What's in an egg?

I love food. I especially love food that other people have prepared for me. Ergo, I eat out. A lot. And I write about it. But I don't want you to think that it's all about dining out. Oh no. Sometimes it's about seeing what's in the fridge and using it up before it expires. (Oh come on - we've all been there!)
The humble egg can be used to create so many dishes: think of flaky pastries, airy souffles and crunchy meringues. From the ostrich to the duck to the quail, there's an egg for everyone. And I wanted to take it back to basics. Sometimes you just feel like scrambled egg without smoked salmon, or poached egg without hollandaise...

Now imagine an omelette. The best omelette you could possibly conceive. Oh look - there it is!

And here's how to do it:

Whisk two eggs. Pour slowly into a pre-heated frying pan, ensuring even distribution on the bottom of the pan. Cook on a low light. Depending on your taste, add breaded ham, sliced tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, green olives, cheese, salt, pepper and Italian herbs. When the egg is cooked through, fold over and serve.

Easy! And it only takes ten minutes! (I can almost hear Homer Simpson complaining "Ten minutes? But I want it now!).

Haute cuisine it's not. It's not even pub grub. But it's quick and easy home cooking of the highest order. I dare you not to like it!

My other favourite use for egg: egg soup (think Chinese restaurant) - so easy to make at home and so yummy!

Using chicken stock to make a soup (ideally fresh but frankly any will do), add finely chopped spring onions  and heat over a low light. Whisk an egg. Just before the soup boils, slowly pour in the egg, stopping frequently, while stirring the soup so the egg cooks on impact, and makes a beautiful swirly pattern and tastes fluffy and delicious. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Lots of people add noodles, chicken, prawns, beef, onions, sweetcorn and all kinds of things. The secret is in the pouring of the egg - you can't be too heavy handed and dump it all in as a big blob (that would be an unattractive poached egg) and you must make sure to stir the soup so you can thing strands of egg.

This is also an incredibly easy, quick dish to make but it looks and tastes great!