Would You Make Breakfast? Fried Bread with Egg Skillet

 For years when I had to cook just for myself (before and after the house full of kids), I just made scrambled eggs and toast.  It wasn't that I didn't know how to cook, but rather that eggs were fast, cheap, filling, and used one pan and one plate.  Ok, you could even eat them out of the pan.   I had spent so much time cooking for other people that when there was just me, I wanted to spend my time in other ways, i.e. breathing. 

This is one of the first sorts of things I cooked just for myself.  A fish salad.  Walleye Salad if you're in Minnesota.  Make a nice salad while a piece of fish cooks in a pan.  Gee.  Real rough?  But it was a watershed moment.  You know how often you hear someone say, "Too hard to cook for just me."  I changed that for myself.  I set the table, lit the candles, turned on the music, and lived.

An Omelet and a Glass of Wine

..is a fine book by famed writer, Elizabeth David.  I wish I'd coined the phrase, but, alas, I just eat the meal regularly.  Add sauteed spinach, a piece of whole-grain toast (I often skip this or have half) and you have a meal.  (Photos below.) This particular omelet is a cheese one, but you can make whatever kind of omelet you like.  I'll give some tips about that at the bottom under "Solo Cook's Notes."  If you'd like to see another, more classic omelet prep, watch this Julia Child video et voila!

Or watch Jacques Pepin make an omelet here.   Choose your method!

A great Judith Jones omelet post, with lots of pics from her kitchen, is here.

No, I'm not pedaling books, but I've read Elizabeth David (and others-- Jacques Pepin or MFK Fisher for example) for years.   If you like yummy prose as well as yummy food, try books by  these writers who knew from words and knew from food. 

My Little Omelet Info and Primer:
Omelets are  notorious for using up leftovers...that bit of broccoli left from last night, that last tablespoon of chopped onion or green pepper, that bit of hard cheese you didn't wrap well.  Here are a few tips:

• Best quality cage-free eggs.  (or from a local farmer)
• Don't overbeat your eggs.  30 whips with a big whisk is plenty for two eggs. 
• Buy a heavy-duty, 8", nonstick pan (or stainless steel if you like that) and you'll have it for a long time.  I like Scanpan for more expensive pans and Pampered Chef for a good cheapie. 
• Don't be afraid to crank that heat up a little to really get the butter really hot.  But don't dare walk away either.  Turn off your cell phone.
• You must have everything you need ready before you heat the pan, because after that, your eyes and your hands must attend the omelet.  Set table and get your drink first.
• Do not make an omelet without butter unless you are allergic to it, are vegan or have a health problem that requires you to use oil.  Omelets are made with butter period. 
• As the eggs begin to cook, gently stir them to allow uncooked eggs into the bottom of the hot pan.
• If you want to cook more than one omelet, heat the oven to 200 and let one omelet rest there while you cook the other.   Move on to a frittata if you have several people.
• Be brave, cook your omelet and enjoy it!  However it turns out, you'll eat it and be glad. 
• Note: For South Beach Option, skip toast

Omelets are great for solo cooks.