Oyster Omelet
For a 3-egg omelet take 6 medium-sized oysters. Cook them in their own liquor until they curl. Drain, and chop them quite fine; season with pepper and a very little lemon juice. Add them to a plain omelet just before folding it. Small oysters may be cooked in the same way, using a sufficient number for the omelet and lay them whole across the omelet and fold over and serve.
A plain French omelet with a warm oyster filling, written for cooks who bought oysters by the dozen and expected no further explanation. Two things decide whether it works: how briefly the oysters cook, and how loosely the eggs are set.
- The hinge: curling is the timerOysters dropped into their own simmering liquor curl at the edges in roughly 60 to 90 seconds. Pull them the moment they do; another minute turns them to rubber, and they will get a second dose of heat inside the omelet.
- "Their own liquor"This is the liquid in the shucked oyster container, not water. Shucked oysters come with enough to poach six; strain it through a fine sieve first, since it usually carries shell grit. Save what is left over for a sauce or chowder.
- Oyster size"Medium-sized" was a market term rather than a fixed measure, and grades varied by locality and dealer; take it to mean an oyster that gives a bite or two when chopped. Six chopped fine fill a three-egg omelet comfortably. If you buy larger cultivated oysters, four will do.
- Seasoning restraintThe instruction to use "a very little lemon juice" is deliberate. Oyster liquor is already salty and iodine-flavoured; more than a few drops of acid flattens it. Salt the eggs, not the oysters.
- The plain omelet underneathA three-egg omelet in a 20 to 22 cm pan over medium-high heat with a good knob of butter takes under two minutes. Fill and fold while the surface is still glossy and slightly loose; the recipe says only to add the oysters "just before folding" and leaves the rest to the cook.
- Drain thoroughlyChopped oysters release liquid on standing. Pat them dry before they go in, or the filling will weep and split the fold.
- YieldOne three-egg omelet serves one generously or two as a light course. Make them one at a time rather than scaling up the pan.