How Do I Make an Omelet?

[badunnin]

Jennifer - I usually do it the opposite way of what you mentioned. Eggs in, then when they start to set up, veggies on top in a line. Fold over the omelet onto itself (making a half circle) when it is almost set all the way through.

[Jennifer D]

I have a hankering for an omelet - but I've never made one before! :o [please don't stone me.....]

I'm thinking of something with lots of veggies (peppers, tomatoes) and maybe some cheese. I have a vague notion (perhaps gleaned from observation somewhere along the line) - that you start with the veggies then pour the eggs over...??? But I really don't have a clue.

Sad, I know, but the first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

:D

[Searcher]

We use a non-stick skillet but it's not necessary. Melt butter until it stops foaming (you can spray with Pam) then add lightly beaten eggs seasoned with salt, pepper and herbs, then leave them along until they begin to set around the edges. Then with a heat proof spatula, gently loosen it from around the edges, pick up the pan and swirl while holding an edge up so the uncooked egg can run under the omelet. When it looks as set as you like, add fillings, fold over and if using cheese allow it time to melt. Then flip onto a plate and eat.

[TamiKnight]

I can't remember now where I read (or saw) this, but I'd been unsuccessful with omelets for years. This technique works, though:

Preheat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. While the pan is heating, beat 2-3 eggs. Add butter and let melt.

Pour eggs into heated pan, and turn heat down to medium. Immediately begin lifting the edges and tilting the pan to let the uncooked egg run underneath the cooked egg. When you get to the point that the egg won't run anymore, but still isn't cooked, sprinkle the omelet with whatever fillings you're using, then cover the pan and let cook for a couple more minutes. After that, just fold and eat. The covering works well and gets the omelet fully cooked.

Personally, I don't like the almost-raw peppers and onions, so I saute mine first.

[sneezles]

This is from the Kiss the Cook website and I just love the way it reads, making the omelette sound so hoity-toity! I make omelettes quite often around here.

The French Omelette
No other dish is as simple in ingredients as a plain omelette, but needs much skill and experience to be done just right. Professional cooks,
chefs and other exponents of the French luxury cuisine, use their
omelette making skill as a measurement of achievement and gastronomique sophistication.

A good omelette skillet in the right shape is of the utmost importance.
Teflon, a very modern convenience, is of great help.

It is impossible to learn the omelette making by just reading about it. Demonstration and practice are necessary. Ingredients are whole lightly beaten eggs, and a few drops of olive oil or butter to cook the omelette.
Remember-no cholestrol in olive oil!

Key factors are heat, timing and the whipping of the raw eggs. The
actual process is close to the fast scrambling of eggs, but with the
knowledge of when to stop scrambling, and the right flipping of the wrist for the perfect mold.

Omelettes may be plain, with a variety of fillings, covered with sauce or with a combination of both. They are always made to the order and must be eaten immediately. They can be served at any time of the day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, as a full meal, an appertizer or snack.

An appreciation of omelettes distinguishes the sophisticated gastronom from the run of the mill. Although it may be an over-rated value judgement, the comparison of an omelette, with the "whatever you call it" served in most coffee shops, is like the comparison of night and day.

3 lightly beaten eggs
1 teaspoon olive oil or clarified butter
8 inch skillet
rubber spatula
plate filling of your choice

Common Fillings

(They are sometimes stirred into the omelette, in the making, sometimes filled into the nearly cooked one, or sometimes filled over the top of an omelette already cooked and turned out on a plate.)
Cheese, ham, bacon, fine herbs, tomatoes, mushrooms, Spanish sauce,
spinach, etc

[Laura]

My SO taught me how to make awesome omelets, but they are not low fat. I use a nonstick pan and melt about a tablespoon of butter in the pan, I then saute everything, but things like cheese, avocados in the melted butter. I then add the eggs and keep lifting the sides to allow more of the egg to cook. Once the top is set, I flip the omelete (not as hard as I thought) and let it cook for a little on the other side. I then add the cheese and fold the omelete in half letting it cook long enough just to melt the cheese. When I am feeling guilty, I use egg beaters instead of eggs, because I can't give up the butter. Needless to say, I only have them once every few months.

[Love to Run]

Anybody remember Jeff Smith the Frugal Gourmet who had a cooking show on PBS? He did a show on omelets and I've followed his instructions successfully since then. Follow the basic instructions in the above posts but when you add your filling (meat/cheese/veg), add it to half of the frying pan that is AWAY FROM the handle. Continue to cook the omelet but do not overcook or the result will be dry and rubbery. Occasionally shake the pan so that the omelet will move. When the omelet is done, grab the handle of the frying pan with your hand/fingernails facing UP, slowly slide the portion of the omelet with the fillings onto a large plate. When half of it is on the plate flip the frying pan over so that it folds onto the half on the plate. This way you do not have to flip it and risk making a mess. It is important to grab the handle that way so that you can slide the portion with the filling onto the plate first and then flip the pan and the rest of the omelet onto the plate.

Try it. It really works.
Carole