Sunday mornings are a favorite of mine, for it is preserved for leisure. This Sunday, happens to be Valentine’s Day so the thought did cross my mind that I might have to step up my culinary game to commemorate the special occasion.
Wanting a breakfast that was both easy and new, I began to get flummoxed when I realized that this endeavor isn’t as simple as I first thought. I’ve ladled the crêpe batter, I’ve done the soaked french toast overnight casserole, I’ve cracked the eggs to a perfect poach for toast, bugger! This doesn’t leave me with too many options.
What’s a semi-lazy, yet slightly motivated girl to do? I could try to tackle the formidable souffle…but that would wipe out the “concept” of easy, at least in my mind anyways.
With that, I decided to consult my circa 1950s Real French Cooking Cookbook by Savarin, this simple yet elegant french classic provided me with just the inspiration I needed. (See I knew it was beneficial to have an overstocked cookbook library <–pardon my digression of blatant rationalization over my excessive cookbook collection)
After browsing through the pages, I came across “the secret of how to make a really good omelette” by Dr. A. Becart of the Academy of Gastronomes. The directions don’t read like your typical recipe instructions, filled with unusual words his method is as sound as it is beautiful:
- A good dedicated omelette pan: thick, flat and level base, not dented or concave or convex: this is so that the butter shall flow evenly and prevent the omelette from sticking, when it’s just about cooked through, to the raised portions of the pan from which the butter has melted and slipped away.
- Don’t crowd your “omelette:” As a general rule do not attempt an omelette of more than three or four eggs, buy your pan with this in mind. It is easier to make two omelets of three eggs each that one omelette containing six. For a three-egg one, take half an ounce to three-quarters of an ounce butter (no need to be over-parsimonious with it, however), a small pinch of salt, and a pinch of pepper.
- Put butter in pan or medium-high heat to let butter melt. When it is smoking just faintly, pour in the eggs, lightly beaten that very moment, and seasoned at the last second before turning into pan. Allow mixture to set but only just. And now watch carefully…
- Move the egg slowly, using a steel fork and drawing it from one side of the pan to the other–rather as if you scrambling an egg, but much less vigorously. This is to make sure uniform setting of the egg mass, a homogenous texture and a mellow blending.
- Turn over without respite, and when the mixture is solidifying to desired consistency, deliquescent and nicely moist to suit your own inclination, draw the pan away from the hottest area and slip your fork under the edges of the omelette all round. Now shake the pan to detach the rest of it.
- The Great Fold: simply fold in halves the runny bubbly part will escape. It is a good wrinkle to fold as you would a table-napkin, thus sealing the liquid. With your fork, fold in a quarter of the omelette farthest away from the handle. This closes it, now leave it on the side of the hot-plate/pan, and just before taking it to the table gloss over its surface with a little butter.
Now for the creative fillings:
- Quite plain eggs: eggs and seasoning only
- Herbs: chopped parsley, chives, spring onions
- Mushrooms: previously cooked gently in butter for a few minutes
- Morels: sauté in butter in frying-pan, together with chopped shallot
- Truffles: thin flakes
- Cheese: Parmesan or Gruyère
- Bread: an egg-sized piece of the middle of a loaf soaked in milk and stirred with beaten egg
- Vegetables: sautéed onions, or asparagus tips
- Italian Style: stuffed with paste consisting of pounded garlic cloves (cooked in water), two anchovies, capers, olive oil to soften and add tomato sauce
- Cream: adding a dessertspoonfuls for each egg before beating
- Tomatoes: using half a pound of tomatoes to three ounces of onions, chopped garlic, tarragon, parsley, basil all cooked in olive oil and added to first stage of cooking.
- Shellfish: oysters, mussels, cockles, blanched scallops, cook in wine stock and add to beaten eggs
- Viroflay: ham and spinach
- Jardiniere: mixed with vegetables cooked in salted water, the tossed with butter.
- Acacia Flowers: few clusters of acacia flowers, chopped and topped with a few drops of Kirsch
- Extra Nourishing Omelette: two tablespoons of oatmeal, three milk, with sugar or salt to taste are blended in a bowl and then beaten into two-three whole eggs. Omelette may be served as a dessert with rum or jam.
Well blow me down, who knew there could be so many simple yet sophisticated ways to spice up the simple omelette?
