Ham Omelet
Proceed as with plain omelet, and after pouring it in the pan, sprinkle over 2 tablespoonfuls of finely minced ham to which has been added a little minced parsley. Or the ham may be added to the yolks of the eggs before folding in the whites. Garnish with sprigs of parsley. Five or six minutes should be sufficient for the cooking.
A variation rather than a standalone recipe: it assumes the book's plain omelet, which in this period means a separated-egg omelet with the whites beaten stiff and folded in. The points below cover what the shorthand leaves out.
- The omelet it builds onBecause the ham can be stirred into the yolks "before folding in the whites," this is the puffy, souffle-style omelet of the era, not the modern rolled French one. The quantities come from the book's plain omelet recipe, which is not repeated here; two tablespoons of ham suits a small household omelet of about four eggs, separated.
- Heat, and why five or six minutesA folded-white omelet is set over low heat, around medium-low on a modern burner, then finished with the surface just barely firm. Five or six minutes is right for that method; the same time over high heat will brown the underside hard before the middle sets.
- The hamTwo tablespoons minced is about 1 oz. Use a firm dry-cured or old-fashioned boiled ham; wet, water-added deli ham weeps into the eggs and dulls them. Mince fine, or the pieces tear the puffed structure.
- SaltSeason the eggs lightly, then taste after the ham is in, since hams vary widely in salt and the ham is doing much of the seasoning.
- PanAn 8- or 9-inch nonstick or well-seasoned skillet with sloping sides for four eggs. In a larger pan the omelet spreads thin and sets before it can rise.
- YieldThe recipe gives no yield. An omelet of about four eggs serves two at breakfast, one as a light supper dish; beyond six eggs use two pans rather than one large one.