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

[SobaAddict70]

I also took SobaAddict's one-egg Paris omelette challenge. My brother made it disappear in a single bite.

Very nice. Soba will be proud.

[FrogPrincesse]

For those of you who read French... I thought that this little cartoon was pretty cute. Omelette technique, illustrated. As they say, it's all about the technique!

Ah, I see now... My omelette skills lack rigour

That's right. Omelettes are not to be taken lightly as we can tell by the intense discussions in this thread...

[Plantes Vertes]

... Omelettes are not to be taken lightly...

Heaven forfend!

[nickrey]

I like a bit of brown on mine. Still very soft and silky but the slight browning gives a bit of texture contrast.

[lancastermike]

So much to say about this discussion and so much I won't say.

It is a couple of eggs, or perhaps one egg, with some stuff cooked in the middle of it.

Lots of ways to do it. Pick the one you like best. It is simple cookery,

This discussion is essential EG though. Sad as that may be.

[weinoo]

It is a couple of eggs, or perhaps one egg, with some stuff cooked in the middle of it.

Lots of ways to do it. Pick the one you like best. It is simple cookery,

Sorry - not always stuffed; not always simple. As Escoffier says:

The theory of the preparation of an omelette is both simple and at the same time very complicated...

[Mofassah]

My kids demand omelettes from time and time, and they want it cooked exactly the same way every time, and they want it country style, with a nice browning. I beat together two eggs and two spoonfulls of water and a pinch of salt and beat them pretty well, so you see no white strings in it. If you don't get that right, use one more pinch og salt, as the salt breaks down the egg. Then I warm up my non-stick skillet to medium, add a dollop of butter and when it's melted I pour in the eggs, drags it a little bit across this way and that with a spatula untill it's semi coagulated all over. Then I cover half the omelette with strips of cooked ham and a couple of slices with Jarlsberg or another nice gouda style cheese. Then I fold the other half over, put a lid on and let it rest for a couple of minutes till the cheese is melted, flip it onto a plate and serve it with a pinch of salt.

Myself? I prefere a nice and fluffy scramble with chive,

. Edited May 30, 2013 by Mofassah (log)

[Jaymes]

My very favorite savory omelet - a browned omelet Texas style, rather than Parisian - begins with me making a big jug of my salsa (for those of you that would like that recipe, it's in the Diana Kennedy thread, here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/37928-mexican-and-diana-kennedy/page-3#entry1157371 ).

Then, I get some of the very best mild Cheddar I can afford, and grate it.

Beat up two eggs. Add a little water or cream if you like. Pour into buttered individual-omelet-sized skillet. As the eggs are just beginning to set, sprinkle one half with a very generous handful of the cheese. Cover with a lid so that the cheese melts quickly before the eggs brown too much.

Slip it out onto a plate, cheese part first, then fold the other half over.

Dump about a cup or so of my salsa over.

Serve with sliced avocados on the side.

This has been my very favorite for several decades. I never tire of it.

And I'm sure I never will.

[weinoo]

Another single-egger, with avocado and salsa verde...

[SobaAddict70]

looks good.

[sigma]

Beat your damn eggs. Some people might like brown, but white???

[SobaAddict70]

and Keith, you could probably pump those one-egg wonders for a dinner party. someone who cooks with the amount of attention to detail that you demonstrate can probably do it in his sleep. I have faith in you.

[furzzy]

Here's the Julia Child omelette:

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=RThnq3-d6PY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DRThnq3-d6PY

[furzzy]

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.

I just saw a video of this recently. Very interesting. Wish I could find it again.

[huiray]

and Keith, you could probably pump those one-egg wonders for a dinner party. someone who cooks with the amount of attention to detail that you demonstrate can probably do it in his sleep. I have faith in you.

But why would he need to? I just find it odd that the STANDARD that you (and others) seem to promote (from other posts elsewhere) is NO BROWNING, which is not universally held.

Edited June 2, 2013 by huiray (log)

[sigma]

huiray, it seems that you are feeling very oppressed by colorless omelettes.

[rotuts]

then there is the egg-white omelette:

[weinoo]

then there is the egg-white omelette:

A travesty if ever there was one!

[ChrisZ]

I never really liked omelettes until I had a soft, un-browned one. But for me the secret is butter. Loads and loads of butter. My ideal omelette is closer to a mound of scrambled eggs than a crepe, but I'll forgive a lot if there's enough butter. Butter butter butter. Who was it that said everything taste better with butter? So true :-)

[Broken English]

I'm very partial to what we label at work as the Hong Kong Egg, 30 eggs, 150ml soy, 250ml mirin, cooked gently without colour, served over rice with tare, hoisin, scallion, fried shallots and puffed rice. Delicious.

