You can do owt with eggs

An old flatmate of mine from first year used to say (and you have to imagine this in a strong, West Yorkshire accent) "You can do owt* with eggs."

This is very true. I think people forget just how wonderful, and versatile, eggs really are. They have exceptionally high levels of protein and amino acids, high levels of vitamin D (which is really hard to come by in food - our bodies most often make it using sunlight) low levels of fat, they're cheap and they are absolutely delicious. They can be cooked in minutes.You can make them as simple or as fancy as you like.  What's not to like? As another friend used to say (hardboiled egg in hand): it's a meal in and of itself.

I have constructed a table below with examples of what purpose eggs can serve in a variety of dishes. As demonstrated by the discussion V and I have just had, clearly it is possible for an egg to serve more than one of these purposes: Eggs are good at multi-tasking.

	Sweet	Savoury
Main protein	/	Eggs Benedict
Flavouring	Sweet breads	Kedgeree
Thickener	Custard	Hollondaise sauce/Japanese Miso soup
Aerating agent/riser	Cakes	Tortilla
“Matrix” (ok, I can’t think what to call this...)	Eggy bread	Spaghetti Carbonara

Emulsifier (allows the mixing of water and oil)

Mayonaise

I grant you, I only discovered just how amazing eggs are a couple of years ago. The trick is to find out exactly how you like your eggs, and learn how to cook them that way consistently. For me, having grown up with my mum's eggs, who, for example, hates having a boiled egg without a runny yolk, I didn't like eggs until I discovered that I just don't like snotty eggs. I will happily sacrifice some of that runny yolk for the guarantee of a completely solid white. I therefore didn't like omelettes until I discovered Tortilla, (or as J insists I should call them to avoid confusion, Spanish Omelettes.) My recipe for a really good Tortilla is below. My one exception is scrambled eggs,  I'm still not a fan. Or maybe I've just not yet found out how to make them so I like them.

I apologise for the continuing lack of pictures. Having finally managed to install the Bluetooth thing to get the pictures off my Blackberry, my Blackberry died. Until I have enough money to join the world of digital cameras or buy a decent new phone, this situation will continue. In the meantime I shall describe to the best of my ability.

Spanish Tortilla


Serves 1-3 .


1 medium potato, peeled and sliced very thinly. Use the slicer on a grater if you don't have a sharp enough knife.
1 onion, chopped as finely as possible.
1 clove of garlic, chopped or grated.
1 small handful of mushrooms, washed and sliced thinly.
1 large handful of grated cheese
3 large to 5 small eggs
A slurp of milk (say, 1/4 of a mugful? ish...)
1/4 tsp baking powder/bicarbonate of soda
Plenty of salt and pepper. If your name is Shell, at least three times as much as you think you need. And stop worrying about too much salt in the diet. Once in a while is not going to kill you, and you need plenty of salt in tortilla. I have no evidence, but a deep suspicion that adding it at the end will not work, because something chemical goes on to improve the texture of the omelette and make it light and fluffy.
Loads of olive oil.


Any other "filling" ingredients e.g. sliced pepper, salami, chorizo...or flavouring ingredients e.g. herbs, spices, mustard...

Turn on your grill to high. In a frying pan, heat your oil on a medium heat, and throw in the garlic when the oil is hot enough for the garlic to start sizzling. After 30 seconds, throw in the potato, and cook until soft and starting to brown, stirring occasionally.

While the potatoes are doing their thing, crack the eggs into a bowl, add salt, pepper and baking powder, and milk. Whisk. Whisk a bit more. And some more. You know what, just carry on whisking it whenever you're not doing anything else. It's good exercise. By the time it goes in the tortilla it should have a nice layer of big-bubbled foam on top.


At some point you'll want to throw in the rest of the veg and let that cook. When it starts softening, make sure that there's still plenty of oil, and throw in your excellently whisked eggs. As it starts solidifying, use a spatula to loosen the edges of the tortilla from the pan. When it's not quite still liquid in the middle, sprinkle the cheese on top and place under the grill. Grill until the egg is cooked and the cheese has gone golden brown.

Enjoy your protein-rich, cheap and very tasty meal.

*I looked this up. Google accepts it is the correct spelling.