Swiss Chard & Saffron Omelettes

The two things I heard last night as we sat down to dinner: 'That a frittata.  I going to spit it out!'; and, 'This looks marvelous!'   Thank goodness for Michael and his exceptional taste, is all I have to say.  On the bright side, though, I did manage to get about five or six bites into Emilia's mouth before she drew the line.  (She knew we had a gorgeous carrot cake sitting on the counter -- just waiting for us to finish our dinner.) 

Emilia has mastered the trick of blocking my fork by hurrying to get her glass of milk up to her little mouth in lightening speed.  (The twerp.)  However, last night was much easier than the last two times I made these for dinner.  (Yes, I've tortured her with them three times now, alright?)  Anyway, she usually holds to her word, and literally spits out each bite I give to her.  She then proceeds to wail like a banshee in between.  Poor thing.  I know she loathes potatoes and parsley, and what do I do?  Give her (what she believes to be) an extra-large serving of both.

As for the rest of us in the house?  Well, we love the dish.  And, unfortunately for Miss Milia, the recipe has made it into my new dinner repertoire.  I'm sorry, but it really is delicious and quite good for us.  We've been serving it with just a green salad and a loaf of bread.  It is one of my favorite concepts in a recipe -- very simple ingredients put together in an interesting sort of way.  (I really must hand it to Ottolenghi -- he is never ever boring.)  It is nice to start with just a few fresh quality ingredients, and end up with an incredibly flavorful meal. 

And so, in an attempt to maybe give our ubiquitous Tortilla Espanola a break around here, may I present: chard and saffron omelettes. Mmmm, yum!  Now, if only I could get our two year old to agree, then we'd really be onto something.     

Chard and Saffron Omelettes
Serves 4

250g (peeled weight) waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
200 ml water
pinch of saffron threads
350g Swiss chard (both stalks and leaves), shredded
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
5 eggs
60ml milk
20g chopped herbs (tarragon, dill, parsley -- or, if you're like me, leeks and parsley -- I can't stand tarragon)
vegetable oil
100g creme fraîche, cold
salt and pepper

Begin with the omelette filling.  Put the potatoes in a pan with the water and saffron.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 4 minutes.  Add the Swiss chard and some salt and pepper.  Continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the potato is soft.  Drain the excess liquid from the pan.  Stir in the lemon juice and the garlic.  Then set it aside to cool.

On to the omelettes.  In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, herbs, salt, and pepper.  Pour a tablespoon of oil into a hot non-stick frying pan.  I use my frittata pan for this -- because that pan is marvelous.  Then pour in a quarter of the mixture, wiggle it around a bit, and cook your omelette.  When done, transfer it to a paper towel.  Make three more omelettes in the same fashion, transferring them between layers of paper towels.  Leave to cool for a minute or so.

Assemble your omelettes.  Preheat the oven to 170°C, 325°F, or Gas Mark 3 (whatever that means).  Slather a nice bit of creme fraîche onto each omelette.  Taste and adjust the seasoning of your chard mixture, then take a nice scoopful and spread it generously over the creme fraîche.  Fold each omelette into quarters.  Allow the chard mixture to show at the side.  (How you could actually prevent that is beyond me.)  Arrange the omelettes on a lightly oiled baking dish.  Before serving, place in your heated oven for 5-8 minutes.  Serve immediately.  (Recipe from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi.  Ebury Press, 2010.)