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Mushroom Omelet
Chop enough mushrooms to fill a couple of table-spoons, and fry them in butter until almost done, adding salt and pepper and some mixed herbs. Then add four eggs, and finish in the same way as an ordinary omelet. (See PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY, pp. vii. and viii.)
A terse entry that assumes you already know how Cassell's makes a plain omelet; the only real work is in the mushrooms.
- Scale and yieldFour eggs with two tablespoons of chopped mushrooms makes one large pan omelet, enough for two as a light dish. If you want two smaller omelets, cook them in sequence rather than doubling in one pan.
- "Almost done" mushroomsThe mushrooms will finish cooking with the eggs, so they need only be taken far enough to drive off their liquid. Chopped mushrooms release water first; getting most of it out helps keep the omelet from weeping and the curd from setting loosely.
- Mixed herbsTypically a dried blend along the lines of parsley, thyme and marjoram, sometimes with savory, though proportions varied from kitchen to kitchen. A pinch of dried thyme and marjoram with fresh chopped parsley reads closest today.
- Butter quantityUnspecified, as usual. Roughly a tablespoon for the mushrooms and another for the pan; mushrooms absorb fat greedily at first and give it back as they brown.
- Beating the eggsThe entry sends you to the book's general omelet directions on pp. vii-viii, which are not reproduced here; follow whatever they specify. As a general rule for this style, beat only until yolks and whites are combined rather than frothy, since overbeaten eggs cook dry.
- Pan and heatAn 8- to 9-inch pan over medium-high heat. The eggs should set in under a minute of agitation, with the centre still loose when you fold; residual heat finishes it.
- When to add the mushroomsReading the entry literally, the eggs go into the pan with the mushrooms still in it, which gives a mushroom-through-the-curd omelet. If you prefer them as a filling, lift them out and spoon them down the centre before folding.
- Mushroom typeThe recipe does not say which mushroom to use. Cremini or chestnut mushrooms will give a deeper flavour than modern white buttons.
Cassell's arranges its omelets as variations on a single master method, which is why this entry is three lines long and points the reader back to the front matter: the dictionary format assumes the cook consults it as a reference, not as a narrative. Mushrooms were a plausible everyday addition by the late nineteenth century. The "mixed herbs" called for here reflects the period habit of keeping a jar of pre-blended dried herbs on the shelf rather than measuring each one separately, a convenience that survives in British cupboards still.