Pumpkin and Spice

While I occasionally enjoy an omelet when eating out at breakfast places (eggs benedict or biscuits and gravy are really my breakfast weaknesses), I'll admit, I kinda have a bias against them. I'm not sure if its because I've had my share of disappointing omelets (*ahem* more on that in a bit...), or because I hate making them, or because I tend to think of them as bachelor food... Did I lose you on those last two? Allow me to elaborate.

I'll do the last one first- When we were dating (and probably before we were dating, I just didn't know about it then) Kyle's "bachelor food" of choice was the omelete. A little unusual, as the stereotypical single-guy foods of choice are frozen dinners, pizza and beer, but if you think about it, an omelete is an ideal meal for one. It's cheap, fast to make, easy to vary by adding different fillings, and it's easy to make a single serving.

As to the other one- I like to think that I'm a very good patissiere, and I like to think I'm at least an above average cook. I do well in the professional world, my friends and family all enjoy my cooking (or are total liars), and I got excellent grades in pastry school, even in our one savory foods class. I was on top of things- I could make the mother sauces, cut up and debone whole chickens, grill a mean steak... but my one weakness... the one thing I just couldn't get a grip on... the thing that literally gave me nightmares... was breakfast cookery. Not so much fried eggs- I can do over easy, sunny side up, poached, and while my scrambled eggs aren't the pinnacle of fluffy perfection, they aren't bad. No, the things that killed me were omelets and hash browns.

I'm still not brave enough for hashbrowns. That's another project for another blog entry entirely. Here, we're talking about omelets. Mine were always leathery and overcooked on one side, and pale and slightly watery on the other. Or the fillings fell out. Or the omelete broke into peices when I tried to plate it... How were omelets the one thing that conquered me?

Kyle, on the other hand, makes beautiful omelets. Generally, I leave the omelete-makin' to him, and I make the toast or the fruit salad to go with the omelets. Marriage is all about teamwork.

Last weekend though, we were lounging around the house, and PBS was airing a marathon of "The French Chef", Julia Childs' cooking show. Amongst the episodes aired was the omelet episode. And this week, Kyle's on a business trip, leaving me alone in the apartment. And yesterday after work, I was starving, and tired, and out of pad thai take out leftovers. It was like a perfect storm of factors coming together... and I decided to try Julia's omelet method. (Since clearly, mine doesn't work.) I figured, worst case, if the omelet is a disaster, there's a can of Spaghetti O's in the cupboard. (Don't judge. I like Spaghetti O's...)

Julia Childs uses the French method of omelet-making. While I went to a school where we were taught French methodology, our omelet technique was the "American" method, probably because it produces an omelet more similar to what you'd get in a diner here.

The American method is: non-stick pan on medium heat, perhaps a little bit of oil or butter in the pan. Egg mixture goes in. It's allowed to cook a bit, until it forms a bit of a cooked skin on the bottom. Then, with a spatula, you pull the "skin" into the center, allowing the still liquid eggs to fill in the hole left. Continue until all the egg is almost solid, add your fillings, fold in half and slide onto a plate. This is how Kyle does it, and his are gorgeous. Seriously, you could make a calander with pictures of his omelets. When I make them, it looks like someone made an omelet, dropped it on the floor, scooped it up and tried to reassemble it on a plate.

Since this doesn't work for me, I tried Julia's method. While I wasn't quite as tidy as Julia, my omelet was attractive and properly cooked, which is really quite a triumph for me. The French omelet is thinner and less fluffy than an American omelet, and less emphasis is placed on the filling. (Whereas Americans always fill our omelets, frequently, all the French add are chopped herbs.) I happened to have some cheese, so I made an omelet du fromage.

I also photographed everything, step by step. If you, like me, are omelet challenged (there have to be some of you out there- I can't be the only one!) give this a try. There's a reason Julia Childs is a deity in the cooking world- her methods work, and anyone can do it.

This omelet comes together in about a minute, including prep time, so you want your mise en place ready to go. In a bowl, whisk 2-3 eggs with about a teaspoon of water and some salt and pepper (I used two, since my pan is 7"- Julia emphasized that you don't want too much egg in the pan.) Also, if you are going to fill your omelet, now is the time to set your filling up in an easy-to-reach spot.

She suggests a 7-8" non-stick pan with sides about 2" high. Put it on high heat, and melt about a tablespoon of butter in the pan. (This is waaaay more butter than I would normally use, but normally my omelets look like hell, so what do I know?) Heat it until the foam subsides. Just before the butter starts to brown (don't let it brown, says Julia, or your omelet will taste "cheap". Don't know what that means, but I thought it was amusing) add your egg mixture.

Allow it to cook for about 10 seconds untouched- until it just starts to bubble and form a skin. Then, take the handle of the pan and start to swirl your omelet. For me, clockwise was easiest, but I doubt direction matters. You want to swirl forcefully enough that the omelet is kind of "sloshing" around in the pan. You may have to loosen the edges with a spatula. (I did, and Julia did on a couple of her omelets, too, so it's okay.)

(It's hard to tell, but I'm swirling in this picture.)

Swirl for about 5-10 seconds. If you're going to add filling, do it now. Do it fast! (This is why it needs to be easy to reach.) You should still have a fair amount of liquidy egg at this point. Now, the motion switches. Hold the pan, handle towards your stomach and jerk the pan sharply towards you several times. This should start to flip the omelet over on itself.

Once your omelet is kind of bunchy on one side of the pan, invert it onto your plate. Rather than being a half circle, the French omelet is more burrito shaped. Julia assures us that if it doesn't flip out perfectly, it's okay to re-arrange it and tuck it under with a fork.

The whole cooking process should take about 30 seconds. While I managed to slosh some egg onto the stovetop, my omelet otherwise turned out exceptionally. It was perfectly cooked, tender, attractive and FAST. I started the toast before the omelet, and I still had to wait on it to finish afterwards. I was so excited about my omelet that I called Kyle to tell him about it. I may even have to make us an omelet dinner one night when he gets home.

If my static pictures aren't helpful enough, you can watch Julia do it. Hopefully, if like me, you suffer from omelet-phobia, you'll give this method a try. Trust me, if I can make a lovely omelet this way, you can, too.