Omelette: how do you make your(favorite)s?

[rotuts]

thanks for that link. my dessert omelette has orange marmalade inside. the best I can get. TJ's has a decent one. a little tart.

and no browning there. in the above link it suggested that the dessert omelette needed to be sl brown maybe to warm up the marmalade. long ago I tried putting the jam/marmalade in the micro just to warm it first ... then made the Blonde Dessert Omelette

works best for me.

[SylviaLovegren]

No browning here. Can't abide it.

My challenge is to use water instead of cream or milk to thin the eggs because I prefer the pure egg flavor without a dairy blur. That makes the egg mixture more fragile. But if you use enough butter (or sometimes olive oil, depending) in the pan and get just the perfect temperature so that you can get the egg set without any browning and not too goopy in the middle (I don't like the goop), then Yay!

I can do it with 2-3 eggs, but if there are more, I'll probably get a brown spot and then I will eat the thing simply because it is a sin to throw away perfectly good food. But the whole thing will taste of overcooked egg and I won't be happy.

[sigma]

No browning here. Can't abide it.

My challenge is to use water instead of cream or milk to thin the eggs because I prefer the pure egg flavor without a dairy blur. That makes the egg mixture more fragile. But if you use enough butter (or sometimes olive oil, depending) in the pan and get just the perfect temperature so that you can get the egg set without any browning and not too goopy in the middle (I don't like the goop), then Yay!

I can do it with 2-3 eggs, but if there are more, I'll probably get a brown spot and then I will eat the thing simply because it is a sin to throw away perfectly good food. But the whole thing will taste of overcooked egg and I won't be happy.

So you prefer the lack of "dairy blur" that you get from a tablespoon or two of cream but you cook the eggs in butter? It's pretty perceptive to be able to taste that little cream in an omelette, but almost superhuman to be able to distinguish it from the "dairy blur" coming from the butter.

[Martin Fisher]

Is this the video you were looking for?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xia9h9_julia-jacques-cooking-at-home-eggs_lifestyle

I like both main styles.

~Martin

[rotuts]

DDF: your ref is a good one, to the series with J.Child. I found the older one and added it to the original post.

for me dairy that's not butter does dilute the pure egg flavor. so does butter, but not as much. for the most pure egg flavor no dairy (cream) and no butter will get you the most egg flavor.

one needs a good non-stick pan ( of any type ) that is dedicated to eggs.

Im not sure what water does, try just eggs in a good non-stick pan. you can brush some neutral oil in the hot pan and wipe it around first if you egg pan has seen better days. no pools of oil please!

[Dave Hatfield]

In addition to the 'classic' French omelettes shown so far one of your favourites is the type of omelette made in Spain.

They're called a tortilla (but are nothing like a Mexican tortilla). Typically they have potatoes, onion, bell pepper, lardons (bacon) , cheese. tomatoes and, of course eggs. They're very hearty and make a nice one course meal.

There's a recipe somewhere on my blog for those who care to look.

[Keith_W]

I like both styles of omelette, but recently I have been serving the Modernist Cuisine omelette. The advantage is that all the prep is done in advance, meaning you can serve it at a dinner party. There is no way I would attempt to make either omelette described in the OP for a dinner party!

[Plantes Vertes]

I like both styles of omelette, but recently I have been serving the Modernist Cuisine omelette. The advantage is that all the prep is done in advance, meaning you can serve it at a dinner party. There is no way I would attempt to make either omelette described in the OP for a dinner party!

Could you describe how this is done, Keith? It looks seriously flat!

[rotuts]

DH: Shame on You : bell pepper !! Nunca!

the classic Tortilla Espanola only has potatoes, and onion and eggs. cooked in olive oil, flipped in the pan to brown lightly on the other side. using the plate transfer method.

excellent cold. a required item for any spanish picnic into the country.

how do I know : lived there for two years a million years ago and this was my favorite thing. cant remember if it had garlic in it.

sorry.

of course in Spain you could but what ever you wanted in it, it just would not be TE.

very difficult to find this outside of (E)Spain. even in a 'spanish' restaurant. they will probaby screw it up and put all that other gunk in it.

http://spanishfood.about.com/od/tapas/r/tortilla.htm

https://www.google.com/search?q=tortilla+espanola&client=firefox-a&hs=bmj&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qeikUemRJKOX0QH2_YAI&ved=0CEQQsAQ&biw=1210&bih=1012

you will notice that a few of these are 'fake' but might have been made in Spain: the ones with the red bits and green bits

minor retraction before it gets too late: DH did not call his concoction a Tortilla Espanola I noticed on closer inspection. so he gutted this one out ( again )

Edited May 28, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[Rozin Abbas]

you will notice that a few of these are 'fake' but might have been made in Spain: the ones with the red bits and green bits

Fake is a strong word to use but, really, who cares? Tortilla Espanola can vary within Spain depending on the household, their family's tradition, etc. While there is a common, classical preparation (like there are many things), there are also variations that suit one's palate and also account for evolution and regional differences. If all we ever did was prepare things "classically" then cooking would be very stale.

