Years ago, I watched Martha Stewart make a beautiful fluffy omelet. It looked like the omelets I love in Chicago at Tempo. For those who haven't been blessed by a Tempo omelet, try thr Original House of Pancakes. I can't vouch for the taste (I'm too busy eating the buckwheat pancakes), but they look similar. They are the fluffiest omelets you'll ever see. Martha let me in on their secret -- whipping the egg whites separately and baking the omelet. Now of course I couldn't find the recipe, but I decided to wing it because I had my favorite combo -- sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, spinach, onions and garlic on hand. I even had feta cheese. This was going to be a great Saturday.Preheat the oven to 350. In a nonstick skillet, sweat the onions in a small amount of olive oil and add the garlic. Add drained frozen chopped spinach or wilt fresh spinach. Throw in the olives and tomato. Season well and heat though.
This recipe requires multitasking. As your stove top is going, whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Here is where I put in a plug for Miracle, my food processor, and the egg whip that came with it. It's perfect for whipping small amounts and best of all, it's hands free. I used three whites.
Beat the yolks with a little milk or cream (about a tablespoon). Season well. Now, fold the whites into the yolks.
Pour the eggs over the mixture in the skillet. Make sure the veggies in the skillet are distributed evently and make sure the eggs are spread evenly over the mixture.
Put the skillet in the oven and bake until fluffy and golden brown.
Put the skillet in the oven and bake until fluffy and golden brown.
Now for the question. Is this an omelet or a fritata and why? My aunt argues that because it's cooked in the oven, it's a fritata. Is it a fritata because the eggs were poured on top of the filling and then baked? If I had used a larger skillet and later folded the contents -- would I have an omelet?
Tools of the trade:
I love my Maryann cake pan. It is a foolproof way to make an elegant cake. There's a depression in the top of the pan that you can fill with 
Spray the pan with Baker's Joy or any other spray with flour. Make sure the batter is evenly distributed in the pan and you'll have a pretty cake!
Hindsight being 20/20, I should have let the caramel cook longer, but I thought I followed the recipe correctly. This thinner caramel isn't the traditional caramel in caramel cakes I'm used to, but it worked for the Maryann cake. (I'm still on a quest for the perfect caramel cake recipe. Here in Chicago, people talk about boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk in the can on the stove or baking a can of sweet milk in a water bath.)
While you allow that to cool, get started on the whipped cream. I think I used a cup of heavy cream. Sweeten powdered sugar and use bourbon for flavoring. After the cream is whipped, scoop some sacrificial cream into a separate bowl. Add a generous amount of pumpkin butter.
Add some toasted pecan halves.
This is why a Maryann cake pan rocks!
Sweet potato cake with caramel and bourbon-scented whipped cream!
Add the wet ingredients, buttermilk, milk, eggs and honey, to the dry.
The batter will be lumpy. (I don't think it's supposed to be this lumpy.) Next time, I think I will add a little more milk because I found the batter was too thick. I used 1/4 measuring cup to portion the batter. It would have been cool to use an ice cream scoop. Cook the pancakes on the first side until bubbles form around the edges and then flip.
Happy eating!
Toast your spices: fennel, coriander and cumin. Toasted whole spices have so much more flavor than pre-ground spices. (If you don't have whole spices on hand, toast your ground spices in a little olive oil and apply them as a paste to the fish. Make sure the paste is cool first.) Once your spices are fragrant (but not scorched), transfer them to a spice grinder. Give them a good whirl.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat olive oil until almost smoking. Carefully add the fish, skin side up, to the pan. Sear for a couple of minutes. 
Carefully flip the fish (you should see good caramelization.) Move the pan to the oven. Cook until desired level of doneness. I'm a well-done, fish-is-flaky, kinda girl. I know ... the food police are on the way.
I added rosemary and a touch of smoked paprika to the carrots and left out the lemon juice. They were good. Next time, I think I'll try cumin and a mix of sweet and smoked paprika. Add the carrots, chicken broth, sugar and seasoning to a nonstick skillet. Bring to a boil.
Reduce the liquid and add your butter and a bit more sugar. You now have glazed carrots!
Dish it up and eat it up! I know the plate is missing some green. I was just too lazy to look for the frozen spinach and I hardly ever have fresh salad greens. on hand The leftover beets were a fine stand in.
See the appropriately sized piece of fish? Yeah. ... I finished the other half straight out of the pan while standing over the stove. My kitchen is a classy establishment.
Mix 1 oz of shaved bittersweet chocolate with 1/4 C cream or half and half. (I use 1% milk in the step above, so I typically add cream) Microwave on low power, stirring frequently, until the chocolate has melted. Okay so clearly I wasn't paying attention when I measured the cream!
Add the chocolate mixture to the saucepan. Mix well. Heat through.
Switch to the dough hook and let the mixer run until the dough comes together, about two minutes. My dough wasn't coming together properly, so I misted it with water. You can also sprinkle the water on the dough, one teaspoon at a time. 
Knead by hand for two minutes. I'm warning you now, this is a very stiff dough.
Break out your pasta roller or 
By the time you get to the fourth and fifth settings, your dough will be very long. I use a bench scraper to cut the dough into smaller pieces before cutting into noodles. Make sure the dough is well floured so the pieces won't stick to each other.
I tried cutting the noodles as they came out of the cutter, but that didn't work for me. I think I was too timid!
To cook, add the noodles to boiling, salted water. When cooking pasta, the water should taste like the sea (according to the chefs). You'll need to add more water than usual because fresh pasta has a lot of flour on it. Cook fresh pasta for 2-3 minutes. It will float when done. Now let your imagination run wild! If this is your first fresh pasta, first try a little with extra virgin olive oil. Ciao!