Friday, February 04, 2011

FRENCH OMELETTES (OMELETS) THE THEORY CORNER WAY


If you already make omelettes then you probably put milk in them, brown them on the bottom, and like them to have a uniform texture. That's okay. That's "country style," and if it works for you, why change?

Me, I prefer to eat what the brick throwing radicals, and nihilist philosophers in Paris eat. We sophisticates prefer the classical French omelette that I'm going to discuss here. Those omelettes don't brown on the bottom, not even slightly. They're never made with milk, and they're not uniform in texture. They're not even completely cooked. Here's how they work:



It's best to start with a three egg omelette that you make for yourself. If two are eating, then make two separate omelettes, one after the other. Don't make one giant omelette, then split it in two.

I use a good quality 7 or 8 inch (across the bottom) non-stick omelette pan. One famous writer prefers cheap non-stick pans because they heat up faster, but the better pan feels good, and is more fun to use. Anyway, three eggs work perfectly in a pan this size.

Break three ROOM TEMPERATURE eggs and empty them into a bowl. Add a tablespoon of water (not milk), a little melted butter, and some salt and pepper. DON'T SKIP THE WATER. Whip the eggs vigorously with a fork.  IMPORTANT: don't over whip them; stop BEFORE the whites and yolks are completely mixed!



Put a pat of butter in the pan, turn the heat to medium high, and roll the butter around so it also coats the bottom  and sides of the pan. Let the butter sizzle for a moment or two and, when the sizzling diminishes a little, then pour in the eggs. Turn the heat down a little.

Let the eggs sit for 6 seconds then lift the pan a little above the burner and shake it vigorously back and forth while prodding the sides and middle with a rubber spatula. If the pan smokes then lift it a little higher off the flame. Incidentally, by prodding I mean that you're opening channels for the uncooked, liquid parts of the egg to make contact with the pan. You're also separating the eggs from the pan so they slide easily. Watch the way Jacques Pepin and Julia Childs shake the eggs in the videos below!



The egg will cook fast. At the midway point, when half the omelette is still somewhat creamy, quickly add whatever PRE-PREPARED filling you have. All the filling should be on the half of the omelette that's farthest from you. Remember, LESS IS MORE!  The main taste you're after is that of egg and butter. The filling is just an accent. TOO MUCH FILLING WILL RUIN AN OMELETTE.

BTW: For filling a first time classic omelette I would use only shredded fatty white cheese, mixed with a little a little brandy or sherry, a little salt, and some chopped chives. Put all these fillings in an easy to find  bowl, ready to pour immediately when needed. Stopping to locate anything while you're cooking could result in overcooked eggs.



Now, with the filling poured onto the egg, and the egg still still creamy in parts, you'll want to fold it over and move it onto a plate. It'll continue to cook by itself outside of the pan.  When its on the plate and ready to eat, the center will be creamy like the example in the picture above.


But I'm getting ahead of myself. It's time to describe in detail how to fold and de-pan. Aaaargh, this is hard to convey with words....come to think of it, just watch the videos below to see how this works.  It's not hard, and if you goof it up, the eggs will probably still taste okay.


Finally, with the omelette on the plate, you can add a blush of butter to the top so the chopped, leafy spices and salt you're about to put on won't fall off. Which spices? According to Pepin they are: chives, basil, parsley, dill, tarragon, and chervil leaves.



My supermarket doesn't carry chervil, so I can't comment on that. Tarragon is expensive. I use it, but it doesn't add much.  Dill and parsley work great. In my opinion the most important of Pepin's spices are chives and basil. Fresh chives come in a plastic carton that sells for $1.80 at Trader Joe's. They have a subtle flavor, so chop enough to make an impact.

I think that's it...did I leave anything out?



Oh, yes..... It's a good idea to have toast and jam, or potatoes, or salad, or white wine, or whatever you intend to take with the omelette, already made or cooked and ready to consume when the omelette is done. You'll want to eat the omelette as soon as it's delivered to the plate!

I'll end with some troubleshooting tips:

If the finished omelette is disappointing, you might not have used enough salt. Or maybe you require Tabasco sauce, or maybe you put in too much filling and the taste of that overwhelmed the omelette. Maybe you used milk instead of water, and that made the eggs leathery. Maybe you used one or two eggs instead of three, and so starved the pan.  Maybe you failed to accompany the omelette with a good side dish, or with wine or a good coffee. Omelettes don't taste right all by themselves. They need accompaniment. Maybe you substituted some healthy oil for the butter. Maybe you used...Aargh!... margarine. I hate to say it but that kind of chintzing is a mistake. To enter The Land of Deliciousness you must be willing to risk a heart attack.



I tried a number of internet recipes and in the end I preferred Pepin's way, only with the addition of brandy and a little butter mixed with the raw egg. The only experiment I have yet to try is adding a separately made soft boiled egg over the finished and depanned omelette. That's because I'm curious to see if I can get more "eggy" flavor into the omellete. Have you ever noticed that soft boiled eggs have an intense egg flavor that no other egg dish has?  Wouldn't it be great if an omelette could have flavor that's equally intense?



The two videos I promised:




18 comments:

Joshua Marchant (Scrawnycartoons) said...

Fantastic! I know what I'm having tommorow...Although I have to run the grocery store to buy several hundred ingredients!

And at some point I should try your other recipes like the Chashew Chicken on Johns Manly cartoonist burger.

