Portabella, Smoked Salmon and Gruyere Omelette Souffle

A light, fluffy omelette souffle with the flavors of gruyere cheese, portabella mushrooms and smoked salmon!
   
     Omelette souffle is not only a breakfast item.  This can be a great dinner omelette souffle too!  Dinner omelette entrees are popular in some areas of this country as well as europe.  Dinner omelets used to be on nearly every restaurant menu in Philadelphia in the late 1970's and 1980's.  Dinner omelets are usually fancy and affordable.
     Omelette souffle is different than a standard omelette.  The eggs are separated and the whites are whisked till medium meringue peaks are formed, before being folded with the yolks to create the egg batter.  Very few chefs still make omelette souffle breakfast entrees, because of the additional preparation time, but that is a poor excuse.  Overall, fine breakfast food is not really part of most modern chef's repertoire, because many of the new breed of chefs think that they are just too good to bother with cooking breakfast!
     For breakfast blog article, I served this omelette souffle with scallion grits.  Flavored hominy grits can be like a nice polenta.  Some people do not like grits, because they have only experienced Plain Jane instant grits.  Instant grits are very pasty and starchy.  Old fashioned stone ground hominy grits have a much nicer texture, but they take just a little bit more time to cook.  Adding a flavor like scallions to stone ground grits makes them even more appealing.
     The actually is a difference between scallions and green onions.  Scallions are smaller and the have a richer flavor.  Scallions have a very short shelf life, so they are usually only available by delivery at a restaurant from a fresh herb supplier.  At home, true scallions can sometimes be found at farmers markets.  As kids, we used to pick wild scallions in northeastern America, so gathering a few scallions in a meadow is an option too.
     Green onions can be substituted for scallions in recipes.  Most recipe titles that chefs write often use the word scallion to refer to green onions, because scallion sounds better when spoken.  Ce est la vie!
  
     Scallion Grits Recipe:
     Boil 1 1/2 cups of water over high heat.
     Add 1/2 cup of old fashioned stone ground hominy grits, while whisking.
     Whisk for 30 seconds.

     Reduce the temperature to low heat.

     Simmer till the grits become cooked soft.
     Whisk the grits occasionally to break up any lumps.

     Add water, if the grits become too thick before they become tender.

     Add sea salt, and black pepper.

     Add 3 pats of unsalted butter.

     Add 2 chopped scallions or small green onions.

     Let the grits simmer on low heat, till the scallions sweat soft.
     Keep the scallion grits warm over very low heat.
     The grits should be thick, but they should not be so thick that they look like a solid mass!  Add water if the grits become too thick while they are being kept warm.  Grits do drink up plenty of water!     


     Portabella, Smoked Salmon and Gruyere Omelette Souffle Recipe:
     Heat a saute pan over medium/medium low heat.
     Add 3 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add 1 teaspoon of chopped shallot.
     Add 2 thin sliced small portabella field mushrooms.
     Season the mushrooms with sea salt and white pepper.
     After the mushrooms become fully cooked, set them aside.
     Slice 3 ounces of smoked salmon into thin strips and set them aside.
     Grate 2 to 3 ounces of gruyere or swiss emmental cheese and set it aside.
     Separate the whites and yolks of two eggs into separate mixing bowls.
     Whisk the egg whites, till a medium meringue peaks are formed.
     Gently fold the egg yokes into the meringue.
     Heat a non-stick saute pan over medium/medium low heat.
     Add 3 pats of unsalted of unsalted butter.
     Pour the omelette souffle batter into the hot butter in the saute pan.
     Use a rubber spatula to even the omelette, so it is a round shape.
     Place the mushrooms and smoked salmon on the uncooked side of the omelette.
     Sprinkle the grated gruyere cheese on the omelette.
     When the bottom half of the omelette becomes cooked firm, place the pan and omelette souffle in a 350 degree oven.
     When the cheese is melted and the omelette souffles, or "puffs up", remove the pan from the oven.  (Be careful not to let the omelette souffle bake too dark!)
   
     Presentation:
     Fold the omelet souffle in half with a rubber spatula and slide the omelette onto a plate.
     Garnish with Italian parsley leaves and a curled smoked salmon slice.
     Spoon the scallion grits onto the plate.
   
     The rich flavor of this omelette souffle is elegant tasting!  Gruyere cheese tastes great with portabella mushrooms and smoked salmon.  The puffy souffle texture is what an omelette souffle is all about.  Delicious!  ...  Shawna