Onion Omelet
For 6 eggs take 1 large Spanish onion, cut it into dice, and fry in a spoonful of butter until tender, stirring it often. Do not let it brown. Add very little salt and a dash of pepper, and beat it into the yolks of the eggs. Proceed as in directions for plain omelet, folding in the whites of the eggs. When it is nearly cooked sprinkle over the top a teaspoonful of finely minced parsley. Cook in two omelets. Serve with it French fried, Lyonnaise, or baked potatoes with a cream sauce.
A separated-egg omelet, closer to a light souffl\the French rolled omelet most cooks reach for now. The onion is stewed rather than caramelised, which is the whole character of the dish.
- Keep the onion paleSweat the diced onion in butter over low heat, covered if it helps, until it collapses and turns translucent. The original insists on this; browning would add a sweeter, roasted note that competes with the eggs.
- Spanish onionA large sweet yellow onion, roughly 12 oz to a pound. That is a generous amount for six eggs; half will do if you want the eggs to lead.
- "A spoonful of butter"Read as a tablespoon, about half an ounce. Add a little more if the pan looks dry before the onion is soft.
- The separated eggsBeat the yolks with the cooled onion mixture, whip the whites to soft peaks, and fold them in with a light hand. If the onion is still hot it will slacken the foam.
- Cook in two omeletsSix eggs' worth of foamed batter will not set evenly in one pan. Use an 8- to 9-inch skillet, three eggs at a time, over medium heat; set the bottom on the stove and finish the top under a broiler or covered for a minute or two.
- Parsley timingThe parsley goes on near the end, as written, so it stays green rather than turning drab and grassy in the butter.
- YieldTwo omelets serve three to four people as a light main course, with the potatoes the recipe suggests.