Frugal Foodie Friday - Potato and Cheese Omelet

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Normally, preparing a dish for Frugal Friday is a straightforward, no frills affair. The only rules to speak of are quite simple. Any dish that is inexpensive to make and delicious to eat is a candidate to be the day's feature. Today, the process was a bit more contradictory and I found myself elbow deep in the creation of a very pricey pie, while still working on an omelet whose cost could kindly be characterized as dirt cheap. The two dishes are, in a way, related. This weekend, local merchants and media outlets are conducting a food drive to highlight and help fight childhood hunger in the county. The pie is related to the effort and is one of many that will be auctioned to raise funds to help stock local food pantries. The omelet is more mundane, but it is a great entree for folks whose food budgets are very limited. The pie and the omelet are both delicious and I'll share the pie with you on Sunday. Tonight, however, I want to talk a bit about the potato omelet. It is substantial enough to be a meal and, if you have ever had and enjoyed rösti, I know you will love this simple dish. I originally found the recipe in Saveur magazine. They used grated raw potatoes to make the omelet, but I found the potatoes did not cook in the allotted time. I decided to parboil the potato and gave the recipe another try. It was a "Bingo" moment. I save "Eureka" for more difficult executions. At any rate, the omelet comes together in minutes if you have a chilled potato that is ready to grate. The execution is a bit more difficult and there are two ways to approach it. The first, uses two frying pans to execute the turn. The omelet cooks in  one pan until it has a brown bottom, then a second frying pan is placed over it and the bottom pan is inverted, dumping the omelet into it. The second method, and the one I prefer to use, cooks the omelet until the top is nearly dry, then slides it out and turns it on itself in halfmoon fashion. Neither method is completely foolproof, but let me assure you, that the finished omelet, whatever its state of disrepair, will be delicious. The recipe below is meant for one person. It makes a healthy, guy-size, portion. When I make this for Bob and myself, I use two skillets so we get to sit at the table together. This is a great dish, even if you are not on a food budget. I hope you will give it a try. Here's how the omelet is made.



Potato and Cheese Omelet...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by an adapted recipe that originally appeared in Saveur magazine

Ingredients:
2 large eggs, beaten
1 (8-oz.) potato
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely shredded Parmesan or Gruyere
2 tablespoons butter

Directions:
1) Place potato in a large saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain potato and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. Peel potato, then refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour. Grate potato using large holes on a cheese grater. You should have about 1-1/4 cups shredded potatoes.
2) Combine eggs, grated potato, salt and pepper, onion, garlic and cheese. Melt butter in a medium sized omelet pan (10-inch), pour in egg mixture and cook until top is nearly dry, about 5 to 10 minutes. Turn out of pan, folding omelet over itself as you transfer it to a serving plate. Serve immediately. Yield: 1 serving.









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