French Omelet
4 eggs 4 tablespoons milk 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper Beat eggs slightly, just enough to blend yolks and whites, add the milk and seasonings. Put butter in hot omelet pan; when melted, turn in the mixture; as it cooks, prick and pick up with a fork until the whole is of creamy consistency. Place on hotter part of range that it may brown quickly underneath. Fold, and turn on hot platter.
A plain rolled omelet of the kind American cookbooks called "French" to distinguish it from the puffy separated-egg version. The whole thing takes under three minutes once the pan is hot.
- The hinge: stop while it is still soft"Creamy consistency" is the whole instruction. Pull the pan when the surface is still glossy and slightly wet; residual heat finishes it as you fold and plate. An omelet cooked until dry on the surface will be tough by the time it reaches the table.
- Pan and heatAn 8-inch nonstick or well-seasoned carbon steel skillet suits four eggs. Medium-high heat throughout; the direction to move it to "the hotter part of the range" reflects a wood or coal stove with hot and cool zones, and on a gas or electric burner you simply raise the heat for the last fifteen seconds to set the underside.
- Butter quantityTwo tablespoons is generous by modern habit. One tablespoon is enough in a nonstick pan, though the full amount gives a better browned surface.
- "Prick and pick up with a fork"This means dragging the set curds in from the edge so uncooked egg runs underneath, not stirring. A silicone or wooden spatula does the same job without scratching a modern pan.
- Beating"Slightly" is deliberate. Over-beaten eggs incorporate air and give a spongy, souffléd texture rather than the dense tender curd this recipe is after.
- YieldFour eggs make one omelet serving two, or a single very large portion. If you want two separate omelets, cook them in sequence with two eggs each rather than dividing one.
- Serve immediatelyThe instruction to use a hot platter matters: an omelet on a cold plate weeps and goes flat within a minute.