by Matt Moore
The
Art of Manliness

In October,
we received an incredible response from our article on “How
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 own. So gentlemen,
we continue our discussion today on the manly topic of breakfast
with an exploration of how to make an omelet.

Enjoy!

How to Make
an Omelet

I know youÂ’ve
seen him. The guy on the breakfast buffet line thatÂ’s standing
over the stove churning out omelets made to order. That guy! Seriously,
who doesnÂ’t 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 “hotel
omelet” (as I will refer to it in this post) is one of the
easiest omelets to prepare. LetÂ’s do a play-by-play:

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 youÂ’ve got a
perfectly satisfying meal. Who says you donÂ’t have time to
make a killer omelet in the morning?

Okay, so with
all of that ease, why is it that the omelet is considered one of
the more difficult breakfast dishes? ItÂ’s 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 IÂ’m
only covering the two techniques that I use most often in the kitchen.
The first, as described above, is what I will dub the “hotel
omelet.” The second, we’ll just call the “classic.”

The “classic”
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’s say that I’ve sautéed
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 “hotel
omelet” 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, itÂ’s that easy.

The key in
either method is preparing the actual eggs. Think of our Hot
and Fast 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.

The best quality
of an omelet is its versatility. The eggs are a blank canvas for
an endless combination of ingredients and flavors. IÂ’ve highlighted
some of my favorite combinations below.

• Western:
  Onion, Bell Pepper, Mushrooms, Ham, Cheddar Cheese
• Coastal:
  Onion, Mushrooms, Crab Meat, Mozzarella Cheese
• BBQ:
  Pulled Pork, BBQ Sauce, Green Onion, Cheddar Cheese
• Veggie:
  Onion, Spinach, Mushrooms, Tomato, Provolone Cheese
• Greek:
  Onion, Tomato, Spinach, Artichoke Hearts, Feta Cheese
• Arizona:
  Pico de Gallo, Diced Chicken, Sliced Avocado, Pepper Jack Cheese
• Mediterranean:
  Onions, Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Feta Cheese
• Creole:
  Red Bell Pepper, Crawfish Tail Meat, Chives, Gouda Cheese
• Lorraine:
  Caramelized Onion, Crispy Bacon, Gruyere Cheese
• Spanish:
  Chorizo, Piquillo Peppers, Green Olives, Manchego Cheese

Now that weÂ’ve
covered the basics, letÂ’s get cooking. Remember, todayÂ’s
article focuses on two simple omelet preparations dubbed the “hotel
omelet” and the “classic omelet.” Feel free to share
in the comments your preferred method and tips for other readers.

Read
the rest of the article

February
3, 2012

Copyright
© 2012 The Art of Manliness