Puff Omelet
The following is another variety of omelet which it is a little more trouble to prepare; but, as one writer says, it makes "a more showy looking omelet, and one which appears larger for an equal number of eggs." 3 eggs 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon flour 1 tablespoon cream or cold water Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs. Beat the yolks very stiff (success in making this omelet depends as much upon beating the yolks stiff as upon beating the whites stiff). Add flour and cream to yolks, and beat again. Add salt to the whites, and beat till stiff and dry. Save out a little of the white. Fold yolk mixture into the whites. Turn into a hot oiled omelet pan. Put the egg white which was saved out along the edge of the omelet farthest from the handle of the pan. Allow the omelet to set for a moment on the stove, then place in the oven on the grate and bake till risen and set; if allowed to bake too long, it will shrink. Make a crease across the center, and fold one half over the other half so that the egg white will come between the folds. Slide onto a hot platter, garnish with parsley, and serve at once. Instead of putting the egg white between the folds of the omelet, it may be put on top of the omelet after the omelet is folded, and the omelet set in the oven long enough to brown the egg white.
This omelet may be made with the same variations as the French omelet, or may be served with cream, parsley, or tomato sauce.
A soufflé omelet: eggs separated, whites whipped, the whole thing finished in the oven. The original assumes a heavy iron omelet pan that goes from stovetop to oven grate.
- The hingeBeat the yolks until they are pale, thick and ribbon-like — the recipe is emphatic that this matters as much as the whites, and it does. Underbeaten yolks give a dense, damp layer at the bottom of the finished omelet.
- Oven heatNo temperature is given, and no pan size either. A moderate oven, in the region of 350F, suits it: the omelet needs to rise before the surface sets hard. Three eggs will probably take somewhere between 8 and 12 minutes, but judge by the recipe's own test — risen and set — rather than the clock.
- Do not overbakeThe warning about shrinking is the real instruction. Pull it when the center is just set and still trembling slightly — it will continue to firm as you fold and plate it.
- "Beat till stiff and dry"Period language for firm peaks. Taken literally it produces grainy, separating whites that will not fold cleanly. Stop when the peaks hold and the mass still looks glossy.
- Oiled panButter is better here for flavor and browning, and the pan should be genuinely hot before the mixture goes in so the base sets on contact.
- The reserved whiteThe dab of plain white laid along the far edge is decorative — it bakes to a white ridge inside the fold, or browns on top if you take the alternative given at the end. It contributes nothing structural and can be skipped.
- FoldingThe recipe says only to make a crease across the center; the sense is a scored line rather than a cut through. Loosening the edges first with a thin spatula will help keep the omelet from tearing as it turns.
- YieldThree eggs serves one generously or two modestly. Doubling is unreliable — a larger volume of foam needs a wider pan and longer, gentler baking; better to make two.
Separating the eggs to make an omelet rise is a French technique of long standing, the omelette soufflée, and English-language cookery books of the later nineteenth century commonly set it against the plain "French omelet" folded flat in the pan — a contrast this recipe itself draws in its closing line. The quoted remark about a showier omelet that "appears larger for an equal number of eggs" is a fair statement of the appeal: beaten whites make a small number of eggs go further to the eye.