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Plain Omelet
4 eggs 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper 4 tablespoons milk or water 1 teaspoon shortening Break eggs into bowl; add seasoning. Beat vigorously with fork and add milk. Melt shortening in omelet pan, pour in eggs, shake over moderate fire until they are set. Roll and turn into hot dish. Serves 4.
A bare-bones French-style rolled omelet. Everything depends on heat control and on stopping while the surface is still soft.
- The hinge: moderate heat, constant motion"Shake over moderate fire" means medium heat with the pan moving the whole time, so the curds stay small and the base never browns. A hot pan left still gives you a leathery disc.
- ShorteningPeriod books often used "shortening" loosely, for butter, lard or a solid vegetable fat alike. Butter is the better choice here for flavor, and it browns visibly, which tells you when the pan is too hot; one teaspoon is thin coverage, so use about a tablespoon in a 10-inch pan.
- Omelet panA shallow pan with sloping sides, 8 to 10 inches, well seasoned or nonstick. The slope is what lets you roll the omelet out in one motion.
- Milk or waterWater makes a lighter, more tender omelet because it steams off; milk gives a slightly softer, richer set. Four tablespoons for four eggs is on the generous side and will lengthen the setting time.
- When it is doneTake it off while the top still looks glossy and barely wet. Residual heat finishes it on the way to the plate; cooked until dry in the pan it will be dry on the table.
- YieldFour eggs serving four is a thin portion by modern standards. Count on two servings as a main course, and cook two four-egg omelets in succession rather than one large one.
The rolled omelet reached American cookbooks by way of French professional cookery, where it is defined less by its filling than by its handling: beaten eggs set fast in a dedicated pan, never stirred to a scramble, then folded or rolled onto the plate.