How to Make a Perfect Personal Omelette: ysabetwordsmith

How to Make a Perfect Personal Omelette

When I was younger, I used to make open-faced omelettes in a big skillet. Recently I recalled that I hadn't made omelettes in a long time, and they're good for supper too. Current household tastes are more varied, so I decided to make individual omelettes in a little skillet. The results have been most favorable. Omelette making is less of a recipe than process, with options. Here is a general description of it works.

Personal Omelette

Tools: Use a small nonstick skillet with sloped sides, and a plastic spatula with a fine edge. These make it easier to fold the omelette.

Heat: Turn the heat on so the skillet will be hot before you add the eggs. It should be hot enough that the egg mixture sizzles and starts to cook immediately, but not so hot that the egg layer promptly forms a huge bubble in the middle. On my stove, pointing the dial marker at “Low” is ideal.

Lubricant: Use about a tablespoon of ghee, also known as clarified butter, available in ethnic or international stores. It is better for you, and MUCH more heat-tolerant than ordinary butter or margarine, so it won’t burn. Ghee is a crucial ingredient in a perfect omelette – nothing else performs as well.

Eggs: In a small bowl, scramble together 1-3 eggs. Most people like a 2-egg omelette; vary according to appetite. Farm-fresh or organic eggs tend to have better color, texture, flavor, and nutrients than ordinary commercial eggs.

Milk: Add 1-3 teaspoons of milk. It makes the eggs blend better and improves flavor. Skim or other lite milk will save calories; whole milk, half-and-half, or cream make for a heavier and richer omelette. I typically use half-and-half, sparingly. Once the eggs are scrambled, mix in the milk. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet. If it doesn’t spread evenly, tilt the skillet gently to fill out the circle.

Spices: Salt and pepper to taste. White pepper doesn’t make dark flecks in the eggs, if you care about that. Sage, oregano, sweet marjoram, thyme, cilantro, or parsley are also good. Add just a pinch or a spinkle of spices to the top of the egg circle.

Cheese: Any kind of cheese that melts easily will work in an omelette. Swiss, cheddar, and mozzarella are excellent. Flavored herbal cheeses are also nice. Use 1-2 singles or about 1/8 cup of shredded cheese. If you’re carving cheese off a block, make thin slices or shavings so they’ll melt. If you want chunks of cheese, cut thicker slices from a block and dice them before starting the eggs. Add the cheese when the egg layer is mostly cooked but still wet on top.

Filling: Many types of vegetables (cooked or raw) and meat work in an omelette. Peppers, onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes are good vegetables. Chicken, turkey, sausage bits, bacon bits, beef chips, diced ham, etc. are good meats. (This is a great way to use leftovers.) Slice, dice, or chop them – and heat them if they were cold -- before starting the eggs. Store filling ingredients in small bowls within reach of the skillet. Add about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of filling when the egg layer is cooked and the cheese is melting. Spread filling from the middle of the egg circle towards one edge.

Folding: With the spatula, carefully lift the empty edge of the egg circle. The underside should be light brown. Fold over the filling, press gently, and hold for a few seconds to allow the filling and cheese to meld. Turn the heat OFF. Let the omelette sit for about a minute. Check the underside; it should be a slightly deeper brown. Hold a plate close to the skillet, slide the spatula all the way under the omelette, and quickly transfer the omelette to the plate.

elisabeth

January 23 2009, 01:40:07 UTC 12 years ago

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And now, dear Lady, I'm hungry. *ambles off to find a reasonable approximation of food*

grin

ysabetwordsmith

January 23 2009, 03:09:08 UTC 12 years ago

My food posts tend to have that effect on people. Wait till the weather warms and I start posting ice cream recipes again.

Re: grin

technoshaman

November 2 2014, 00:32:24 UTC 6 years ago

:LIKE:

November 2 2014, 00:34:33 UTC 6 years ago

Right now I am impatiently waiting for the blood oranges to come into season, as I have been nosing around Sicilian characters and getting into their recipes.

November 2 2014, 01:17:44 UTC 6 years ago

Mmmmmm, blood oranges. They make the BEST soda...

November 2 2014, 01:20:06 UTC 6 years ago

Well, one of the first things I want to make with them is syrup, so yeah, add fizzy liquid and it would make soda.

6 years ago

beetiger

January 23 2009, 01:48:43 UTC 12 years ago

My son requested omelettes for dinner tonight, though I rarely make them. So your tutorial is very timely!

browngirl

January 23 2009, 01:56:16 UTC 12 years ago

*makes note* Omelets are one of the dishes I have not yet successfully cooked, so this is useful information indeed. Thank you.

Try this...

January 23 2009, 03:14:11 UTC 12 years ago

Start simple: a 2-egg omelette with one cheese and one filling. That's a lot easier than juggling several ingredients. Also 2 eggs are usually easiest to manage in an omelette skillet.

minor_architect

January 23 2009, 02:03:31 UTC 12 years ago

Now you're speakin' my language! I love breakfast for dinner, and omeletes in particular. Quiches are great, too, and very easy to make, with the same wide variety of options for fillings. :-9

Thoughts

January 23 2009, 03:10:22 UTC 12 years ago

The first quiche that Doug made was wonderful, and not like I expected. Then we couldn't find that recipe again. The next one was okay, and more like I'd expected.

January 23 2009, 03:56:13 UTC 12 years ago

The first quiche that Doug made was wonderful, and not like I expected. Then we couldn't find that recipe again.

Ack! I hate it when that happens. My mother and I used to bake this really good apricot bread when I was little - and now she can't find that recipe, either. :-P

fayanora

January 24 2009, 23:49:28 UTC 12 years ago

Eggs are delicious, but I try not to eat them very often because they go right through me. You know how they say if you eat chinese food high in carbs that half an hour later you're hungry again? That's me with eggs. Protein isn't supposed to do that, but eggs do. It's like my body doesn't even register eggs as being protein.

Hmm...

January 25 2009, 00:25:22 UTC 12 years ago

That may well be true for your body, then. Mine doesn't seem to acknowledge plant proteins much, even when combined properly. Only meat counts. I hadn't thought about eggs in that light ... I think they count, but not as much as meat.

Re: Hmm...

January 25 2009, 00:37:14 UTC 12 years ago

I read a book once, albeit science fiction, that had a race of carnivores trying to live entirely off eggs and failing at it. Then I read "Never Cry Wolf" by Farley Mowat (nonfiction) and found out that wolves and huskies have to eat mammal meat because fish isn't good enough; they would sicken and die on a diet of only fish. Dunno about bird meat, wolves don't have much luck catching birds.

I think my body may be built like a wolf or husky, except that bird meat seems to be accepted well by my system. Because not only do eggs go right through me, so does tuna fish. I'm not sure about salmon and other seafood, I don't have it often enough and when I do it's usually paired with other stuff. But while tuna lasts longer than eggs, both go right through me very fast. I'm guessing the same is true of other seafoods.

Chicken, turkey, and beef on the other hand... well, I'm not a huge fan of the taste of beef, but it seems to have the most effect. I've gotten more out of 4 or 5 beef stick snacks than I have from entire meals.

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How to Make a Perfect Personal Omelette

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Try this...

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Hmm...

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