Broccoli Cheddar Grand Marnier Omelet

For those of you that don't know it, today is Ms Cocktail's birthday. I though that I would do something special for her and do the whole breakfast in bed thing. Well, if you know Ms Cocktail you would realize by the time I finished that sentence I had come to the conclusion that was impossible. You see, she is like a cat with an insatiable curiosity. There is no way that I would be able to get up before her (something I NEVER do) and do anything in the kitchen without her poking her nose in to find out what I was up to. So I decided to just get up early, wish her a Happy Birthday and tell her to go back to sleep, knowing full well what a useless exercise it was.

So off to the kitchen I headed. I scrubbed and diced some potatoes for home fries (1 hour in the oven at 350 F, a touch of salt, pepper and garlic) and then I began work on the omelet. The beauty of this omelet is that it is super simple to make yet tastes like a million bucks. I learned how to make these during hung over Sunday brunches at a little place in Willimantic, CT called the Victorian Lady. They would make an omelet station on the bar and this was their signature omelet. It was outrageously expensive to go there on a college student's budget, but I would schlep myself down there as often as I could afford it because it was a cut above the rest of the places available for breakfast.

I won't belabor this story, the omelet is so good, I don't want to keep you from enjoying one as soon as you can. In fact, I was so excited about mine that I forgot to take a picture this morning.

Broccoli Cheddar Grand Marnier Omelet

2 eggs
1 broccoli crown
2 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
2 Tbs Grand Marnier

Cut the broccoli into small pieces. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté the broccoli for about five minutes, until it turns bright green. Do not over cook. You want the broccoli to still have some crunch to it.

Scramble the eggs. Melt the butter in an omelet pan over medium heat. Add the eggs and cover. (Author's note: This technique means that you don't have to flip your omelet. Make sure that your heat isn't too high or you will burn the bottom of the egg though.) Cook for two minutes, then add the broccoli and cheddar. (I'm talking again: Use your judgement as to how much broccoli to add. A whole crown is way too much for an omelet but you really can't buy a smaller amount. You have to figure that about three flowettes should be enough.) Cover and cook for another two minutes. Raise the edge of the omelet and pour 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier into the pan but under the egg. Repeat on the other side of the pan with the remaining 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier. Slide half of the egg out of the pan and onto a plate. Use the pan to fold the remaining half of the egg on top of itself. (Yes, I'm chatty today: This is one of the few times I'll use a non-stick pan. It just makes getting the omelet out of the pan much easier. For the most part I prefer a regular non coated pan for most work on a stove though. The plastic utensils required by non-stick coatings are not precise enough for the way I like to work. Also, those coatings can come off over time and end up in the food. You should use whatever your comfotable with though.)