[rotuts]

'fake' is not the same as fake

anyway the only one I ever had there was the one with no red nor green bits in it. now those green bits are poison any way you use them. green bells Im sure the others were simply called Tortilla, as DH has suggested.

[SobaAddict70]

DH: Shame on You : bell pepper !! Nunca!

the classic Tortilla Espanola only has potatoes, and onion and eggs. cooked in olive oil, flipped in the pan to brown lightly on the other side. using the plate transfer method.

excellent cold. a required item for any spanish picnic into the country.

how do I know : lived there for two years a million years ago and this was my favorite thing. cant remember if it had garlic in it.

sorry.

of course in Spain you could but what ever you wanted in it, it just would not be TE.

very difficult to find this outside of (E)Spain. even in a 'spanish' restaurant. they will probaby screw it up and put all that other gunk in it.

http://spanishfood.about.com/od/tapas/r/tortilla.htm

https://www.google.com/search?q=tortilla+espanola&client=firefox-a&hs=bmj&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qeikUemRJKOX0QH2_YAI&ved=0CEQQsAQ&biw=1210&bih=1012

you will notice that a few of these are 'fake' but might have been made in Spain: the ones with the red bits and green bits

minor retraction before it gets too late: DH did not call his concoction a Tortilla Espanola I noticed on closer inspection. so he gutted this one out ( again )

*hands rotuts a plate of tortilla de patatas (with no garlic)*

http://kitchenseasons.com/2012/03/25/sunday-snapshot-15/

[rotuts]

Yum ! make an extra. let it cool. then refrig and bring it to room temp in the future and try it that way. Crusty Bread helpful.

(fresh) and a liiter of 'Tinto' best eaten outdoors. with a view. maybe for chaisers a slice of real spanish chorizo ....

of course I lived in Madrid. those Castellano's are probably a little stuck-up. the Spanish that is the verdadero puro is of course Castellano.

none of that southern nonsense Spanish from Andalucia: very lispy done there.

Edited May 28, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

I like both styles of omelette, but recently I have been serving the Modernist Cuisine omelette. The advantage is that all the prep is done in advance, meaning you can serve it at a dinner party. There is no way I would attempt to make either omelette described in the OP for a dinner party!

Since the famous modernist omelette is popping up on this thread I thought I should ask something that has been bothering me. Can you describe the texture? It seems from the photo that the inside is fully cooked. To me it seems very "well done", more like a crepe than a traditional omelette, but it's hard to tell without having tried it...

[rotuts]

eggs, cooked with understanding, can do no Wrong.

[munchymom]

I tried to make a one-egg omelette for lunch after seeing Soba's blog - was aiming for "classic" but mine very quickly went to "country". Luckily eggs are inexpensive and delicious, so getting some practice is no hardship.

[Plantes Vertes]

Tamagoyaki is a very fun sort of omelette; you beat eggs with rice wine vinegar, soy and sugar and sometimes saki, and apply very thin layers to the pan, rolling each one in turn to form a cylinder or rectangular tube made of the egg layers wrapped around each other. Then you can use it to make nigiri. No doubt my technique is bad but I was able to get the hang of it fairly quickly.

[rotuts]

after all : Julia Child 'confessed' that while she was in FR. in the '50's she cracked a lot of eggs to learn to do it with one hand.

they eat a lot of omelettes !

you can look up how many it took it was a lot. but I bet all of those FR eggs in the '50's were well plenty tasty!

Eggs For Ever !

[FrogPrincesse]

I tried to make a one-egg omelette for lunch after seeing Soba's blog - was aiming for "classic" but mine very quickly went to "country". Luckily eggs are inexpensive and delicious, so getting some practice is no hardship.

I made one for lunch too, with chives and a chive blossom. I cheated a little though as it was a two-egg version. Came out decent - no brown spots & slightly runny in the middle.

Edited May 28, 2013 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[SylviaLovegren]

No browning here. Can't abide it.

