use a small spatula in one hand to push the cooked edges into the center while tilting the pan just a little to allow the uncooked eggs to fill the void. And she just kept on doing that all around the pan until the entire pan was cooked but still loose. That’s when I put 5 thin slices of low fat/low sodium American cheese on top, lowered the heat to low and covered the pan to let the cheese get all gooey, just a couple of minutes. Since I make one big omelet for both of us I cut the omelet in half while still in the pan. To serve I use my “fish” spatula to fold each half over and then put it on on a plate and top with crumbled bacon, placing the hash browns alongside the omelet and a great big dollop of chipotle ketchup. It was such a perfectly delicious, satisfying and comforting breakfast for dinner.