Savory Omelet
1 doz. eggs 4 tablespoons gravy 2 sprigs parsley 4 chives 1/4 lemon 2 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper Break eggs into a bowl, add seasonings and gravy. Give the mixture a half dozen strong beats with a fork. Have the butter in the omelet pan hot, pour the egg mixture into the omelet pan, sprinkle the minced parsley and chives over it and cook slowly till the bottom is browned; fold as directed and turn onto a hot platter. Squeeze the juice from the lemon over it and serve.
A twelve-egg omelet is a family-sized dish, not a single serving, and the pan is the limiting factor. Everything else here is seasoning.
- Scale and pan sizeTwelve eggs will serve six to eight and need a 12-inch skillet at minimum; in anything smaller the eggs sit too deep to set before the bottom overcooks. Halve the quantities for a 10-inch pan.
- The gravyFour tablespoons of gravy is the only substantial flavoring here; the recipe does not say what kind, though meat gravy or pan drippings from a roast would be the obvious source. Cold gravy is stiff; warm it enough to pour so it disperses in the eggs rather than streaking. Well-reduced stock or pan drippings do the same job.
- Beat lightly, not thoroughly"A half dozen strong beats with a fork" means the eggs are barely combined rather than beaten smooth, so the finished omelet is unlikely to have the uniform texture of a thoroughly beaten one.
- "Fold as directed"The phrase refers back to folding instructions given elsewhere in the book, presumably under a plain omelet; those directions are not repeated here. With this quantity it is easier to fold in thirds like a letter than to attempt a single roll.
- "Cook slowly"Medium-low heat, and only the butter should be hot when the eggs go in. A dozen eggs takes several minutes to set; high heat browns the base while the center is still liquid.
- Chives and parsleyFour chives means four whole stalks, which minced amount to only a teaspoon or so. Scatter them on top as directed rather than beating them in, so they stay green.
- The lemonA quarter lemon over the finished omelet cuts the richness of the butter and gravy. The recipe adds it after the omelet is turned onto the platter, not in the pan.
Gold Medal's cook book belongs to the era when a flour miller published recipes to sell flour, and its egg chapter reflects the same household logic: nothing edible was thrown out. American cookbooks of the period generally distinguish between the plain or French omelet, the puffy or soufflé omelet with beaten whites, and "savory" versions like this one, flavored with herbs, cheese or drippings; the pattern is traced to French practice, where omelette aux fines herbes was the standard herbed form. The lemon finish is older than it looks — acid squeezed over rich egg and butter dishes at the moment of serving appears in English cookery well before the twentieth century.