Our omelets are so good, they have been featured in Gourmet Magazine! Inventive recipes and the freshest of ingredients become masterworks to the palette. Wild mushrooms, fresh herbs picked just moments ago from our garden, sun dried tomatoes accented with chives and feta, these are the beginnings of the delightful fare that brings guests to the dining room, senses aglow.
The Dining Room is a masterpiece of a different genre. Soaring ceilings, inspiring mountain views, and shafts of golden sunlight welcome hungry guests; food for the soul. An antique cast iron stove displays a bountiful selection of assorted juices, cereals, fruit, yogurts, and breakfast breads. A different morning entrée completes the daily menu. In addition to our renowned omelets, such dishes may include Almond crusted French toast, Apple Spiced Pancakes with smoked chicken sausage, our traditional Eggs Benedict, or a Southwestern staple, Huevos Rancheros. The possibilities are endless.
Chef Dadou Mayer, Salsa del Salto’s patriarch, brought the following recipe from his native France. Charles Pierre Monselet, for whom the dish is named, was a nineteenth-century writer and gastronome who loved rich dishes, particularly those including artichokes.
EGGS
MONSELET
SALSA DEL SALTO
(ARTICHOKE OMELET WITH BECHAMEL SAUCE)
FOR
THE BECHEMEL SAUCE
1 TABLESPOON
UNSALTED BUTTER
1-TABLESPOON
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
2/3
CUP MILK OR 1/3 CUP MILK AND 1/3 CUP CHICKEN STOCK, HEATED
1 TEASPOON
MINCED GARLIC
1/8
TEASPOON GRATED NUTMEG
1/8
TEASPOON WHITE PEPPER
2 TEASPOONS
FRESH LEMON JUICE (OR TO TASTE)
FOR
THE OMELET
14
OZ. CAN ARTICHOKES (DRAINED AND QUARTERED)
3 TABLESPOONS
UNSALTED BUTTER
3 TABLESPOONS
HEAVY CREAM (OR MILK)
1 TABLESPOON
FINELY CHOPPED FRESH TARRAGON LEAVES
1 TABLESPOON
FINELY CHOPPED FRESH DILL
4 LARGE
EGGS
2 TABLESPOONS
COLD WATER
LEMON
SLICES AND PARLEY SPRIGS FOR GARNISH
BECHAMEL SAUCE
OVER MODERATELY LOW HEAT, IN A HEAVY SAUCEPAN, COOK BUTTER AND FLOUR FOR 3 MINUTES. ADD MILK TO MIXTURE, WHISKING VIGOROUSLY UNTIL MIXTURE IS THICK AND SMOOTH; ADD GARLIC, AND SIMMER, WHISKING OCCASIONALY, FOR 10 MINUTES. STIR IN NUTMEG, WHITE PEPPER, AND LEMON JUICE. SALT TO TASTE. KEEP SAUCE WARM AND COVERED.
FILLING
OVER MODERATE HEAT, IN HEAVY SKILLET, SAUTE ARTICHOKES IN 2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER, UNTIL GOLDEN IN COLOR. STIR IN CREAM AND HERBS. SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE. COVER.
OMELET
IN A BOWL, WHISK TOGETHER EGGS AND WATER; SALT TO TASTE. IN A 7 INCH OMELET PAN OR SKILLET, HEAT ½ TABLESPOON REMAINING BUTTER, OVER MODERATE HEAT UNTIL MELTED. ADD ½ EGG MIXTURE (TWO OMELETS) TO PAN, COOKING UNDISTURBED UNTIL OMELET HAS SET. PULL BACK EDGE WITH RUBBER SPATULA; LOOSEN OMELET FROM PAN, ALLOWING ANY UNCOOKED EGG TO FILL UNDERNEATH. SPOON HALF ARTICHOKE MIXTURE (TWO OMELETS) TO EGG. FOLD AND REMOVE. KEEP WARM. REPEAT. SPOON BECHAMEL OVER OMELETS, GARNISH WITH LEMON SLICES AND PARSLEY. SERVE.
