October (Charles)

Jack’s Southwest Omelet

3 - 4 eggs
½ green bell pepper
½ chopped onion
Shredded ham (you can just pick it apart into shreds)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa
Cilantro
Toast

Chop up all the vegetables before you begin the process, eggs always cook quicker than I anticipate. Scramble the eggs. Melt butter on a hot skillet, or use Pam. Place the eggs on the hot skillet. Leave for a little less than a minute. Start the toast in the toaster oven during this time. Place peppers, onions, ham, and cheese on one half of the egg. Once you can easily get your spatula under the egg, flip the empty half on top of the filled half. Leave for a bit longer and then flip. Once the inside of the omelet is no longer runny, it is done. Put on a plate and garnish with salsa and cilantro.

Gastrography
This recipe is another one of my attempts to take a recipe I enjoy at a restaurant and try and implement it in my own kitchen. My college experience would have been incomplete without Jack’s Diner. This diner is a step back in time to the good old days of bright orange bar stools and short order cooks. Jack owns the restaurant, and he is also the only cook. I have never seen anyone else cook in his sacred kitchen since I have been going there for the last four years. I love Jack’s because the coffee is always hot and the food is delicious and inexpensive. When I was going through my wanting to be Tom Waits stint, my friend Dan and I would always go to Jacks and drink our coffee black and then smoke cigarettes in front of the diner, just like Tom.

My love for omelets is almost as strong as my love for Jacks. In fact, while traveling through Europe with the Canadians (the same trip that I had Cheats’ Curry for the first time) my kitchen group made omelets for the entire group (at least 30 omelets) and they were delicious. This omelet is an ode to the Southwest and is my favorite thing to get at Jacks with a side of grits, hash browns, and whole-wheat toast. I have become obsessed with Southwest food as of late for some reason and cannot get enough of it, especially jalapeños. While my love for Jacks is undying, the best Southwest Omelet I ever ate was in Tucson, Arizona, a stop I made while driving across the country. When you cook this omelet, just make sure you do not try and flip it too early. Wait until the top of the egg becomes semi-solid before flipping.