Do you know how to make an omelet? Although they’re available year-round, eggs still symbolize the rites of spring: rebirth and renewal. The omelet, that basic egg dish, symbolizes classic French cuisine–and is the easy answer to “Is there anything in this fridge that I can make a quick meal out of?” A few tips […]
By Annie Copps
Apr 09 2009
Do you know how to make an omelet? Although they’re available year-round, eggs still symbolize the rites of spring: rebirth and renewal.
The omelet, that basic egg dish, symbolizes classic French cuisine–and is the easy answer to “Is there anything in this fridge that I can make a quick meal out of?”
A few tips can get you started on the road to omelet happiness:
*Work with eggs at room temperature. Take them out of the fridge a half hour before you’re ready to go.
*Use a nonstick pan.
*Add water, not milk. (Milk leaks out of cooked eggs.)
*Break eggs on a flat surface instead of the rim of the bowl to avoid getting shell fragments in the mixture.
*Cook eggs on low heat. Eggs are almost entirely protein; on high heat they seize up, get tough, and can’t hold their moisture. (Perhaps you’ve encountered “sweating” eggs.) That’s true for scrambled eggs as well.
*Relax. (Really, they’re just eggs.)
But what about that classic fold–how do you do that? Julia Child, who liked to shake the pan to get the egg mixture to fold onto itself, said it was “all in the wrist.” But with great respect to my mentor, I humbly suggest an easier technique, one that never fails to give home cooks a boost of confidence.
Using the spatula, fold one-third of the omelet into the center. Tilt the pan over your serving plate so that one-third of the omelet slides out and hangs over the edge onto the plate. Using the edge of the pan, fold the omelet again, onto the third of the omelet on the plate.
RECIPE