{"id":22489,"date":"2012-01-31T21:51:49","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T03:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artofmanliness.com\/?p=22489"},"modified":"2021-06-04T16:05:40","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T21:05:40","slug":"lets-get-cracking-how-to-make-an-omelet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/leisure\/food-drink\/lets-get-cracking-how-to-make-an-omelet\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Get Cracking: How to Make an Omelet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vintage<\/p>\n

In October, we received an incredible response from our article on \u201cHow to Make Better Eggs<\/a>.”  As many of you highlighted in the comments from that article, we left out one important method of preparation: the omelet.  Of course, this was done for good reason, as we felt that omelets deserved a post all their own.  So gentlemen, we continue our discussion today on the manly topic of breakfast with an exploration of how to make an omelet.<\/p>\n

Enjoy!<\/p>\n

MM<\/p>\n

How to Make an Omelet<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I know you\u2019ve seen him.  The guy on the breakfast buffet line that\u2019s standing over the stove churning out omelets made to order.  That guy!  Seriously, who doesn\u2019t love the omelet guy? The next time you find yourself at a breakfast buffet or crashing at an Embassy Suites, make sure to pay special attention to the man behind the fire.  The \u201chotel omelet\u201d (as I will refer to it in this post) is one of the easiest omelets to prepare.  Let\u2019s do a play-by-play:<\/p>\n

You order up an omelet featuring one of several items sitting on display.  The pan hits the heat along with a generous portion of melted butter or oil, followed by an array of finely diced ingredients.  To finish, a pour of 2 – 3 frothy eggs, a quick scramble and a flip, cheese, and the essential fold.  In less than 3 minutes you\u2019ve got a perfectly satisfying meal.  Who says you don\u2019t have time to make a killer omelet in the morning?<\/p>\n

Okay, so with all of that ease, why is it that the omelet is considered one of the more difficult breakfast dishes?  It\u2019s all about the details.  New chefs looking for work are often required to make an omelet as part of their evaluation process.  With so many techniques and varying opinions, even the slightest mention of proper omelet preparation definitely draws in critiques.  For simplicity, in this article I\u2019m only covering the two techniques that I use most often in the kitchen.  The first, as described above, is what I will dub the \u201chotel omelet.”  The second, we\u2019ll just call the \u201cclassic.”<\/p>\n

The \u201cclassic\u201d omelet usually features heartier fillings that are prepared aside from the surrounding egg.  Instead of finely diced and meager portions, the classic omelet is bursting with ingredients and fillings. For example, in one pan let\u2019s say that I\u2019ve saut\u00e9ed some roughly chopped vegetables. To go along with the vegetables, on the side I have a generous portion of shredded cheese to use as my filling.  Preparing all of these ingredients in the \u201chotel omelet\u201d manner would be way too heavy and cumbersome to flip and cook appropriately.  Instead, we simply prepare the egg portion on its own, and as the egg sets, we add the other cooked ingredients, fold, and serve.  Seriously, it\u2019s that easy.<\/p>\n

The key in either method is preparing the actual eggs.  Think of our Hot and Fast<\/a><\/em> method for scrambling eggs.  As the entire egg portion begins to set on the bottom, we begin to gently lift the cooked eggs off the surface and tilt the pan to allow the runny portion to run towards the heat.  In this instance, instead of scrambling, the goal is to keep the entire egg portion intact, holding the shape of the pan.<\/p>\n

The best quality of an omelet is its versatility.  The eggs are a blank canvas for an endless combination of ingredients and flavors.  I\u2019ve highlighted some of my favorite combinations below.<\/p>\n

Western:<\/strong>  Onion, Bell Pepper, Mushrooms, Ham, Cheddar Cheese
\nCoastal:<\/strong>  Onion, Mushrooms, Crab Meat, Mozzarella Cheese
\nBBQ:<\/strong> Pulled Pork, BBQ Sauce, Green Onion, Cheddar Cheese
\nVeggie:<\/strong>  Onion, Spinach, Mushrooms, Tomato, Provolone Cheese
\nGreek:<\/strong>  Onion, Tomato, Spinach, Artichoke Hearts, Feta Cheese
\nArizona:<\/strong>  Pico de Gallo, Diced Chicken, Sliced Avocado, Pepper Jack Cheese
\nMediterranean:<\/strong>  Onions, Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Feta Cheese
\n<\/strong> Creole:<\/strong>  Red Bell Pepper, Crawfish Tail Meat, Chives, Gouda Cheese
\nLorraine:<\/strong>  Caramelized Onion, Crispy Bacon, Gruyere Cheese
\nSpanish:<\/strong>  Chorizo, Piquillo Peppers, Green Olives, Manchego Cheese<\/p>\n

