From the desk kitchen of the publisher

The Tomttata

Just as in some European wine making, messing around with the rules of making omelets or frittatas can get you in a world of trouble. As soon as yu serve this dish as a Frittata, some food snob will read you your rights. As soon as you call it an omelet, you'll never be allowed within a mile of St. Helena's Greystone. So wise up and never use one of those names when you serve this to others.

But do make it – especially if you're single.

Frittatas are flipped. Omelets are folded. Ever tried to fold a one-egg omelet?

In an omelet, the ingredients are heated and then the egg is added. In a frittata, everything is mixed together in a bowl prior to cooking, then cooked all together.

Each can use the ingredients of eggs, vegetables, meats and cheese. And like a good wine blend, you can mix and mingle as much as you want within that.

As a single person, sometimes I want an omelet, sometimes I want a frittata. But when I'm cooking with just one egg, where is the happy medium? I found it.

The Tomttata – Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tsp ghee (clarified butter) or 1 Tbsp butter

• 1 Tbs minced shallot

• 2 links pre-cooked sausage

• 1 egg beaten

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1 Tbs shredded cheese

DIRECTIONS

Heat a small non-stick sauce pan to 325 degrees (medium/medium low). Add the ghee and minced shallots and warm for 1 minute. Add the sausage and warm for another minute. Pour in the beaten egg, shake the pan to spread the egg across the shallot and sausage evenly. Allow to cook until the blend is firm enough to flip, then flip it (about 2 minutes). Let the Tomtatta cook through another minute or so and, while you're at it, add the salt and pepper, then sprinkle the tablespoon of cheese evenly across the top. When the cheese begins to melt, that's when you'll know its time to pull the Tomttata from the pan and enjoy.

COOKING NOTES

1. The secret to cooking an egg just right is not overcooking it. That's why I call out the 325 degrees, where others might say medium, which puts you typically around 350 degrees. Too high.

2. I cook with ghee because it's healthier than butter, but also carries more fat with it. That's why I only use 1/3^rd the amount of what I would use if I were to cook with butter.

3. Aidelles makes a very nice all-natural chicken & apple breakfast sausage that comes pre-cooked and is handy for using just what you need when you need it. Uh oh…guess I put a little fruit in my dish too. Call the kitchen police!

4. I find things like salt and pepper taste so much better when added last, rather than to the initial blend.

5. Cheese is another ingredient I like to add at the end so it doesn't burn to the pan, the way it would in a frittata.

TM/January 16