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Chili Cheese Oven Omelet with Best Old School Hashed Browns

Southern memories that flood your taste buds!

By Pamela k ConolyPublished 5 years ago 7 min read
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This makes a good brunch dish for Church, mid-morning reunions, or an intimate get-together. Everything you need right here with coffee makes it special, even if you're just relaxing. It's a delicious treat to relax and enjoy. 

Chili cheese oven omelet recipe

  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 can, 4 oz, chopped green chilies, drained
  • 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 can, 8 oz, tomato sauce

Layer cheddar cheese, chilies, and Monterey Jack cheese in greased square baking dish, eight by eight by two inches. Beat milk, flour, salt and eggs and pour over cheese mixture. Cook uncovered in a 350 degree oven until set in the center, and top is golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Let stand for ten minutes before cutting. Heat the tomato sauce and serve warm with the omelet.

Makes eight servings.

This recipe uses bell peppers instead of chilies and tomatoes, chicken bacon, and no-stick spray. So, if you don't like chilies in your oven omelet, this may be a better family choice, since most kids don't really like chilies—even though they seem to like flaming hot Cheetos, which, in my opinion, are the worst thing you could put into your body! Either way, this is a very healthful dish, and no hot stuff, and filled with protein and vitamins.

What about eggs?

Unless you have your own chickens laying eggs for you, or your own egg factory, you probably don't have access to fresh, organic eggs at your fingertips, and you are bound to make trips to the grocery store to buy those all-too precious eggs that go up and down in price, day by day. Yes, the brown eggs are usually organic and better for you, and are more expensive than we want to pay, so we go for the white bleached eggs that are processed. All eggs are brown or spotted when the chickens lay them. When they are sent to a factory, that is where they go through all the changes and become white. First of all, there is nothing wrong with white eggs. They are still nutritious, but, there are some things you should watch out for. Look at the expiration date. Don't just take it for granted—if they are out of date, don't buy them. I shouldn't have to say that, but you would be surprised to find out how many people have gotten sick just because they bought eggs past the date noted at the end of the carton.

When you break an egg in a bowl, look at it. There should be nothing in the yellow yolk except the yellow yolk. If it is any other color than yellow, trash it, if it has red specks or streaks in it, trash it. This means it has blood in it, and it has become a bio-hazard, which could make you very sick. That's why I always break my eggs in a small bowl first, so I can observe them. It only takes seconds to do, and you will be able to spot anything right away. Don't just ignore it. It's just too simple. In this day and age of instant gratification, it is too easy to overlook what takes very little time to just be observant and responsible. It will cost you so much less than a stay in the hospital with Salmonella. This goes for all eggs, processed or organic.

This is a very interesting video from YouTube on how eggs are processed before they go to your favorite grocery store. Millions of eggs a day have to go through this timely process before they are approved to go in the cartons. It's amazing that these machines can do the delicate jobs that human beings used to do by hand, one egg at a time, everyday, 24/7.

Old school hashed browns recipe

  • 1 1/2 lbs potatoes, about 4 medium
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped onion
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  • 2 tbsp margarine or butter
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil or bacon fat

Prepare and boil potatoes. Cool about five to ten minutes.

Shred enough potatoes to measure four cups.

Toss potatoes, onion, salt and pepper. Heat margarine and oil in ten-inch skillet. Pack potato mixture firmly in skillet leaving one half-inch space around the edge. Cook over low heat until bottom crust is brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Cut potato mixture into fourths and turn. Add one tbsp vegetable oil if necessary. Cook until brown 12 to 15 minutes longer.

Makes four to six servings

**Potato mixture can be kept in one place if desired. To turn, just invert onto a plate and slide back into the skillet.

This is a very cool, all-around video that I found on You Tube. A lot of us do not have a Teflon pan or non-stick, as everybody is calling them now, because Teflon is a brand name, and since there are so many other coatings and such from different makers, it seems unlikely that we would want to give Teflon the credit for all of them, even though they actually pioneered it. Anyway, whether you have lost your non-stick pan, or you just don't have one and all you have, like me, is a stainless-steel pan, she makes some really good points about how to keep the food from sticking and without spays and such. By the way, a properly-seasoned iron skillet works great too. It is easier to cook hashed browns in a non-stick pan, but if you don't have one, sometimes the non-stick spay doesn't always do the job, and is not used in this video.

There are different versions of how to make hashed browns. This one uses olive oil, not butter, and they shred the potato before cooking. This was the way my side of the family taught me how to make them, but, the other way is fine also. I found this video on YouTube because making hashed browns, at least for me, has always been a scary, monumental task. They never turned out right, and they really are very simple. You just have to be patient. In this video, they also use a non-stick pan, so remember to use the proper utensils for cooking with a non-stick pan, so you don't ruin the pan's surface. Also, it's always nice to have someone show how it's done, so you will feel more confident in your own kitchen.

What is in Monterey Jack cheese?

Monterey Jack is usually the cheese of choice to mix with other cheeses because of its inoffensive flavor and mildness. It's made from cow's milk, which can be whole or skimmed. Also, because of its texture, it can be melted well, by itself or when mixed with another like cheddar, whether it be mild or sharp. It does have a very mild flavor that has been proven to enhance the other flavors very well. There are nutritional values as well.

For the most part, a lot of us go to a supermarket to buy our ingredients before we cook, so we are usually at the mercy of packaged goods that are delivered to the store, which they stock their shelves with for us to buy, not really knowing exactly what we are getting, even when we think we know. Most of us know that the deli in our supermarket has cheeses that you can get unpackaged, and some delis will even give you samples that you can taste. However, it can be more expensive to buy your cheese that way, even though you know you're getting the good cheese. That's not to say that the packaged cheese is not good. It's just when you are talking to a real person, and not reading a bunch of labels, you might have a better understanding of what you are actually getting. Well, for those of us with not much experience in buying and cooking with different cheeses, and not much in the way of finances, we are at the mercy of the packaged cheeses in the dairy section that is normally found near the eggs or butter, yogurt, etc. I found this wonderful YouTube video that will put your fears to rest when picking out packaged cheese. This will help you become aware of brands—and what to look out for and what to pass on—so you don't get home, and realize that you bought the wrong cheese or the wrong brand. After all, most of them are processed cheese. There is nothing wrong with that, except in some kinds of cheese products, it messes with the taste and texture, not to mention melting abilities.

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About the Creator

Pamela k Conoly

Mother,love music ,retail,fashion,and food,worked in both. Love mysteries,movies and chocolate,born to shop!:-) She is also a working writer so if you like what your reading please tip her.

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