[Modernist Cuisine] Striped Mushroom Omelet (5•217 and 6•243)

[Judy Wilson]

The recipe and video page is now up for everyone's enjoyment! 

[Anonymous Modernist 2882]

Hi all, just joined the forum. I have been cooking through a number of recipes in MC, and have attempted this one three times. Because I don't own a combi oven, I used the method described by Max in his Youtube video ' a covered frypan with silpat cut to fit in an oven.

Here was the first attempt:

I was unable to find egg yolk powder, so I substituted whole egg powder in the same quantity. Also, mushroom gills here don't seem to be black enough ' I made the recipe using the exact quantities specified in MC ' and you can see that the stripes are more a dark brown than black. I had trouble getting the stripes to stay on ' every time I added the omelette mixture, some of the stripes would float off.

The next attempt was a striped beetroot crepe using the same technique to create the stripes. This time I winged it and made up my own recipe and it worked a real treat!

My latest attempt resulted in a stupendously good omelette. This time I used 100% mushroom gills, added concentrated beef stock (Bovril), and truffle paste. I pre-cooked the stripes for 3 minutes before adding the omelette mixture. Result ' stripes stayed on! The texture of the skin was magnificent ' tender with just enough bite, and the mysterious aroma of truffles, mushroom, and beef subtly permeating throughout. It was visually striking as well ' not something you expect to see at a home-cooked dinner party.

[Scott Heimendinger]

Wow, that's beautiful! I'm cooking brunch for a few friends this weekend and I'd been afraid to try the striped omelette without a combi oven, but this gives me confidence. I also love your beet variation - it would make for a wonderful dessert presentation, too!

[Anonymous Modernist 2882]

Thanks SFG If you attempt this, be warned - it takes 15 minutes to make each omelette! My wife and I had a little production line going, something like this:

- Preheat oven to 180C, cut out silpat to line frypan, place frypan cover in oven to preheat

- Create lines on silpat, cook for 3 minutes

- Pour omelette mixture in, cook for 2 minutes, then check if it is still evenly spread (the mixture is still liquid enough to run when you tilt the pan at this stage), add more egg if necessary.

- Cook for 5 minutes until done

- Unmold from Silpat, leave lid in oven, wash and dry pan, make next omelette. Make sure there is no water or egg mixture underneath the silpat, or the steam will lift it up and the egg will run off! (Don't ask me how I know).

Also note there are two types of silpat - one is a mesh, the other is flat and smooth. You want the flat and smooth one.

[Cheviot]

I've noticed in all the videos of this dish being prepared, after the mushroom puree is spread with the pastry comb we skip right to the egg mixture being added atop the mushroom puree, but barely a mention is made of the metal frame used to stop the eggs from flowing across the pan. Was that frame custom made?

[Anonymous Modernist 10]

Tom Fisher said:

I've noticed in all the videos of this dish being prepared, after the mushroom puree is spread with the pastry comb we skip right to the egg mixture being added atop the mushroom puree, but barely a mention is made of the metal frame used to stop the eggs from flowing across the pan. Was that frame custom made?

This is one of those times that having a machine shop 30 feet away is pretty handy. Yes, that frame was custom made. But you can use a frying pan as a template and edges will become your boundary. If you use a mold, you want to make sure that it is flush with the bottom of the baking sheet. Otherwise the egg can seep underneath the frame. You can use weights as well.

[Anonymous Modernist 6375]

I also didnt have the egg powder so i put some Gellan (Texturas) into the mushroom mix. With Gellan you can reheat and it will still hold. I didnt find any with dark gills so it is not as dark.

Iused a silicon frameoriginaly intended for makingpastrysponge.

You guys can really hold that comb steady… i always get waves…:-)