Now that we\u2019ve covered the basics, let\u2019s get cooking.  Remember, today\u2019s article focuses on two simple omelet preparations dubbed the \u201chotel omelet\u201d and the \u201cclassic omelet.”  Feel free to share in the comments your preferred method and tips for other readers.<\/p>\n

Hotel Omelet – <\/strong>finely diced, minimal ingredients, all cooked together in a single pan.  (Serves 1 \u2013 2, Prep 5 minutes, Cook 10 minutes)<\/p>\n

\"Omelet<\/p>\n

1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
\n2 Tablespoons Green Bell Pepper, finely diced
\n2 Tablespoons Onion, finely diced
\n1 Tablespoon Tomato, finely diced
\n2 Tablespoons Mushrooms, finely diced
\n3 Large Eggs
\nKosher Salt
\nFresh Cracked Pepper
\n\u00bc Cup White Cheddar Cheese, grated<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Ingredients<\/p>\n

Preheat a 10 inch non-stick skillet over medium high heat; add and melt butter.  Add the next four ingredients and saut\u00e9 for 3 \u2013 4 minutes, or until just tender.<\/p>\n

\"Whipped<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, whisk together eggs until frothy and combined and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Add eggs to pan and cook undisturbed for 45 \u2013 60 seconds.<\/p>\n

Using a wooden spoon or spatula, carefully lift the cooked portions from the bottom of the pan while tilting the pan to allow the runny portions to reach the hot surface.  When the majority of the eggs have set, and with the top portion still moist, carefully flip the omelet over using a spatula–or score some bonus points by flipping the omelet in the pan by using a quick back and forth motion, gravity, and the lip of the pan (Note: you might want to do this over the sink on the first try).<\/p>\n

\"Sprinkled<\/p>\n

Sprinkle cheese on one side of the omelet and cook the underside for another 45 \u2013 60 seconds.  Finally, serve the omelet out of the pan, folding over the other side as you plate to melt the cheese and finish the presentation.  Serve.<\/p>\n

\"Omelet<\/p>\n

Classic Omelet<\/strong> – ingredients prepared separately from the eggs, and then assembled together just before serving.  (Serves 1 \u2013 2, Prep 5 minutes, Cook 10 minutes)<\/p>\n

\"Classic<\/p>\n

2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, divided
\n\u00bd  Green Bell Pepper, roughly chopped
\n\u00bc  Onion, roughly chopped
\n3 Cherry Tomatoes, halved
\n\u00bc Cup Mushrooms, roughly chopped
\n3 Large Eggs
\nKosher Salt
\nFresh Cracked Pepper
\n\u00bc Cup White Cheddar Cheese, grated<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium heat; add and melt butter.  Add the next four ingredients and saut\u00e9 for 5 \u2013 7 minutes, or until just tender.  Meanwhile preheat a 10 inch non-stick skillet over medium high heat; add and melt remaining butter.  Whisk eggs together until frothy and combined and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Add eggs to the non-stick skillet and cook undisturbed for 45 \u2013 60 seconds.<\/p>\n

Using a wooden spoon or spatula, carefully lift the cooked portions from the bottom of the pan while tilting the pan to allow the runny portions to reach the hot surface.  Continue in this manner until no more runny portion remains.<\/p>\n

\"Putting<\/p>\n

Remove the saut\u00e9ed ingredients from the cast iron skillet and place on one half of the eggs; top with cheese.<\/p>\n

\"Picking<\/p>\n

Using a spatula, carefully fold the omelet over and remove from pan.  Serve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In October, we received an incredible response from our article on \u201cHow to Make Better Eggs.”  As many of you highlighted in the comments from that article, we left out one important method of preparation: the omelet.  Of course, this was done for good reason, as we felt that omelets deserved a post all their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":22575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,222,42273],"tags":[42283],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-22489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-food-drink","category-living","tag-recipes"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2012\/01\/eggs-500x280.jpg","aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2012\/01\/eggs-372x230.jpg","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2012\/01\/eggs-320x421.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22489"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128405,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22489\/revisions\/128405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22489"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=22489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}