Malice Omelet with Crab and Brie

Like other MLK members here, I was at Malice Domestic last weekend. It was wonderful to hang out with a few hundred (literally) of my favorite friends, both writers and readers. But by Monday morning, most people had scattered to their homes, or at least to airports.

At the peak of the conference, the hotel’s sole restaurant was packed to bursting. By Monday you could count on the fingers of one hand the number of people in the dining room. Breakfast throughout the weekend featured a prix fixe buffet, complete with a working chef to make things to order. The number of choices was kind of overwhelming, but I was feeling daring by Monday, and I’m glad I was because I discovered an omelet new to me that seemed like a perfect combination of ingredients, especially if you’re in Maryland.

Yes, it's blue, at least until you cook it

Maryland is known for its crab (from the nearby Chesapeake Bay), mostly the Blue Crab. But it’s still early in the season for them, so I can’t swear where the hotel’s crab was coming from. (Nor can I get it in Massachusetts!) But whatever it was, it tasted good.

Anyway, at the breafast buffet I spotted the crab omelet on the menu and I was sold. Add Brie and I’m in heaven. It’s simple, easy to make, and tasty. Crab omelet, where have you been all my life?


Ingredients:

Fresh crabmeat (that means you have to take the hard shell off! And pluck out the good stuff. Oh, all right—you could use frozen if you’re desperate, but it will still taste good. Just don’t use the “Imitation Crabmeat”—I don’t want to know what that’s made of.)

How much? Depends on how big an omelet you’re making, how much you like crabmeat, how expensive it is at any particular time, and so on. Put it more than a sprinkling, and less than an ice cream scoop per omelet.

The legs/claws pictured here weighed a pound (including the shell) and yielded enough meat to make two omelets.

What came out of those legs

Brie cheese (It should be ripe enough to be soft at room temperature.) Slice it about 1/4-inch thick. Some people don’t like the velvety white mold on the outside (I’m one of them), but you can trim that off easily if you like. Be generous with it, again depending on how big your omelet will be. You should have a layer about one slice thick, covering half of the unfolded egg part of the omelet.)

Brie, unwrapped

Two or three eggs per omelet
Butter
Salt and pepper (taste the cheese first to see how salty it is)
You could add other herbs or spices, but that’s kind of gilding the lily. Crab and Brie both have delicate flavors, so why hide them?

Instructions:

Pick out the crabmeat from its shells (and check the meat twice to make sure there are no shell shards). Slice the Brie.

Make your egg mixture for your omelet (this can include milk, cream, crème fraiche, or whatever pleases you). Add salt and pepper sparingly to the mixture.

Melt the butter over medium heat in a round-sided non-stick pan. Pour in the egg mixture and gently shake the pan while it cooks to keep it from sticking. It should be round.

Just in

Halfway there

When it looks like the omelet is beginning to cook, distribute about half a cup of shredded crabmeat over the eggs. Continue cooking for a bit longer, then lay the pieces of Brie over one-half of it. 

Carefully fold the omelet in half, covering the cheese, and slide it carefully onto a warmed plate. Let it rest a couple of minutes to allow the cheese to melt, then serve, accompanied by French bread, croissasnts, crumpets, English muffins, or whatever you have handy.

I did it! I got it out of the pan without
making a mess!

The result? Pretty good for a first try. The crabmeat was tender, and the cheese made a nice gooey mess. I may keep it on the menu! 

Books, books . . . Aha! The next Relatively Dead book finally has a name: Revealing the Dead! Coming from Beyond the Page next week. Or maybe the week after. And the cover is almost ready for its big reveal!

Stay tuned for updates!