PERFECT OMELETS

It's Saturday morning! That means no precooked on the go breakfast. I had time to cook myself a delicious omelet. Unfortunately I was out of some of the things I wanted to put in my omelet, so I made do with what I had.

The secrets to a perfect omelet....

1. A really good nonstick pan with rounded edges. You don't want a pan with a flat bottom and straight sides. And I prefer a 10 inch pan; most pans designated for omelets are 8 inches. I have also seen omelet pans as big as 14 inches. I can't quite wrap my head around a 14 inch omelet, but maybe if you are cooking for the Jolly Green Giant, the Brawny man or Mr. Clean you might want a 14 inch skillet. Omelet pans also come in stainless steel, for the home cook and if you are watching what you eat I suggest good quality nonstick. You will need to use more fat/butter/oil in a stainless.

2. Your eggs should be at room temperature. Nobody ever tells you this on TV. I think the eggs beat smoother, you don't end up with clumps of whites that just refuse to incorporate with the rest of the egg. I also think it helps the cooking of the omelet. I mean think about it you have a very cold beaten egg that you are putting into a very hot skillet...you just cooled the skillet some. I also think the eggs get tougher, almost as if they seize up or something. And if you forget to lay them out a half hour to an hour before you are cooking them or you don't have time to lay them out...put them in a bowl of very warm water while you prep everything. Check the water after a few minutes, it will have turned cold, just pour it out and add some more warm water. this should do it, by the time you finish prepping/cooking your fillings your eggs should be warm.

3. Beat the eggs well. You want them to be a little frothy when you beat them. You know they are beaten well if you lift some of the egg up with your fork or whisk and you don't see clumps of unbeaten white plop back into the eggs. Also the more you beat them, they fluffier the omelet will be. I don't like mine too fluffy so I just beat them until a light froth appears.

3. Patience is a virtue - at least when it comes to omelet cooking. You don't want to cook it over a high heat and make it too brown and rubbery. You need to cook them over a medium low heat which will take time.


The Omelet

Ingredients
2-4 eggs, beaten until frothy
1 tsp of water or skim milk per egg used
salt and pepper
cheese, your choice
fillings, your choice, chopped if needed

First you want to prepare your fillings. This morning I used turkey bacon, onion and mushrooms. I will discuss filling ideas a little later. I chopped all my fillings items and cooked them in my skillet until done.

Remove you filling items from the skillet and set aside. You may want to clean the skillet out with a dry paper towel, to give the omelet a good clean surface to start on. I list 2-4 eggs for a reason - this is up to you. For a 10 inch skillet I think 3 eggs is perfect, not too thin or too thick. If you want a thick omelet use 4, for an 8 inch skillet 2 would be perfect to me, 3 would be thick. Heat the skillet over medium low heat and spray it well with nonstick cooking spray, you might also add just a little low fat butter spread like Brummel and Brown (1/4 - 1/2 tsp) for flavor. Slowly pour in your beaten eggs. As they start to cook pull the cooked edges up and tilt the pan to allow a little uncooked egg to go under it. Do this around the skillet until the egg starts to firm up and doesn't wont to move under the cooked egg any longer. (Hint: if you are worried about getting your egg completely cooked, then you might want to put it under the broiler on low for just a few minutes but watch it closely. This is easier than trying to flip the omelet over to cook both sides). Now is when you put your filling in it. I put mine kind of off center but not all the way to the edge and on the side of the omelet that is farthest away from the handle (you will see why later0.

I do this because I like to kind of trifold my omelet (think trifold wallet) , much like you see in most restaurants. Top with cheese.  Now using a spatula go around the edges and under as much as possible to make sure your omelet is not sticking. Now is the time to turn off your heat and just use the heat left in the egg and the pan. I then fold the smaller egg side of my omelet over the filling ingredients. Then fold the larger side over and let it sit for a moment with a lid on it. This will help set any remaining uncooked egg and melt the cheese. Now just turn it out onto a plate and enjoy.

Filling ideas:

I use lean meats such as turkey sausage, turkey bacon, Canadian bacon, or even lean lunch meats like turkey and ham. 

For veggies, the sky is the limit, use what you like...onions, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, potatoes, asparagus, broccoli, avocado the list could go on and on. Just be sure to cut your filling items small or thin...you will be less likely to tear your omelet as you fold it over. 

Cheese - again use what you like - cheddar, mozzarella, feta, goat cheese, Colby jack, Havarti -  if I had some feta and spinach this morning, both would have been in my omelet. Just use your cheese in moderation. That is actually hard for me to say because I LOVE cheese.

Here is a great video that shows how to fold (trifold) and omelet and shows how to lift and tilt to move the uncooked egg under the cooked. 

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2009/06/simple-italian-omelette-its-what-i-had.html

Enjoy your breakfast!