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Light Omelet
For each egg allow 1/8 teaspoon salt, shake of pepper, 1 tablespoon liquid (milk, cream, stock, tomato, etc.). Break whites and yolks separately, beating each until very light. Add liquid and seasoning to yolks, fold yolks into white, stirring as little as possible. Have omelet pan hot, melt in it 1 teaspoon shortening; turn in omelet and cook over slow fire until well browned on bottom, then set in oven until top is set. Fold carefully not to break crust and turn onto hot dish. Serve at once. Allow one egg to each service.
This is a soufflé-style omelet: the whites are beaten separately so the egg puffs, browns on the base, and finishes in the oven. It is built on a per-egg formula rather than a fixed quantity, so it scales to any number of servings.
- The hinge: fold, don't stirEverything depends on keeping air in the whites. The recipe says only to beat each part "until very light" and to stir as little as possible: tip the seasoned yolks over the whites and cut through with a spatula just until no large streaks remain.
- "Slow fire"Low heat on a modern burner. The recipe's cue is visual: cook until the bottom is well browned. Higher heat browns the crust before the interior has any structure.
- Oven to set the topThe recipe specifies no temperature or time, only "set in oven until top is set." A moderate oven is the reasonable reading; judge by the top being just firm to a light touch.
- Pan choiceAn "omelet pan" here means a shallow, sloped, well-seasoned skillet, and because the omelet goes into the oven the handle must be ovenproof: cast iron or carbon steel both work.
- ShorteningOne teaspoon in the pan, not per egg: butter, or a neutral oil if you want a higher smoke point. Swirl it up the sides before the egg goes in.
- LiquidOne tablespoon per egg is the whole allowance, and it goes into the yolks only. Cream gives the richest result; tomato juice or stock thin the yolks and give a slacker, more delicate set.
- Yield"Allow one egg to each service" makes a small portion by current habits. Count two eggs per person if the omelet is the centre of the meal.
- TimingA soufflé omelet begins deflating within a minute or two of leaving the oven. Have the warmed plates and any sauce ready before the eggs go in the pan.