Friday, July 18, 2008

Ham-Wrapped Eggs Fromage de Gruyère

This elegant egg dish is ideally (or, idyllically) served as breakfast-in-bed for two. (Would it sound more romantic if I said, "déjeuner dans le lit pour deux?")
A lazy, lovely morning with your beloved is enhanced by the suggestion of being wrapped up in a blanket while at the same time, the ham reminds me somewhat of a little tuxedo jacket. The pink rose was picked from just outside my door, and a piping hot pot of French-pressed coffee both warms and rouses sleepyheads.

4 eggs (I prefer the cage-free, brown, Omega-fortified variety)
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup gruyère cheese, shredded
1 cup organic baby spinach
1/3 cup vidalia onion, diced
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
2 slices nitrate-free ham
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Place a little olive oil in a small frying pan and heat gently. Add the vidalia onion and cook until soft, stirring occasionally. Set onion aside. In a medium bowl add the eggs, salt, pepper, and milk and beat gently. Pour half the egg mixture into the pan and cook over low heat. Once it is sufficiently firm to be turned easily with a spatula while maintaining its circular shape, flip it over and lay out some baby spinach leaves, cooked onion and cheese across the circle. Place a ham slice on a serving plate; when the egg circle is completely cooked throughout (the cheese will have melted and the spinach will wilt, releasing its flavor), lay it on the ham slice and roll them together. Repeat this with the rest of the ingredients. Serves 2.

Food Fact! Vidalia onions are unexpectedly chic in their exclusivity. According to Georgia's state legislature--the Vidalia Onion Act of 1986--only 13 counties in Georgia are authorized a trademark to use the name "Vidalia Onions," as defined by the state's Commissioner of Agriculture. An unusually sweet variety of onion, due to the low amount of sulfur in the soil, and higher water and sugar content than other storage onions, vidalias leave no burning after taste, and cause no tears. Moses Coleman is considered the person that discovered the sweet Vidalia Onion variety in 1931, reports Wikipedia.
A fresh vidalia is rounded on the bottom and somewhat flat on the top or stem end, and has a light golden-brown bulb and a white interior; look for firm onions without decay or blemishes. There should be no sprouts attached and the skins should be dry.

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