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Potato Omelet
Prepare Mashed Potatoes, turn in hot omelet pan greased with one tablespoon butter, spread evenly, cook slowly until browned underneath, and fold as an omelet.
A one-line recipe that depends entirely on a recipe printed elsewhere in the book: there is no egg in this omelet at all, only mashed potato browned in butter and folded over. The technique is what carries it.
- The hinge: dry, stiff potatoLoose or wet mashed potato will not hold a fold or form a crust. Use a floury potato, mash it dry with butter and only enough hot milk to bind, and season it more assertively than you would for a side dish.
- What "Mashed Potatoes" means hereFannie Farmer's mashed potato is boiled potato mashed with butter and salt and hot milk, then beaten until light (the book measures its potatoes by the piece, not by weight). Working from roughly 2 lb potatoes, about 2 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup hot milk will give about the right stiffness for this.
- Omelet panA period omelet pan is a small, heavy, sloped-side skillet, seasoned so nothing sticks. A well-seasoned cast iron or a good nonstick pan of 8 to 9 inches is a reasonable equivalent; the sloped side is what makes it easy to fold out.
- Cook slowly means slowlyMedium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, undisturbed. The point is a solid browned crust on the underside that acts as a hinge and a base; rushing it over high heat scorches the starch before the cake sets.
- FoldingLoosen the edge all around with a spatula first, tip the pan, and fold one half over the other, then slide it onto the plate browned-side out. A large flat spatula makes this much easier.
- Butter quantityOne tablespoon is the minimum for a seasoned pan. Add a little more if your pan is doubtful, and swirl it to coat the sides as well as the bottom.
- YieldA batch from about 2 lb of potatoes should fill one 9-inch pan and serve three or four as a supper dish or breakfast side. It is best straight from the pan; the crust softens as it stands.
This is a thrift dish dressed in French clothing. Nineteenth-century American cookbooks used "omelet" loosely for dishes cooked flat in an omelet pan and folded over, including versions built on cooked starches such as potato, rice or bread crumbs. The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (first published 1896) is generally organized so that basic preparations come first and variations follow in a line or two, which is why this entry can be a single sentence: it assumes the reader can look up Mashed Potatoes elsewhere in the book. That editorial habit fits Fannie Farmer's broader emphasis on standard, repeatable methods rather than a collection of unrelated dishes.