Appetizing Muse

I'm not much of an egg-lover or breakfast-eater for that matter, but in the last few days I've had a hankering for an omelet. Well-cooked, mind you, because I can't abide any "runny" stuff. I particularly favor omelets with vegetables and cheese, or sometimes meat. One of the egg-concessions I've made is to treat myself to a Denver Omelet now and then. I also love asparagus and mushrooms, so I set out to make "breakfast" for dinner today. Since Wilbert doesn't like asparagus (the man is nutty – he also dislikes lobster, shrimp and crab), I made two separate egg mixes. What a royal pain!

At first I told Wilbert I wasn't cooking two different batches, but then relented when he appeared genuinely downtrodden.

First, I cleaned and trimmed one bunch of fresh asparagus, and then gently boiled the vegetable until tender (about ten minutes). Setting aside the asparagus, I cleaned and sliced just less than a pound of white button mushrooms along with five green onions with the greens included. I actually wanted to use chives, but couldn't find any at my local grocery store. I sautéed the sliced mushrooms and green onions in a bit of butter until both were soft, and then scooped them into a waiting bowl for later. I also grated about 1/2 cup of white cheddar cheese, and set this aside as well.

Spices? Simply salt and black pepper, a dash of paprika and a pinch of parsley.

Since I was making two separate batches of the egg mixture, I used four eggs for Wilbert and three for me. I whisked the eggs with a bit of liquid Coffee Mate and the spices, and then folded my portion into the waiting skillet coated with a dab of melted butter. As soon as the edges of the omelet were set a bit, I sprinkled the cooked asparagus and mushroom-onion mixture on one side; waited a few minutes and then added the grated white cheddar cheese. I waited another few minutes, and then flipped one side of the omelet over. Shortly thereafter my omelet was cooked to perfection with no runny stuff, and I slid it onto a heated plate. I repeated the steps with Wilbert's egg batch, sans the asparagus.

As a side, I prepared homemade hash browns using small red potatoes with a bit of butter, salt and black pepper. It was a delightful repast, and without a doubt satisfied my sporadic yen for eggs.