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Scrawny: Good for you! Well, eggs are cheap. They're $2.19 a dozen. A friend said he saw eggs selling for a buck a dozen at one of the discount stores. At that price you can afford to experiment til you get it right.

Steven M. said...

Sounds very delicious, but seems to take percision and skill to perfect the french breakfest.

Bob Probst said...

Ham & Cheese
Ham & Cheese
Ham & Cheese

and salt & pepper

You're absolutely right about the butter and quality pan though.

I also make a folded omelet. I can do the roll am usually too sleepy in the AM to pull it off without burning some part of my anatomy.

and honestly, one egg is plenty filling but you don't get the same dramatic rise.

Last tip: whisk the hell out of your eggs right until they go into the pan. You're getting air mixed into eggs and they'll rise like a soufflé into a nice fluffy omelet instead of laying in the pan like a flapjack.

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Bob: How much to whip the eggs is one of the big omelette controversies. The use of water is another. In the videos Pepin and Julia Childs beat the eggs til the whites and yolks are completely mixed. Most of the high end books I consulted, including the Cordon Bleu book, recommend a slightly incomplete mixture, and warn against overbeating. Me, I got better results with a slightly incomplete mixture.

The guy who did the "Good Eats" series forTV says you don't want too much air in the mixture because pockets of air are a good insulator against heat, and prevent the omelette from cooking properly. On the other hand everbody loves souffles, and they have plenty of air. Geez, even the experts disagree.

Steven: Yeah, skill helps a lot, but the basic ingredients are so good that even a botched omelette will still be worth making.

BlakeJ said...

Thanks Eddie! I have done the shopping, and I'm going to do it in the morning. I think I'll go with you and Alton Brown (from Good Eats) on this one -- I don't want to risk undercooked eggs. If I don't want too much egg juice on the inside, would you suggest 2 eggs instead of three?

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Blake: I'm so glad that you're trying this out! Two eggs is an obviously healthier combination than three, but the very first time I'd do three. Three makes it easier to add fillings without ruining the omelette. I'm assuming that like me, you'll risk ruining your first omelette by putting too much filling in.


I love Alton Brown, but I didn't include his omelette video here because I had a hunch that he missed the mark on this one. Brown doesn't believe in adding water, but when I tried doing it without water it didn't turn out as good. He also doesn't shake the pan as much as Pepin and Childs.

Hey, why not cook at least two omelettes the first time, using different techniques? Let me know how it turns out!

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Blake: By the way, Brown says the chances of getting sick from an undercooked omelette is very slim. I've been eating soft boiled eggs for years with no bad effect so far.

Severin said...

You mentioned Trader Joe's... any comments on where you like to shop for food? I started shopping at Henry's in Burbank when I discovered they have cheap, delicious produce and grains that you can buy in bulk. Prepackaged foods are really expensive, though. I tend to shop at Fresh and Easy for those. Most guys I new at Nickelodeon bought their lunches at Trader Joes, seems to be a favorite around here.

Caty said...

YES!!!


Next... French fries by the Theory!!!

BlakeJ said...

Well, Eddie, I did it! The first one was by far the best, I did only a sprinkling of cheese for the filling. It was more of a country omelette, because it had large curd and was brown all over. I think maybe the heat was up too high. And on the second one, it was almost the same, except I added too much salt (and cheese, which had more salt). You're a good cook, Uncle Eddie!

BlakeJ said...

Oh, and I forgot to mention that on omelette number two, I set the smoke alarm a couple of times. Nothing an open door can't remedy, however it certainly put a damper on my "high class" morning and dining experience.

Ah, and I served it with biscuits with apple butter. Delicious!

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Blake: Fascinating! Thanks for putting that up!

Most likely you let the omelette cook too much while you were adding the filling. You have to do that part fast. You want to premix that stuff and put it all in one easy to find bowl so you can pour it quickly. Or maybe you let the eggs cook too long at the start, before you started shaking.

The smoking butter problem makes me think you might not have held the burner above the flame while shaking it. I watch for smoke and when I see it I lift the pan a little higher above the flame.Childs cooks the omelette so fast that it doesn't have much time to smoke.

Well, nobody, including me, ever made a French omelette right the first time. There's just too many things to remember. Fortunately eggs are innately good, so mistakes are still good to eat. Bisquits and apple butter sound like a good side dish.

BlakeJ said...

I think you're right, I kept the pan on the burner for too long, so I got that butter smoke. I think I need to watch those two videos more closely to get my shaking technique too. But again, it was delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe and technique!

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Blake: You're welcome! Yeah, those videos are worth watching more than once. They take on a deeper meaning after you've tried cooking an omelette yourself.

Unknown said...

Thanks for that! I'm going to try and make that! It sounds so fancy and delicious!

>>To enter The Land of Deliciousness you must be willing to risk a heart attack.<<

I agree completely!!

Wilson said...

Hi Uncle Eddie. Your writings inspired me to try an omelete. I stuck to Julia's video. Awesome how she cooked it in only 20 seconds, flips it over, and has a perfect omelet. I actually managed to get it right the first time--at least I think so. Now I'll have to try some experimentation.

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Wilson: It worked the first time!? That's great! You probab;y made it without a filling, which has the potential when it's not done right, of slowing the operation down and overcooking the egg.

You get the feeling from Julia's video that she knows somethig that even Pepin doesn't know i.e., that the best way to cook an egg is the simplest, because an egg is already good at the start, and only needs to be shepherded through the heating process with a minimum of damage.