Omelettes and various ways of dressing Eggs.—(No. 543*.)
There is no dish which in this country may be considered as coming under the denomination of a made dish of the second order, which is so generally eaten, if good, as an omelette; and no one is so often badly dressed: it is a very faithful assistant in the construction of a dinner.
When you are taken by surprise, and wish to make an appearance beyond what is provided for the every-day dinner, a little portable soup melted down, and some zest (No. 255), and a few vegetables, will make a good broth; a pot of the stewed veal of Morrison’s, warmed up; an omelette; and some apple or lemon fritters, can all be got ready at ten minutes’ notice, and with the original foundation of a leg of mutton, or a piece of beef, will make up a very good dinner when company unexpectedly arrives, in the country.
The great merit of an omelette is, that it should not be greasy, burnt, nor too much done: if too much of the white of the eggs is left in, no art can prevent its being hard, if it is done: to dress the omelette, the fire should not be too hot, as it is an object to have the whole substance heated, without much browning the outside.
[334]One of the great errors in cooking an omelette is, that it is too thin; consequently, instead of feeling full and moist in the mouth, the substance presented is little better than a piece of fried leather: to get the omelette thick is one of the great objects. With respect to the flavours to be introduced, these are infinite; that which is most common, however, is the best, viz. finely chopped parsley, and chives or onions, or eschalots: however, one made of a mixture of tarragon, chervil, and parsley, is a very delicate variety, omitting or adding the onion or chives. Of the meat flavours, the veal kidney is the most delicate, and is the most admired by our neighbours the French: this should be cut in dice, and should be dressed (boiled) before it is added; in the same manner, ham and anchovies, shred small, or tongue, will make a very delicately flavoured dish.
The objection to an omelette is, that it is too rich, which makes it advisable to eat but a small quantity. An addition of some finely mashed potatoes, about two table-spoonfuls, to an omelette of six eggs, will much lighten it.
Omelettes are often served with rich gravy; but, as a general principle, no substance which has been fried should be served in gravy, but accompanied by it, or what ought to eat dry and crisp, becomes soddened and flat.
In the compounding the gravy, great care should be taken that the flavour does not overcome that of the omelette, a thing too little attended to: a fine gravy, with a flavouring of sweet herbs and onions, we think the best; some add a few drops of tarragon vinegar; but this is to be done only with great care: gravies to Omelettes are in general thickened: this should never be done with flour; potato starch, or arrow root, is the best.
Omelettes should be fried in a small frying-pan made for that purpose, with a small quantity of butter. The omelette’s great merit is to be thick, so as not to taste of the outside; therefore use only half the number of whites that you do yelks of eggs: every care must be taken in frying, even at the risk of not having it quite set in the middle: an omelette, which has so much vogue abroad, is here, in general, a thin doubled-up piece of leather, and harder than soft leather sometimes. The fact is, that as much care must be bestowed on the frying, as should be taken in poaching an egg. A salamander is necessary to those who will have the top brown; but the kitchen shovel may be substituted for it.
The following receipt is the basis of all omelettes, of which you may make an endless variety, by taking, instead of the parsley and eschalot, a portion of sweet herbs, or any[335] of the articles enumerated in the table of materials used for making forcemeats, see No. 373; or any of the forcemeats between Nos. 373 and 386.
Omelettes are called by the name of what is added to flavour them: a ham or tongue omelette; an anchovy, or veal kidney omelette, &c.: these are prepared exactly in the same way as in the first receipt, leaving out the parsley and eschalot, and mincing the ham or kidney very fine, &c., and adding that in the place of them, and then pour over them all sorts of thickened gravies, sauces, &c.
Receipt for the common Omelette.
Five or six eggs will make a good-sized omelette; break them into a basin, and beat them well with a fork; and add a salt-spoonful of salt; have ready chopped two drachms of onion, or three drachms of parsley, a good clove of eschalot minced very fine; beat it well up with the eggs; then take four ounces of fresh butter, and break half of it into little bits, and put it into the omelette, and the other half into a very clean frying-pan; when it is melted, pour in the omelette, and stir it with a spoon till it begins to set, then turn it up all round the edges, and when it is of a nice brown it is done: the safest way to take it out is to put a plate on the omelette, and turn the pan upside-down: serve it on a hot dish; it should never be done till just wanted. If maigre, grated cheese, shrimps, or oysters. If oysters, boil them four minutes, and take away the beard and gristly part; they may either be put in whole, or cut in bits. Or,
Take eggs ready boiled hard, and either fry them whole, or cut them in half; when they are boiled (they will take five minutes), let them lie in cold water till you want to use them; then roll them lightly with your hand on a table, and they will peel without breaking; put them on a cloth to dry, and dredge them lightly with flour; beat two eggs in a basin, dip the eggs in, one at a time, and then roll them in fine bread-crumbs, or in duck (No. 378) or veal stuffing (No. 374); set them away ready for frying; fry them in hot oil or clarified butter, serve them up with mushroom sauce, or any other thickened sauce you please; crisp parsley is a pretty garnish. Or,
Do not boil the eggs till wanted; boil them ten minutes, peel them as above, cut them in half, put them on a dish, and have ready a sauce made of two ounces of butter and flour well rubbed together on a plate, and put it in a stew-pan with three quarters of a pint of good milk; set it on the fire, and[336] stir it till it boils; if it is not quite smooth, strain it through a sieve, chop some parsley and a clove of eschalot as fine as possible, and put in your sauce: season it with salt to your taste: a little mace and lemon-peel boiled with the sauce, will improve it: if you like it still richer, you may add a little cream, or the yelks of two eggs, beat up with two table-spoonfuls of milk, and stir it in the last thing: do not let it boil after; place the half eggs on a dish with the yelks upward, and pour the sauce over them.
N.B. Any cold fish cut in pieces may be warmed in the above sauce for a sent dinner. Or,
Slice very thin two onions weighing about two ounces each; put them into a stew-pan with three ounces of butter; keep them covered till they are just done; stir them every now and then, and when they are of a nice brown, stir in as much flour as will make them of a stiff paste; then by degrees add as much water or milk as will make it the thickness of good cream; season it with, pepper and salt to your taste; have ready boiled hard four or five eggs—you may either shred them, or cut them in halves or quarters; then put them in the sauce: when they are hot they are ready: garnish them with sippets of bread.
Or, have ready a plain omelette, cut into bits, and put them into the sauce.
Or, cut off a little bit of one end of the eggs, so that they may stand up; and take out the yelks whole of some of them, and cut the whites in half, or in quarters.
Obs.—This is called in the Parisian kitchen, “eggs à la trip, with a roux.”