Recently I’ve been having fun trying to master the art of making a rolled omelette à la Julia Child. I think I’ve got it down pretty well.
It’s important to be sure that your pan is large enough – the diameter across the bottom of the pan needs to be 7 to 7.5″. My 10″ skillet is just right for making a 2-egg omelette. If the egg mixture is too thick in the pan, it will be harder to get the eggs to set quickly enough to give you a really tender omelette. And of course, be sure to use enough butter.
Interested in giving it a try? You can find the omelette recipes in this excerpt from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking“. I’ve been using the second technique, the “L’OMELETTE ROULÉE” (rolled omelette), but if you’re too timid for that, you can try the “L’OMELETTE BROUILLÉE” (scrambled omelette) instead.
And of course, you can always watch the video.
Now I just need to keep working on breaking an egg with one hand. My problem isn’t in the separation technique, it’s with getting the egg cracked well enough to be able to split it.
And as Easter is approaching, I’ll share with you the Easter recipe my family has been making for nearly 100 years, ever since my grandmother learned to make it in school. It’s a great use for all of those hard-boiled eggs:
Eggs à la Goldenrod, Serves 4
3 Tablespoons butter or margarine
3 Tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 ¼ cups milk
6 hard-boiled eggs
4 to 8 slices of toast, cut diagonally corner to corner
Peel eggs, cut 3 in half, remove yolks and reserve. Roughly chop remaining eggs and whites. Press reserved egg yolks through a ricer or a wire mesh sieve with the back of the spoon to “grate”. Heat margarine in saucepan over low heat until melted. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in chopped eggs gently; heat through. To serve, overlap 2 or 3 toast points on each of 4 plates, spoon egg mixture over. Top with reserved “grated” egg yolk.
Cabled Sheep lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she enjoys knitting, cooking, and munching veggies out of the garden. She never tires of Utah's glorious landscape.
I recorded a Julia Child Tribute on our local public tv station, hoping it would be a series of episodes, but it only had snippets. One snippet was her omelet show, however, and I immediately went to the kitchen and made an omelet that was just as good (maybe even better!) than omelets I’ve had in Paris! I learned that my pan is perfect for two eggs, but too small for three, and definitely don’t skimp on the butter! Also – havarti is a good sub for swiss.
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My mother made something very similar to your Goldenrod and we ate it over toast as you said. I remember loving it, too!
Mmm… omelets…
I always crack my eggs flat on the counter, but I don’t think it would work one handed. That recipe sounds good, I think I will try it!