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Variations of Plain Omelet
Variations of the plain puffy omelet or the plain French omelet may be made by adding any of the following ingredients to the omelet before it is put into the pan to cook, or by spreading one of them on top just before the omelet is folded. Allow one tablespoon of mixture to each two eggs used. Fish--Use any cooked fish. Chop it fine, season with salt and pepper and moisten with a little cream. Spread on the omelet before folding. Ham or other meat--Scatter finely chopped meat over the center of the omelet while it is cooking. The meat may be improved by browning in a small amount of fat before it is added. Cheese or parsley--Prepare as for ham omelet. Onion--Mix one tablespoon chopped onion and one teaspoon chopped parsley. Add to the omelet mixture before cooking. Jelly--Spread any jelly or jam over the omelet just before folding.
This is a table of fillings rather than a standalone recipe: it assumes you already have a plain French omelet or a "puffy" (separated-egg) omelet in the pan. The proportion given — one tablespoon of filling per two eggs — is the useful part, and it still holds.
- The two base omeletsA plain French omelet is whole eggs beaten together and cooked fast in a skillet, then folded. A "puffy" omelet means the whites are whipped separately, folded into the yolks and set over low heat, often finished in the oven; this page assumes you already know both and gives no method or temperature of its own. Fillings scattered on top work for either; fillings stirred into the mixture will deflate a puffy omelet slightly.
- Keep the filling restrainedOne tablespoon per two eggs sounds meagre by modern habit, but an overloaded omelet tears when folded and weeps liquid. If you want more filling, serve the extra alongside rather than inside.
- Fillings must go in hotCooked fish, ham or other meat should be warmed through before it meets the eggs. A French omelet is off the heat in two or three minutes, which is not long enough to bring a cold filling up to temperature.
- Cooked fishUse fish that is already fully cooked and no more than a day or two old — poached salmon, haddock, leftover baked whitefish. Moisten with just enough cream to hold it together; a wet filling will slump out of the fold.
- CheeseGrate it and scatter it over the surface while the eggs are still glossy so the residual heat melts it. Gruyère, cheddar or a dry jack all work; fresh mozzarella releases too much water.
- OnionRaw chopped onion stirred into the eggs stays sharp and slightly crunchy in the short cooking time. Sweat it in butter first if you want it mild.
- Jelly omeletEffectively a dessert omelet; the recipe allows it on either base, though sweet omelets of the period were often the whipped-white kind and served dusted with sugar. Warm the jelly slightly so it spreads without tearing the surface, and serve at once.
- YieldTwo to three eggs make one serving. Beyond about five eggs an omelet becomes hard to fold cleanly; cook in batches rather than scaling up the pan.