Puff Omelet
Stir into the yolks of six eggs, and the whites of three beaten very light, one table-spoon of flour mixed into a tea-cup of cream or milk, with salt and pepper to taste; melt a table-spoon butter in a pan, pour in the mixture and set the pan into a hot oven; when it thickens, pour over it the remaining whites of eggs well beaten, return it to the oven and let it bake a delicate brown. Slip off on large plate, and eat as soon as done. -Mrs. W. D. Hall, Hawley, Minn.
A soufflé-style omelet built in two stages: a custard base set in the oven, then a meringue lid browned on top. Everything depends on treating the beaten whites gently and serving it the minute it leaves the oven.
- The hingeFold the whites in with a spatula rather than stirring them, despite the word "stir" in the original. Air knocked out of the whites will not come back, and the puff is the whole point of the dish.
- A teacupIn nineteenth-century recipes a teacup is usually reckoned at about 3/4 cup rather than a modern 8-oz measuring cup. Roughly 6 fl oz of cream or milk is a safe reading; cream gives a richer set.
- "A hot oven"Read this as 400-425F. The base wants to set quickly at the edges, and the meringue topping needs that heat to brown before it dries out.
- The panMelt the butter in an ovenproof skillet, 9 to 10 inches, since the same vessel goes into the oven twice. Cast iron or a heavy oven-safe nonstick pan both work; anything with a plastic handle does not.
- Timings the original omitsThe base thickens in roughly 8 to 12 minutes at 425F, when the center is just set but still trembling. The meringue layer needs only 3 to 5 minutes more to take colour; leave it longer and it turns to dry foam.
- Three whites, then threeSix yolks and three whites go into the base; the other three whites are beaten separately for the topping. Beat the second batch while the base bakes so they go on freshly whipped rather than weeping in the bowl.
- ServingServes three, or four as part of a larger breakfast. "Eat as soon as done" is not a flourish: the puff collapses within a couple of minutes of leaving the oven, so have the plate warmed and the table sitting.
Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, which appeared in several editions and imprints through the 1870s and 1880s, was assembled from contributions credited by name and town, which is why this omelet arrives from Mrs. W. D. Hall of Hawley, Minnesota. The technique itself is much older and generally traced to the French omelette soufflée, in which separated eggs produce something between an omelet and a soufflé. Its appearance in a Midwestern household manual says something about supply: a recipe calling for six eggs and a teacup of cream was written for a house with its own hens and a cow, or at least a reliable neighbour who had both.