[Jaymes]

Some years ago I was watching a cooking show about preparing eggs. Various omelettes were described, made with, to me, an obscene amount of disparate ingredients. However, burried in the trash was a little treasure: ideas about making omelettes with fruit, and that gave me the idea for a simple, blueberry cream cheese omelette.

So, I take three or four eggs, beat 'em up, and put them into a well buttered omelette pan. As they firm up, I add some blueberries and a few dabs of good, natural cream cheese (Gina Marie's is my favorite). I don't overdo the cheese or the berries. After a bit, I fold the eggs over on themselves, let the omelette warm through just enough to soften the cream cheese, and serve.

A very tasty, simple pleasure. I've made this with both frozen and fresh berries with good results. I don't mix the cheese or the berries into the eggs ... just put 'em lightly on the eggs before folding them over.

This sounded so good that I just had to give it an immediate try. So I did. I ran into my local small market for ingredients and they had no fresh cream cheese, so had to use Philadelphia, but this still turned out great. Thanks so much for posting about it.

Although I did think to myself from time to time while enjoying it that perhaps just a dash of lemon curd might be a nice addition.

Have you ever tried that?

[Jaymes]

and Keith, you could probably pump those one-egg wonders for a dinner party. someone who cooks with the amount of attention to detail that you demonstrate can probably do it in his sleep. I have faith in you.

But why would he need to? I just find it odd that the STANDARD that you (and others) seem to promote (from other posts elsewhere) is NO BROWNING, which is not universally held.

I'm with you. I've never been one much to only go with one style of anything. Or to follow any other hard and fast rules of so-called "right" and "wrong" way, either, for that matter. So I like both, depending upon what else I'm working with in said omelette.

For example, with Shel_B's blueberries and cream cheese...no browning. Would have ruined the smooth, silky texture and subtle flavors.

But with "Western Omelettes" (which are very popular here where I live, in the, um, West) I like a bit of browning to go with the various crunchy and full-flavored ingredients, like peppers, onions, sausage, cheese, avocados, ham, tomatoes, etc.

[SobaAddict70]

then there is the egg-white omelette:

A travesty if ever there was one!

those can be remarkably tasty, if you're into ascetism as a food trend.

/snark

ps. I've had them before. the five things I don't like aren't things you'd find in most refrigerators anyway.

[SobaAddict70]

and Keith, you could probably pump those one-egg wonders for a dinner party. someone who cooks with the amount of attention to detail that you demonstrate can probably do it in his sleep. I have faith in you.

But why would he need to? I just find it odd that the STANDARD that you (and others) seem to promote (from other posts elsewhere) is NO BROWNING, which is not universally held.

I'm with you. I've never been one much to only go with one style of anything. Or to follow any other hard and fast rules of so-called "right" and "wrong" way, either, for that matter. So I like both, depending upon what else I'm working with in said omelette.

For example, with Shel_B's blueberries and cream cheese...no browning. Would have ruined the smooth, silky texture and subtle flavors.

But with "Western Omelettes" (which are very popular here where I live, in the, um, West) I like a bit of browning to go with the various crunchy and full-flavored ingredients, like peppers, onions, sausage, cheese, avocados, ham, tomatoes, etc.

two observations I'd like to make:

1. à chacun son goût.

2. someone has a lot of assumptions about me, and other people.

[Jaymes]

and Keith, you could probably pump those one-egg wonders for a dinner party. someone who cooks with the amount of attention to detail that you demonstrate can probably do it in his sleep. I have faith in you.

But why would he need to? I just find it odd that the STANDARD that you (and others) seem to promote (from other posts elsewhere) is NO BROWNING, which is not universally held.

I'm with you. I've never been one much to only go with one style of anything. Or to follow any other hard and fast rules of so-called "right" and "wrong" way, either, for that matter. So I like both, depending upon what else I'm working with in said omelette.

For example, with Shel_B's blueberries and cream cheese...no browning. Would have ruined the smooth, silky texture and subtle flavors.

But with "Western Omelettes" (which are very popular here where I live, in the, um, West) I like a bit of browning to go with the various crunchy and full-flavored ingredients, like peppers, onions, sausage, cheese, avocados, ham, tomatoes, etc.

two observations I'd like to make:

1. à chacun son goût.

2. someone has a lot of assumptions about me, and other people.

Ain't me, Soba.

I have basically one assumption about this person, who has informed us that omelettes with a bit of brown constitute "overcooked eggs":

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.

Edited June 2, 2013 by Jaymes (log)