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Omelette 4/2

W. Hilditch

Active member
3 or 4 lg. eggs, an ounce or two of water (not milk), salt and pepper beaten or whipped. I do mine in a milkshake mixer. The more foam the lighter the omelette.

Preheat a #8 CI skillet and lid on med-low until the handle is hot. When camping I use my #10 and aluminum foil for a lid. Add two tbs butter and run around the lower sides covering the bottom. Slowly pour the eggs in a circular motion around the outer edge and then in to push the butter to the center. Let it cook for a minute or two and shake the omelette loose when the edges are starting to set. There will still be a lot of liquid egg. Cover for a couple of minutes.

Uncover, and shake again. It should slide around real nice. If not, loosen it with a spatula. Add your warm or hot filling of choice before all the egg is set so you don’t have to chase the filling around on your plate. Cover. When the egg is 96% set fold in half with a spatula or flip it in half if you’re good enough. Cut in half and plate. Top with left over filling and a sprig of parsley.

Hilditch
 
For an original Western omelet sauté chopped onion and green pepper in the butter until soft and add chopped cooked ham to just warm. For an Ontario, Canada Western, substitute real chopped cooked pea-meal bacon for the ham. Transfer veggies and ham to a bowl. Add another tbsp butter to the skillet. Add the eggs and finish.

I know. A Western omelette has been “upgraded” by most restaurants and recipes today to include other ingredients like cheese, tomatoes, peppers, etc. You might like the original.

A spanish omelette is my second choice.

Hilditch
 
Some cooking schools and chefs believe it is a sin to have a crust on an omelette. No crust can be accomplished by stirring the egg above the bottom of the skillet while shaking rather than covering the omelette and then flipping the whole omelette after stirring in the filling. This is not for everybody as keeping all the uncooked egg in the skillet takes some practice but the final fold will soften any crust from cooking the first side as it sets and the outside will be soft.

Hilditch
 
Hilditch, I've been trying to "Master the omelet" for about a year now. I saw this recipe and had to try it.
I have used all these ingredients before, but I usually use bacon grease and have never used a lid, also this was my first omelet made without cheese.
I tried to stay as true to your directions and ingredients as I could, I had to use honey ham instead of chopped ham, I used a glass lid cause I don't have a CI lid, and I was out of parsley. I did turn the heat down slightly as compared to using bacon grease, I think more for my own caution as I'm not used to cooking with butter.
I also tried cracking the eggs one handed.////I going to stick to two handed!
Using the couple ounces of water and the extra beating really fluffed up the omelet, and using a lid made a real difference in cooking time. Normally I would put the veggies in cold, but this time I sautéed them as directed and must say that sautéed is much better.
I am the type of person that strives for improvement so I "upgrade" with topping and constantly ask "How can this be better", But I must say that you have a great tasting omelet here! Thanks for sharing!
Tony
 
Tony, I continue to try to find better ways to make an omelette. Recently I’ve eliminated the water to get more egg flavor and concentrate on getting a light texture without the steam bubbles. Each one is an experiment. One thing I can confirm: Room temperature or even a little warmer eggs and filling seem to do better and faster. I too use glass lids that warm up with/on the skillet.

For egg cracking. Splurge and buy a dozen sacrificial eggs. Get a quart glass bowl and try breaking them with hand. No rush. Pay attention to each as to how you do it. Shell in bowl? Broken yolk? Fingers dripping? No problem. No pressure. Just play. By the end you should be getting a feel for how hard to hit the egg, how much pressure to apply with your middle finger and how to open the two halves. Have a beer.

Hilditch
 
My chickens lay some pretty good eggs. With the cold this time of year I add cracked corn to their diets. I am told it helps to keep them warm with the higher oil scratch. Their normal diet is crumble which helps promote laying.
The winter eggs from the coop are higher in oil content and fry better and make better omlets.

Try buying your eggs local. This time of the year produces great eggs
 
I wish. Had a wonderful supply for three years and then the coyotes ate the chickens. Mixed chickens and all were the best eggs I ever had. Found another supply 20 miles from me, with OK eggs (maybe a week old) but when the price was raised to $6.00 a doz. two years ago I went back to the store. All the producers within range are under contract.

Enjoy your next stand up yoke for me.

Hilditch
 
I wish. Had a wonderful supply for three years and then the coyotes ate the chickens. Mixed chickens and all were the best eggs I ever had. Found another supply 20 miles from me, with OK eggs (maybe a week old) but when the price was raised to $6.00 a doz. two years ago I went back to the store. All the producers within range are under contract.

Enjoy your next stand up yoke for me.

Hilditch

Yes on the coyote problem. Free range around me means the coyotes eat for free. My chickens like their coop.
 
I saw on the news last night that Mansfield is considering legislation to allow us people in the city to start raising our own chickens. I'm going to the next meeting.
When I lived in Wapakoneta I kept around 50 chickens and had the freshest most delicious eggs I have ever eaten.
I currently can't find fresh eggs in my area and have to buy these little, thin shelled, yellow yoked, unknown origin eggs.
I really miss those large, orange yoked, straight out of my barn eggs.
Tony
 
I was reflecting on butter tonight. Regular salted butter has a 350° F smoking point. Drawn butter has a 450° smoking point. My CI heats up to the low 400’s on low. My next omelette will be done with drawn butter. It's probably not just for lobster!

BTW I found some farm fresh eggs again. Things are looking up.

Hilditch
 
I have read over the years a lot of people say to have a dedicated egg pan. I find this to seem to have a little something to it. I have a #7 I usually just sauté vegetables, bake, occasional omelette or single egg in with a almost Teflon non stick effect with with very little fat/oil added. With most of the guys and gals here I'm pretty sure they might have more than one skillet of the same size for that :biggrin:

I've been wanting to try some crapes but I'm not much of a breakfast person and it's just me at the house right now. It's still on my list of things to try, but I did do a Dutch-baby awhile back.
 
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