So before we get into the recipe, let’s go over the basics of omelet-making:
1. An omelet will end up having a light custard-like center, but a lightly golden exterior. To get the proper texture, you need to manage the temperatures of your ingredients.
2. An omelet comes together quickly. Mis-en-place is essential, because once the omelet train leaves the station, there’s no stopping until it reaches its final destination.
3. An over-stuffed omelet won’t fold properly. Pick a few favorite ingredients and use them sparingly.
4. Use room temperature eggs. A water bath will help eggs reach the right temperature faster. Cold eggs will stick to the pan, and the liquid layer on top won’t cook as quickly as the solid layer on the bottom. Room temperature eggs will cook more quickly and evenly.
5. Cook your filling before starting your omelet. The warm filling will help the custard-like top layer (which becomes the center when you fold the omelet) finish cooking and set properly. It will also help any cheese you add melt without sucking all the heat out of the omelet itself.
6. Use a non-stick pan with a smooth surface and no scratches (a few scratches won’t make much difference as long as you add extra butter). Also make sure you use a spatula that’s sturdy enough to support your omelet, but flexible enough to work under the edges easily without tearing the omelet. Plastic or silicone only, DO NOT USE METAL UTENSILS ON COATED VESSELS!
7. You can use oil, but your omelet won’t brown as easily. Proteins in the eggs will still brown, but by then your omelet is overcooked. Butter is quintessentially French and omelets are a French recipe. Seriously, just use butter.
8. When cooking your filling, start with items that take the longest to cook, then add things that don’t take as long. The recipe I’m demonstrating uses mushrooms, garlic, spinach, and feta, so I added them in that order. You can add anything you like from sausage to cheddar to tomatoes, but make sure you consider cook times when assembling your filling.
9. Salting your eggs before cooking will not make them tough, it will add flavor. Any cooked protein should have salt added before cooking, because once the proteins tighten and water is lost during cooking, you can’t add enough salt to make it taste good. This is true for meat, fish, eggs, whatever. Just don’t go overboard.
So now to the omelet I make in my video. Here’s the recipe with basic instructions, but you may need to alter some things as far as your filling goes.
Ingredients:
¼ large portabella mushroom cap, diced
Salt
Pepper
¼ tsp. minced garlic
Handful fresh spinach, stems removed
2 tbsp. feta crumbles
3 eggs
Butter
Directions:
1. Set up mis-en-place. Dice mushroom, pull stems from spinach, and beat and season eggs. Everything should be within arm’s reach ready to be tossed into a pan at a moment’s notice.
2. Start with filling in one pan. Melt butter on medium-low heat, then stir in diced mushroom. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened.
3. Add garlic and stir continuously about one minute to avoid burning. Stir in spinach and toss to coat with warm butter and mushroom liquid. Cover pan with lid to wilt, stirring occasionally. When half-wilted, turn off heat and let spinach finish cooking with residual heat.
4. In second pan (a really good pan, pre-heated and set to 3/10 on burner dial), coat bottom of pan with liberal amounts of butter. If butter browns immediately, pan is too hot. Reduce heat, remove browned butter, and try again when pan has cooled.
5. When pan is proper temperature, add eggs slowly to buttered pan, stirring middle of pan with spatula as eggs fill bottom of pan. Stir from center of pan for approximately 10 seconds.
6. As eggs set up around bottom and edges of pan, skim spatula around sides to separate cooked eggs from side of pan and fold in toward the center, rolling pan to move liquid eggs on top into the new space at the edge of the pan. Repeat until eggs at top of omelet begin setting too much to continue.
7. Distribute filling onto half of the omelet. Sprinkle feta onto that half.
8. Work spatula under unfilled half of the omelet. Carefully press that side over to fold.
9. Hold pan over clean plate and carefully pull one end out of pan onto far edge of plate with spatula, using the pan to support the half still in the pan. Nudge other end out with spatula while removing pan from under that half. Work close to the plate so omelet doesn’t have far to fall if it slips.
The total amount of time it takes to cook an omelet is about 3-4 minutes once the eggs hit the pan. It’s a very fast process, and it may take a few tries to get the technique down. But with the proper tools and techniques, and a little practice, pretty soon even novice cooks can turn out omelets just as well as trained chefs. Don’t get discouraged if it takes a little while to master the perfect omelet. You can always turn it into loaded scrambled eggs.
This is definitely one where I recommend you watch the video since making an omelet is very technique-oriented. Please leave your thoughts in a comment below, or get in touch with me directly by filling out the form on the contact page.
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