GREGORY CZARNECKI’S POTATO OMELETTE WITH DANDELION SALAD

“This recipe for omelette au pomme de terre is probably most ‘me’,” says the French-born chef de cuisine at Restaurant at Waterkloof, number one at the 2018 Eat Out MercedesBenz Restaurant Awards. “It’s very simple and inexpensive. I have so many memories of eating this on rainy days as a child, usually with a dandelion salad after my dad and I had been out to pick them in the countryside. He always used to add a dash of red wine vinegar just before eating the dish, which I used to hate as a kid, but now I can’t eat it without it.”

Serves 4

EASY

GREAT VALUE Preparation: 25 minutes Cooking: 20–25 minutes

large potatoes 3 vegetable oil 5½ t large shallot 1 free-range eggs 8 sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste dandelion (or wild rocket and Italian parsley) 80 g red wine vinegar 1½ t mustard ½t

1 Peel the potatoes and dice roughly.

2 Heat 1 T oil in a pan until smoking hot and sauté the potatoes. 3 While the potatoes are cooking, peel the shallot and slice it thinly. 4 Beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper. 5 Once the potatoes are almost cooked, add the shallot and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the beaten eggs to the pan. Cook until the eggs are still soft and slightly gooey. 6 You can flip the omelette and cook it on the other side if you want a more presentable look. Once the omelette is cooked, place it on a plate ready for portioning. 7 Wash the dandelion and drain gently on kitchen paper, taking care to not bruise the leaves. 8 Place the vinegar in a bowl, then add the salt and pepper first as salt does not dissolve in oil. Add the mustard and mix with a fork. Add the remaining oil and mix with the fork. Add the dandelion to the bowl and toss gently. 9 Top the omelette with the dandelion, and drizzle over the vinaigrette before serving.

Cook’s note: Add crispy lardons to the omelette if you like.

WHEAT- AND GLUTEN-FREE

WINE: Woolworths Spier Private Collection Chenin Blanc 2017