Zelda's latest test recipe for
The Columbo Cookbook, the current project by Jenny at Silver Screen Suppers, is
Ruth Gordon’s Zucchini Omelet
The Context
Ruth Gordon (1896 – 1985)
was an American actress whose voice was almost as recognisable as her face. She began performing as a beautiful 19 year old, but is best known for her roles in later life, such as her scene-stealing part in Rosemary’s Baby.
She appeared in the 1977 Columbo episode Try and Catch Me, playing a famous crime novelist who thinks that she has the skills at her fingertips to outwit The Lieutenant.
Ruth’s original recipe can
be found here.
The Recipe and my
Variations
(A note on terms used: I
have kept with zucchini, rather than
the usual courgette of English
cooking because it felt rude to alter the title of the dish. Similarly, I have
retained omelet, although we would
more often see it in a menu today as omelette.)
As with the other Columbo
recipes, which may have been written many years ago, I have adapted the ingredients list
slightly so as to make it more representative of the items you would put on
your shopping list now.
I have also made the
method more comprehensive in case not everyone knows how to cook “as for omelet”,
a charming and optimistic assumption made by Ruth.
The recipe said it served
2 and included 4 eggs, so rather than making one huge omelet and then cutting it
in half, I decided – as the cooking process is speedy anyway – to split the
ingredients and cook twice.
Ruth doesn’t specify why
she uses so much butter. Jenny suggested halving the amount. I think 10g is
suitable for a single omelet but because I made two (see above) I adjusted
the ingredients list in line with this and changed it to 20g.
I started the cooking
process with the peppers as they need a little longer than the other
ingredients.
Another change I made was
in grating the zucchini. It allowed me to add texture and also to remove some
of the moisture before cooking.
I also seasoned the beaten
eggs rather than waiting until the end.
Ingredients
Serves 2
20g butter
1 medium zucchini (courgette)
(makes about 150g or 1 cup when grated)
½ medium onion (makes about 50g
or 3 tbsp when chopped)
½ medium green pepper (makes about about
50g or 3tbsp when chopped)
1 large stalk celery (makes about
40g or 3tbsp when chopped)
4 free range eggs
Cooking
Prepare the ingredients
Grate the zucchini. Place
above a bowl in a piece of absorbent kitchen roll or a tea towel. Wring this
out until you have removed as much water from the zucchini as you can.
Peel and dice the onion.
Finely chop the celery.
Finely chop the celery.
Wash, dry and dice the
green pepper.
Crack 2 eggs into a dish
and beat well. Season with salt and pepper. Then repeat for the other 2 in a
separate bowl.
Make the Omelets
Warm two plates
Melt 10g of the butter in
a shallow pan until it bubbles.
Add the half the pepper
and sauté for a
few minutes. Then add half of each of the zucchini, onion, pepper and celery and
continue to sauté until
tender.
Fold in half and slide
onto a warmed plate.
Repeat with the rest of
the ingredients.
Serving
How you eat this will very
much depend upon when you eat it.
Although you could have it
on its own, it would make an excellent lunch with a light salad. Or it can be
part of a more substantial dinner.
The Verdict
Because I kept as close as
I could to the original amounts when preparing the ingredients, I found that I used
half a pepper and onion. This is not a problem; I just put the rest in the
fridge ready to join the salad for tomorrow’s lunch. It did strike me, however,
that that it would be so easy to make four omelets by doubling the amounts and
using up all the veg.
Because there was such a lot of filling, I would also be inclined to make each omelet with three, rather than two, eggs.
Because there was such a lot of filling, I would also be inclined to make each omelet with three, rather than two, eggs.
The Experience
As stated above, this is
very versatile and can make a lovely lunch.
We, however, had it for an
evening meal. Dave persuaded me that oven chips and baked beans were ‘the way
forward’ so this is how we ate our omelets, with the requisite episode on the
television and trays on our laps.
And yes, it was a lovely evening!
And yes, it was a lovely evening!
Autobiographical Footnote:
After agreeing to test this one, I noticed the inclusion of celery. I have had
a chequered relationship with celery. The truth is that I lived on it for about
a week when I was in my teens and wanted to fit into some particularly clingy
jeans. My Mum had told me that they looked a bit ‘clipped’ which is a lovely
euphemism for “Yes it does!” so, hearing that the process of eating celery
actually burned up its own calorie content, I made it the sole ingredient of every meal every day for a week. I wore and felt comfortable in the jeans, but I
have not been able to enjoy celery since. I never buy it and only eat it if it
is a ‘hidden ingredient’ in a meal. This left me with a dilemma: should it stay
or should it go? Reader, I cooked with it. Never let anyone say that cooking is
not a cathartic experience.
