Shiitake Mushroom and Ginger Omelette

I was reminded this week that cooking is more an art than a science. I was making this mushroom omelette using a Donna Hay recipe online. It turned out very nice looking and it tasted great. But it was totally stuck to the pan. How frustrating.

The omelette was finished in the oven, as per the recipe. For this reason, you can't use a non-stick pan or any pan with a plastic handle. I don't own a cast iron pan, just the stainless steel one you see pictured. It's actually a great quality wedding gift with copper in the base, etc, etc. But sadly, there's no use touting its quality when half the egg is falling out of the pan in large, jagged bits and the rest is still stuck inside. Sigh.

I used a bit more oil than the recipe called for because I was worried this might happen. I guess that was not the answer, at least not this time. While I believe baking to be a science, cooking is more an art, and this tasty, but flawed, omelette proves it for me. Maybe it was my timing of the different parts of the recipe, or the heat of the stove, or the humidity in the kitchen, or anything else including the freshness of the eggs, the moisture of the mushrooms, and my mood. Who knows? I certainly don't.

On the positive side, this is a fantastic flavour combination. The shiitake mushrooms form the base for several other Asian tastes: ginger, sesame oil, red chilli, and scallions (green onions). Please try it out and tell me if it slides out of the pan for you. As for me, the next time I make it I'm going to use my non-stick pan and cook it fully on the stove with a lid to help things along.

This dish is part of our Wednesdays with Donna Hay blogging group. If you want to join us, next week we are making baba ghanoush from Modern Classics 1. Visit the others in my blogging group to see if they liked the recipe: Margaret from Tea and Scones, Kayte from Grandma's Kitchen Table, Gaye from Laws of the Kitchen, and Chaya from Bizzy Bakes.

Have you had any cooking failures lately?

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