This year, on Food Revolution Day, Jamie launched a competition to find your best twist on his simple cheese omelette recipe. It’s a humble, healthy dish – open to all manner of variations and a great way to showcase a bit of culinary imagination!
Last week we announced the winner and runners up, and in honour of this we’re sharing the stories and inspiration behind them. Here in the last of the series, Charlotte McKinley talks about how she began her lunchbox blog, Today’s Tiffin and shares her recipe for a goat’s cheese and red onion omelette (styled and shot above by the Jamie Magazine team).
Read about all the winning omelettes here.
Charlotte Mckinley’s omelette
“My food revolution is a personal work in progress. But the starting premise is very simple: I am in pursuit of good food to cook, eat, and to feed to others. But what I want from my food varies all the time. It can be fuel, comfort, nourishment, medicine or simply, joy!
Making food links
As a city-dweller, food helps me to keep in touch with our changing seasons. From golden Christmas turkeys or candle-covered birthday cakes – food is a key part of celebrations and forms many of my memories. Increasingly, food is also part of a choice about how I want to live, and what type of consumer I want to be.
I go to farmers’ markets because they give me a variety of fresh, seasonal foods. I can speak directly with producers, learning about the provenance of what I’m eating, which feels revolutionary in a world where we have less contact with the vital people who produce our food.
I set up a blog called Today’s Tiffin after being given a tiffin tin by one of my dearest friends. Following William Morris’s mantra that happiness lies in taking an interest in all the details of daily life, putting care into my packed lunch felt like a way to reclaim some of the working day for myself. And home-cooked food is infinitely more enjoyable than a rather sad, overly-packaged sandwich! The tin gets a fair amount of attention, and has a few fans at work – it always sparks a conversation!
I did a week’s residential cookery course at Ashburton Cookery School and, started the blog as a way to make sure I didn’t lose any of the skills I’d learnt. It is an ongoing challenge to myself to keep my cooking and eating as vibrant, nourishing and interesting as possible.
I have a large, multi-generational family and, last year, we welcomed a new addition in the form of my niece. Watching her learn to eat and develop her tastes is a (messy) joy. The fact that she likes my cheese scones above all others is a source of considerable pride. Long may that be the case.
My omelette
I entered Jamie’s omelette challenge because it was a great way of celebrating a humble yet mighty ingredient. I would be lost without eggs in the kitchen. An oozing, soft-boiled egg with soldiers is a comfort food that I can trace back to my early childhood. And, while my husband hates them (they are his ‘wibbly’ childhood nemesis), I sneak them into more meals than he knows because they are just so useful and nutritious!
Eggs are also a great way of using up other foods. We produce an increasing and alarming level of food waste, so thinking creatively about the leftovers or slightly tired food at the back of the fridge is important. Omelettes are a great way of turning lots of random ingredients into a flavoursome meal.”
Follow Charlotte on Instagram @todays_tiffin for more great pictures and check out the August edition of Jamie magazine to see all the winning omelettes in all their glory!
