Don't Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

There is wisdom in old sayings; but sometimes old sayings should be taken for what they are: old sayings. Currently, I’m about ready to put all my eggs in one omelet pan and eat these tasty concoctions for the rest of the semester. It was like eating a light, fluffy, cheesy cloud…egg bliss.

My enthusiasm comes from the completion of cooking my very first omelet. It’s not the first time I’ve eaten an omelet, just the first time I’ve made one on my own. Yes, I know for claiming that I am, in fact, the “virtuoso cook”, I have had a lot of “firsts” lately, but honestly I’ve been a cold cereal kinda person since early childhood breakfasts. However, now there is no excuse. For I have conquered the omelet; in under 30 seconds!

Omelets make your trash taste good. Okay, not actual trash; more like all those handfuls of spinach, last tiny crumbles of feta cheese, and various assortment of veggies and meats. Try using your leftover tomatoes from last night’s salad, Italian sausage, shredded ham slices, a shake of parmesan cheese, green onions and garlic – the combinations are endless. Test out different spices, like basil, chives, oregano, cilantro, rosemary, parsley. Salt and pepper, though key, are not the end-all-be-all of spices.

The omelet I made in the pictures had cooked spinach and feta cheese w/ basil and sun-dried tomatoes.

Admittedly, I have just finished reading the section on eggs from Julia Child’s cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and although the recipe is my interpretation, Julia did let me in one three key things to keep in mind when making an omelet:

1) precook your omelet add-ins like meats and vegetables

2) use very high heat to cook your omelet

3) actively watch your omelet.

Omelet Recipe

Ingredients:

2 -3 eggs

Salt & Pepper

Spoonful of butter/margarine

Omelet fillings – vegetables, cheese, meat, spices

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, beat eggs, salt, and pepper until well mixed.

2. Put butter into omelet pan [or small frying pan]. Heat until very hot – i.e. until the butter starts turning dark or brownish and the foam from the butter lessens.

3. Pour eggs into hot pan and let sit for about 3-5 seconds, until you get a thin, but solid egg layer at the bottom.

4. Take a spatula and loosen the edges, while tilting the pan and swirling what’s left of the liquid to where it can be exposed to the hot pan [lift the sides of the egg, let underneath, to the side, etc.] This takes less than 10 seconds.

5. Throw in your precooked veggies, meats, cheese and spices.

6. Fold your omelet over onto itself with a spatula and cook for about 3-5 seconds more on each side. DO NOT OVERCOOK.

7. Slide onto plate, devour.

Makes one omelet. Rating: 9.5 NOMS