Corn Omelet
4 eggs 2 ears corn Salt and red pepper 1 tablespoon butter Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately and then together; grate the corn and add it to the eggs with the seasoning. Melt the butter in a frying-pan; pour in the omelet; brown carefully; double over and serve.
A puffy omelet built on grated fresh corn, from the years when sweet corn was a summer-only ingredient. The whole thing hinges on how the corn is taken off the cob.
- Grating the cornGrating was done either on a coarse grater or by splitting the kernels and scraping out the milky pulp with the back of a knife, leaving the tough hulls on the cob. Whole cut kernels make a coarser, wetter omelet; the scraped pulp blends more readily with the eggs.
- Two ears is about a cupTwo average ears yield roughly 3/4 to 1 cup of grated pulp. Modern supersweet varieties are sweeter than the sweet corn grown in the period, so err toward the smaller amount or the eggs may not set.
- Red pepperCayenne, not paprika and not a bell pepper. A pinch is enough alongside about 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Whites beaten separatelyThis gives a puffy, foam-style omelet rather than a French rolled one. Beat the whites to soft peaks; the recipe directs that they then be beaten with the yolks, though folding preserves more air. Cook it as soon as it is combined.
- Heat and panMedium-low in an 8- or 9-inch nonstick or well-seasoned skillet. "Brown carefully" means the bottom sets and colors slowly over four or five minutes; high heat scorches the corn sugars before the center cooks.
- FinishingA foam omelet this thick is easier to finish under a broiler for a minute, or covered for two, than by flipping. Fold once and slide it out.
- YieldServes two as a light main course, or four as part of a larger breakfast.
Grated green corn was a common American summer ingredient in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, appearing in puddings, fritters, oysters and omelets in many household manuals of the period. Scraping or grating the cob rather than cutting the kernels off whole left the tougher hulls behind. Fresh corn was strictly seasonal and best used soon after picking.