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Asparagus Omelet
Boil in salted water until half cooked, eight or ten stalks of asparagus. Cut the tips into small pieces. Make in the usual way, mixing the asparagus in with the beaten egg before pouring into the pan, or placing them while hot in the omelet before folding it.
The instructions assume you already know the house omelet method, which this book gives elsewhere; what follows fills in the missing numbers.
- Base proportionsFor eight to ten asparagus stalks, figure four to six eggs with about a tablespoon of milk or cream per two eggs, salt and pepper. That makes a pan omelet for two, or one folded omelet if you are working in a small skillet.
- "Half cooked" asparagusTwo to three minutes in boiling salted water for medium stalks, less for pencil-thin ones. They should still be firm, since they finish cooking in the egg. Drain well and pat dry or the water will loosen the omelet.
- Use the stalks tooThe recipe names only the tips, but the tender upper stalk sliced into half-inch pieces is worth adding. Snap off and discard the woody base rather than trimming by eye.
- Which of the two methodsStirring the asparagus into the raw egg gives an evenly studded flat omelet and is the more forgiving. Filling a folded omelet gives a cleaner result but the filling must be hot going in, or the centre will be cool by the time the eggs are set.
- Heat and fatA well-seasoned or nonstick pan over medium heat with a tablespoon of butter. Butter that has stopped foaming but has not browned is the moment to add the eggs.
- Do not overcookPull the omelet while the surface is still glossy and slightly loose; carryover heat firms it on the plate. Asparagus scarcely needs the extra time.
- YieldServes two as a light main course with bread, or four as part of a larger breakfast.
The Butterick Cook Book (1911) came from the pattern and magazine publisher Butterick, and the page here gives one full method for a plain omelet, followed by brief variations that assume the reader will turn back a page. Asparagus was a spring luxury in that era, sold by the bunch in a season that lasted a few weeks, and here a handful of stalks goes into eggs. The two options given here reflect the distinction between the flat omelet stirred through with its garnish and the French folded omelet filled at the last moment.