single rolled omelette

w a sassy fried garlic sprinkle

Hello! It’s me again. If you’re wondering where the hell I’ve been for the last several weeks…..unfortunately it’s been a deep sad girl breakup hole.

Heartbreak is real, my friends.

The crazy thing is, I thought I knew what heartbreak was before this one. I’ve been through breakups before and they sure did suck. But wow, turns out that wasn’t anything compared to this. Now I get why painters, musicians & writers dedicate their lives to trying to describe this kind of suffering.

What I’ve been up to while not writing Sobremesas:

Listening to the same Lauryn Hill song over and over and over and over again.

Reading Instagram horoscopes every day, looking for any wisdom they could provide. I actually started imagining they were actually speaking to me, and only me (and she always had a Gossip Girl voice).

Watching the entire series of Sex and the City. Yelling at Carrie repeatedly (you let AIDEN go!?)

Literally writing poetry.

Not getting out of bed, not responding to emails, not getting through a a shower without crying.

So alas, I just honestly did not have the gumption to to shake my ass while making aioli on TikTok these days.

But how I REALLY knew I was depressed was that I couldn’t even cook. ME. Not being able to cook? Cooking is the purest form of joy in my life. And I couldn’t even be bothered to pick up the spatula.

Alas, I was surviving off of bodega egg & cheeses and red wine for a few weeks there. *thank you Andres for keeping me alive*

A lot of people told me that they only way to get over a breakup is “time.” Yet nobody could tell me exactly how long that would be. And anyone who has been depressed will tell you that time just draaaaaaags when you’re that low.

But, they were right. Time is the only solution. And, before you get too worried about me, it’s starting to get better these days.

I knew I was coming out of my sad girl hole the day I woke up, washed my hair, grabbed my lil’ wheelie grandma cart, and headed to the market.

I was finally ready to get back in the kitchen. And damn, I was actually starving!

I stood at the grocery store and considered my options -

• It was definitely too soon to whip up something “wild.” My mind was still mush and I needed something simple.

• Now cooking for one, what could I make that would be satisfying, yet not too lavish to be considered sad to eat alone? IMO it can be very depressing to spend hours making a lavish meal to then eat it alone in 5 mins in front my Macbook while watching Netflix.

Which lead me to eggs.

Eggs are a perfect, solo, no-frill meal. Cheap. I think most of us have them usually stocked in their fridge anyway.

But as with most things that are simple, the best eggs are made with the utmost care and technique.

When I first started cooking, I read Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking cover-to-cover. Cliché? Maybe. But let me tell you. That lady knew what the hell she was doing in the kitchen. And also let me say - the French do not fuck around when it comes to eggs.

She has an entire chapter dedicated to the art of Oeufs.

A good French omelette is smooth, gently swelling, golden oval that is tender and creamy inside. And as it takes less than half a minute to make, it is ideal for a quick meal.

Maybe it’s the fact I haven’t been laid in several weeks, but is that erotic or what?

Learning to make a good omelette is entirely a matter of practice. Do one after another for groups of people every chance you get for several days. You should soon develop the art, as well as your own personal omelette style.

I love how she describes this simple meal as “art.” Admittedly, I’m still even working on my technique to flip it perfectly with just a flick of the wrist.

So here we go to this omelette I made.

If you have made it this far in the newsletter, I applaud you. I have a sense many starting saying “why is this lady making me feel so sad? Isn’t this a cooking newsletter?” around when I mentioned I couldn’t get through a shower without crying. I get it.

BUT.

For the rest of you still here - I bet you’ve had heartbreak and I hope that this resonates with you. So this omelette goes out to you, my friends.

And guess what? It was so good that I *did* shake my ass while eating it. Dare I say I see the light at the end of the tunnel here?

Some important notes, a la Julia Child:

• Don’t use a “sticky pan,” use a pan where the eggs can slide around freely, like a cast-aluminum pan and half and inch thick.

• Make 2-3 egg omelettes at a time - these are the most tender.

• Just before heating the butter in the pan, break that eggs into the mixing bowl and add salt + pepper. This is also the best time to add herbs, if using. Beat with a fork only enough until the egg whites and yolks are mixed thoroughly.

I wanted to jazz it up a little, but still do minimal work. What’s great about omelettes is that you can easily add weird leftover ingredients and guess what - they will usually taste great rolled up in cooked eggs! In this case, I added some random leftover vegan goat cheese (don’t ask why I even have this).

The *best* part of this omelette is that I made a lil’ sassy fried garlic sprinkle! I fried slices of garlic, and then added them to a mortar and pestle with sesame, flaky salt, aleppo, and red chili flakes. Chef’s kiss. I recommend actually making a big batch of this and sprinkling it on anything and everything.

Single Rolled Omelette w a Sassy Fried Garlic Sprinkle

Ingredients

2-3 eggs

Big pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

1 tablespoon butter

Sassy fried garlic sprinkle: 2 cloves garlic, pinch of sesame+aleppo+salt+chili pepper flakes

Let’s do it:

1. Make your sassy fried garlic sprinkle: Thinly slice the garlic, and add to a pan with a neutral oil over medium-high heat. When the garlic starts to brown and smell freaking amazing, pull out with a slotted spoon and place onto a paper towel. Add to your mortar and pestle with sesame, aleppo, salt, and chilli pepper flakes. Mash. Set aside.

2. Beat the eggs, salt+ pepper + any other herbs in a bowl with a fork until the white and yolks are just blended.

3. Place the butter in the pan and set over high heat. As the butter melts, tilt the pan in all directions to cover all sides. When the foam has almost subsided in the pan and the butter it to the point of coloring, that means the butter is hot enough.

4. Pour in the egg mixture.

5. Let the eggs settle in the pan for 2-3 seconds to form a film of coagulated egg in the bottom of the pan.

6. Add any other ingredients if you’d like- I did a sprinkle of goat cheese.

7. If you’re not skilled yet to do the Julia Child pan flip (i’m not even quite there yet!) Then take your spatula and start rolling it on to itself. For the last part of the roll, roll it onto itself on your plate.

8. Top with your sassy garlic sprinkle.

Bon Appetit!

Did you know that for every Sobremesa I also make a lil’ video tutorial? Follow me on Instagram!

xo

Tessa