Tomato Omelet
2 or 3 tomatoes are sufficient for 4 eggs. Peel the tomatoes and cut across, remove the seeds, and cut the firm part into dice. Put them in a frying-pan with salt and pepper and a teaspoonful of butter, and cook until done. Add these to a plain omelet just before folding it over. Canned tomatoes may be used in an omelet by taking out a little of the firm part. Cook this a few minutes in a small saucepan with a teaspoonful of butter, a little finely minced parsley, and a teaspoonful each of finely minced onion and green peppers. Pour over the omelet when it has stiffened and fold it in, or mix it with the yolks of a plain omelet and then fold in the whites of the eggs and fry at once.
A straightforward filled omelet in which the whole point is driving the water out of the tomato before it meets the eggs. Everything else is technique you already have.
- Dry the filling firstTomatoes are mostly water, and any that survives the pan will weep into the eggs and tear the fold. Cook the diced flesh until it stops releasing liquid and begins to look jammy, five to eight minutes over medium-high heat, and taste it for seasoning at that point rather than later.
- Seeding and peelingCutting "across" means through the equator, which opens the seed chambers so they can be flicked out with a thumb. For peeling, a short dip in boiling water (ten to thirty seconds, depending on ripeness) loosens the skin, or use a serrated peeler on firm fruit.
- A teaspoonful of butterThat is about 5 g, a small amount for a frying-pan. Two teaspoons will not hurt the filling and helps it fry rather than stew.
- "A plain omelet"The recipe assumes a plain omelet elsewhere in the book; from the ratio given here it is a four-egg one, cooked in butter until just set on top and then folded. The tomato goes on one half a moment before folding.
- Canned tomatoes"Taking out a little of the firm part" means lifting out the drained pulp and discarding the packing juice; whole canned tomatoes, drained and chopped, work better than crushed or pureed, which are too wet to reduce quickly.
- The separated-egg versionThe last clause describes a souffle omelet: yolks mixed with the vegetables, whites beaten to soft peaks and folded in, cooked at once before the foam collapses. It needs a lower heat and a lid or a brief pass under the broiler to set the top.
- Green peppersIn cookery of this period this means an unripe sweet or bell pepper, sharper and more grassy than the red and yellow fruit now sold. A plain green bell is the correct choice; do not substitute a chile.
- YieldFour eggs make one omelet for two, or two small ones. The filling quantity given here suits either.