My challenge is to use water instead of cream or milk to thin the eggs because I prefer the pure egg flavor without a dairy blur. That makes the egg mixture more fragile. But if you use enough butter (or sometimes olive oil, depending) in the pan and get just the perfect temperature so that you can get the egg set without any browning and not too goopy in the middle (I don't like the goop), then Yay!

I can do it with 2-3 eggs, but if there are more, I'll probably get a brown spot and then I will eat the thing simply because it is a sin to throw away perfectly good food. But the whole thing will taste of overcooked egg and I won't be happy.

So you prefer the lack of "dairy blur" that you get from a tablespoon or two of cream but you cook the eggs in butter? It's pretty perceptive to be able to taste that little cream in an omelette, but almost superhuman to be able to distinguish it from the "dairy blur" coming from the butter.

I just prefer the taste of egg without milk or cream and, yes, I can taste it. Butter is a different taste and while it is, of course, dairy, I like it with egg. Maybe it's all in my head...but it IS my head. Edited May 29, 2013 by heidih
Fix quote tags (log)

[judiu]

Rotus, please tell me that 2-3 cups olive oil means 2/3 of a cup, not a pint to a pint and a half. Please! And at that, it's a lot!

ETA Last line.

Edited May 28, 2013 by judiu (log)

[rotuts]

excellent pick up judiu. I was only 10 - 12 while in (E)Spain I never saw the stuff made. but it was said to take a lot of oil. and only olive was used in Spain.

the Test Kitchen a while ago looked to make the same Tortilla Espanola with a lot less oil. and they did.

Ill try to find that ep and give you how they did it. that being said, the T.E. was never greasy nor Olivey as I recall. after all, next day Tortilla that was initially 'greasy' would not have been remotely good the next day at room temp.

Im sure with the ingredients listed, as long as there were no red bits nor green bits

you could do it with a little olive oil in a good quality non-stick pan. using the plate transfer technique. it might help to precook both the onion and potatoes in a micro until 3/4 done

back in the day there was no micro nor nonstick pans in Spain.

olive oil used for this was almost 'free' this was probably not the 'EVOO' you would use raw on a salad.

[rotuts]

When I currently make this I do the TE +: I do not peel the potatoes. I use Russet. I use red onion, not Spanish. I use my japanese mandoline to cut the veg: not too thick and not too thin.

I do micro both of them until say 3/4 done. I use a little olive oil in a good quality ( not necessarily $$$ ) nonstick pan

when the veg are almost done, I add the eggs, based on the size of the pan and the amount of veg that makes a 1" or so finished tortilla.

turn down the heat and wait until the bottom and 1/2 sets, then do the plate transfer flip to do the other side.

then slide that out and eat or wait to eat tomorrow.

there is a **** secret **** way to make a fairly similar Tortilla, but I cant mention it here. Id be deleted!

"Betty" sometimes helps with this. never made the "Betty" version for a Spaniard. my other version were deemed 'Fine'

Edited May 28, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[gfweb]

That secret would be potato chips.

[Keith_W]

Could you describe how this is done, Keith? It looks seriously flat!

I can do better than that ... I can link you to the recipe! Here: http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/striped-mushroom-omelet-2/

Since the famous modernist omelette is popping up on this thread I thought I should ask something that has been bothering me. Can you describe the texture? It seems from the photo that the inside is fully cooked. To me it seems very "well done", more like a crepe than a traditional omelette, but it's hard to tell without having tried it...

As you may know, the omelette skin is made separately to the filling. The skin is made by pouring a beaten egg mixture onto a silpat which has been cut to fit your pan, then baked in a CVAP oven at a specific humidity. Since I don't have a CVAP oven, I simply put a lid on my pan and put that in the oven. Obviously, my result is going to be different to MC's since I did not follow their method - there is a risk that my egg skin might be more dried out or more rubbery than it would be if you use a CVAP. Having said that, I managed to get the skin quite tender.

The filling is eggs which have been sous-vided, then held in a whipping siphon and dispensed into the skin along with the rest of the filling (sauteed mushrooms in this case). It tastes like a savoury egg custard. It's not unpleasant, but it's a little gloopy for my taste and it really needs a contrast in texture otherwise it feels as if you are eating baby food.

What does it taste like when the whole thing is put together? A traditional omelette tastes like you are eating soft curds with a delicious eggy sauce. The MC omelette does have the traditional egginess but the texture is quite different - it feels as if you are eating an egg skin with egg sauce. If I had to choose, I have to say I still prefer the traditional Parisian omelette.