Episode 243 - French Omelette

French Omelette: The French omelette is a classic preparation. It has very few ingredients but requires a surprising amount of skill. For that reason, it has been used as a test for chefs to demonstrate that they are “worthy,” especially if made in the traditional way with relatively high heat and getting it cooked through. Fact is, you could do this every day for weeks (or months) in order to get it right, and then you have to keep doing it in order to maintain the skill. Here is a way to do it that is more-or-less foolproof (which a real French chef would say is cheating).

There are a number of differences between a French omelette and its American cousin the country omelet.
• It is soft and creamy
• There is no browning of the egg
• It is rolled around the filling (the additions are not mixed into the egg)

You can make a two or three egg omelette in a standard 8-inch pan. I am doing two.
• 2 extra large eggs at room temperature
• Pinch of salt
• A few grinds of white pepper (you can use black, but white is basically invisible in the finished product).
• 2 tsp water (this is officially a cheat, but it makes for a fluffier omelette
• Optional – you can add some herbs directly into the eggs if you wish
• 1 tblsp butter

Heat up a non-stick pan on medium-low (cheat #2) and melt the butter. The butter should foam, but not brown.

While that is happening, put the other ingredients in a bowl and whip until foamy and the whites are totally mixed in with the yolks. It is the whites that brown (think about your typical fried egg). To get the perfect pale yellow all the way around, you want it homogenous.

Pour the eggs into the pan. Wait about 30 seconds for the bottom to initially set. Then start shaking the pan back and forth and use a small spatula or a fork (plastic or wood, tines up, on the non-stick) to move the egg around. Make sure you move all of the bottom around so it cooks evenly. When it is mostly set, but the top is still not fully cooked, pull it off the heat and stick it under a low broiler or a 250-degree oven (cheat #3) until it just sets. Egg should be soft and creamy – don’t overcook and dry it out.

Pull it out and set it on the counter. Loosen all around the edges to the middle. Put your filling along a line across the middle – don’t overfill. I just used some red onion sauteed with thyme and mixed with Manchego cheese, but it can be whatever you want – but prep in in advance before you start the omelette. Then roll it by putting the first third of the omelette over the filling and then rolling it over the last third so that the seam in on the bottom. Then slide it out onto the plate, seam side down.

Beautiful! Perfectly yellow, nice and soft and airy, oozing with whatever wonderful filling you made. Add toast and coffee and your breakfast is complete (or have it for lunch and add wine instead).