Tortilla Omelet

This is one of the easiest, tastiest breakfasts I have ever made – and the accolades all belong to the ingredients. Sweet Maui onions, local organic eggs, homemade tortillas and aged dry jack cheese are all spruced up with a generous sprinkle of cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

In my last post I mentioned the California Rancho Cooking cookbook, so I thought it only fair to now share one of its recipes. The dish is called Don Miguel Acosta’s Tortilla Omelet, named after the 84-year-old Santa Barbara descendant who, as author Jacqueline Higuera McMahan says, still wakes up every day with ideas for new recipes. This one grabbed my attention because usually when tortillas and eggs are in the same meal, the tortillas’ sole purpose is to wrap up the eggs in neat little breakfast burritos. Not here though – this recipe gives the tortilla top-billing, so use ones that you made yourself or pick some up at a local Mexican restaurant. I used leftover ancho-corn tortillas from my halibut, but plain corn turns out just as good. I changed the recipe quite a bit from the original, but the technique and the feel are the same, and that’s the important part.

I love how rustic these eggs feel. When you’re eating it, you can imagine early Californians preparing their breakfast the same way, using only the natural ingredients they have on hand. This is the way food was meant to be eaten – pure and simple.

If you can’t get local ingredients, spring for organic. People always ask me if I really think organic is worth the price premium, and without hesitation, I always say absolutely. Not only are you saving your body from a flood of pesticides, you’re helping the environment and supporting farmers who care about their food. And yes, it does taste much better too.

Ingredients for Tortilla Omelet

(serves 2)
4 organic, local eggs
1 Maui onion, roughly chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 jalepeno, chopped and seeded
1/2 cup shredded Dry Jack cheese
4 homemade corn tortillas
1 avocado, sliced
Olive oil
1 lime

First the eggs

Crack the eggs into a glass bowl and add the chopped jalepeno, half of the chopped onion and half of the cilantro. Beat together, then add a scant tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper, and combine. I added a teaspoon of water to thin it out a bit, but I don’t think it was necessary.

Heat up a cast iron pan. Add 2 tablespoons of the egg mixture, and press a tortilla on top – use pressure to get the tortilla into the egg. After 30 seconds, flip the tortilla and add one more tablespoon of the egg on top. Sprinkle with a little cheese, onion and cilantro and let cook until egg is set – about 45 seconds. Use a spatula to scoop out the tortilla and plate it. If there’s anything leftover in the pan, throw it on top. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Now eat!
Squeeze half a lime on top before serving, and dish up some sliced avocado to have with it. I also used plenty of hot sauce (homemade of couse, but that’s a future post).

This recipe is part Blog your Omelet event at Spanish Recipes

Where I Shopped:
Maui Onion, cilantro: Old Oakland Farmers’ Market
Eggs, avocado: Temescal Farmers’ Market
Dry Jack cheese: Berkeley Bowl