Eggs for lunch

Yesterday for our lunch I made an egg dish that I guess is a kind of omelet. Or a quiche cooked in a frying pan — a quiche sans pâte, or "crustless" quiche. One recipe for this type of egg dish that I just found calls it une omelette paysanne à la farine.



The photo on the right shows the flavor ingredients that went into the omelet/quiche we had. I also added some diced up some pre-cooked chicken breast. Smoked-pork lardons (bacon) would be good if you don't have chicken. Or don't add any meat at all.

The way to make such an omelette is to whisk four whole raw eggs together in a bowl or measuring cup. Add three generous tablepoons of cream, three of flour and three of finely grated cheese (Parmesan, for example), whisking all these ingredients together for make a smooth batter. Let the liquid mixture rest for a few minutes while you sauté flavor ingredients including, for example, mushrooms, onions, garlic, along with red, green, and yellow bell peppers, in a non-stick frying pan. Or cooked spinach, broccoli, or other green vegetables instead of peppers and mushrooms if you prefer.

When the vegetables are cooked, spread them evenly on the bottom of the frying pan and pour the egg batter over them into the frying pan. Cover the pan so that the eggs will start to heat through and set. If you use a pan with a metal handle, you can then set the pan in a hot oven and let the omelette start to brown on top. Sprinkle on a little more grated cheese if you want. Use a spatula to check if the omelet is sticking to the frying pan. Slide it out onto a serving platter, or serve it directly out the frying pan. We had ours with air-fryer French fries.

Mariner, marinade

Judy (and all), here's what the Larousse Gastronomique food encyclopedia says in its article about the verbe mariner: 

Mettre à tremper dans un liquide aromatique un ingrédient pendant un temps déterminé, pour l'attendrir et le parfumer. Cette pratique culinaire est très ancienne : vin, vinaigre, eau salée, herbes et épices permettaient non seulement d'adoucir le goût très fort du gibier, mais aussi de conserver plus longtemps des pièces de viande.

A marinade can flavor the foods that have been marinated. The marinade also contains spices and aromatic vegetables that add flavor. Marinated meats are less gamey and marinated fish are less fishy. Food can be submerged in a salt, wine, vinegar, or cultured milk (yogurt) marinade.

Aujourd'hui, on fait mariner les aliments surtout pour les parfumer, les aromatiser ou renforcer leur saveur. Diverses traditions gastronomiques font appel à ce procédé : dans les pays méditerranéens, pour les légumes et les poissons (sardines, charmoula, thon, achards, rougail, poivrons ou oignons marinés, champignons à la grecque) ; dans les pays nordiques, pour l'oie (salée et marinée, en Suède), la langue de bœuf à l'écarlate, le ambon, les quetsches (au vinaigre), les maquereaux (marinés au vin blanc), etc. ; en Inde, pour de nombreux ingrédients, marinés au lait caillé et aux épices ; au Japon et au Pérou, pour le poisson cru, mariné au citron (sashimi et ceviche).

Day 2 of the chicken in red wine

Some say that dishes like coq au vin and bœuf bourguignon actually improve with age, or are better the second day than they were the first day you eat them. Within reason... We'll be having our second lunch of our poulet au vin rouge today. At this point, the chicken is falling off the bone, the vegetables are very tender, and the red-wine sauce has become a gravy. As you can see, we are having it penne rigate pasta, but it would also be good with steamed or sautéed potatoes, steamed rice, or even polenta.

Faites colorer les morceaux de poulet

The next step is to take the marinated chicken pieces out of the marinade, dry them off, and brown them lightly in oil or butter or a combination the two.

After taking the chicken out of the marinade, strain the marinade and then brown the vegetables in the pan you browned the chicken pieces in.

Pour the marinade liquid (red wine in this case) into the pan with the browned and partially cooked vegetables. Place the browned chicken pieces on top of the vegetables. Add more liquid (water, wine, or chicken broth) so that the chicken parts are nearly completely covered. Simmer the chicken and vegetables for 30 minutes or more to be sure that everything is fully cooked.