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| Public Domain Photo by Valereee, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
Eggs, eggs, eggs, eggs... I keep hearing the chant in my head like Monty Python's Spam.
Hey, aren't eggs and Spam supposed to go together? A few winters ago, I remember masticating slices of that little canned ham (with my eggs). I had a head cold at the time. Snow was falling, the temp was south of zero, and I couldn't get to the store. Everyone has Spam in their cupboards in case of nuclear winter, right? Well, I did. So I broke it out of its cute little tin and tried it on toast with a poached egg. Delicious! I could not believe it! What was I thinking not eating Spam all my life?! Then my head cold cleared up and I tried it again. Oh, god. It tasted like cat food.
Cleo's Spam Warning a la Andy Warhol.
(Click arrow below to see Cleo
drunk on digital art toys...)
The One and Only Julia Child!
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| Public Domain Photo by Lynn Gilbert, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
Isn't she great? Okay, so she's not actually appearing here because she's no longer living. But wouldn't it be keen if she could give us culinary advice from the afterlife? One of my two mystery series (The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries) has a dead private eye for a character, and he routinely annoys a bookshop owner with advice on solving crimes. Wouldn't it be equally keen to have Julia come back and whisper her advice in our ears: "That's a little too long in the pan, dear." Or... "Just flip the darn thing and if it falls on the floor, scoop it up and try again." Well, thanks to the written word, we do still have Julia with us, don't we? And thanks to YouTube, we have a digitally recorded memory of her younger self. So...
In honor of that wonderfully classic Iron Chef ingredient, the egg...I give you Julia on making the perfect French flat (or tossed) omelette. All kidding aside. It is in the handling and mastering of the simplest ingredients that top chefs judge whether a cook truly does have the right stuff...
Julia Child's "French Flat"
(or "Tossed") Omelette
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Click the arrow in the window above to see
the Julia Child omelette video via YouTube.
If you don't see the video above, watch it on
YouTube by clicking here.
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French Flat (or "Tossed") Omelette
Serves 1
2-3 large eggs (no more!) + a splash of water
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons of butter
Non-stick frying pan (10 inches suggested)
Break the eggs into a bowl (no more than 3 eggs or the magic of that toss will be lost, trust me!), add a splash of water, salt and pepper, and whisk lightly with a fork. Melt butter in your non-stick pan, swirling to coat the bottom (do not let burn).
2-3 large eggs (no more!) + a splash of water
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons of butter
Non-stick frying pan (10 inches suggested)
Break the eggs into a bowl (no more than 3 eggs or the magic of that toss will be lost, trust me!), add a splash of water, salt and pepper, and whisk lightly with a fork. Melt butter in your non-stick pan, swirling to coat the bottom (do not let burn).
Add the eggs, once again swirling to evenly coat the bottom of your pan then follow Julia's video technique above. A nice, final trick is to rub a bit of butter over the plated omelette, letting those steaming hot eggs melt the delicious essence of sweet cream, which will give your masterpiece a nice sheen--and impress you buds with a final buttery lusciousness (your taste buds, that is).
JC SAYS: "Remember that a tossed omelette goes very fast--really 20 seconds--far, far less time than it takes to read all the directions here . . . " ~ Julia Child, The Way to Cook
CC SAYS: "Of course, I agree. Over cooking eggs is a bigger mistake than under cooking them. The best advice I ever received was from my late father-in-law who told me, 'You want to take the eggs out of the pan right before you think they're done . . . '" ~ Cleo Coyle, quoting her father-in-law on this blog!
Omelette Variation ideas from
Julia Child's The Way to Cook
Julia Child's The Way to Cook
(with Cleo's comments...)
Herbs - You can mix a tablespoon of minced herbs into your eggs before you begin to cook them. Julia suggests parsley alone or parsley and chives, chervil, or tarragon. I loved my co-blogger Riley's recipe (click here to see her post) of using dill and smoked salmon with shirred eggs. Bits of smoked salmon and dill would make an excellent omelette, especially served with half a bagel and a cream cheese schmear on the side and a nice mimosa to wash it all down. (Don't forget the coffee. In the morning, you'll want a light roast, more caffeine--you'll need it after the mimosa.)
More omelette ideas from Julie...
(and feel free to share you own favorites with us!)
* Potato - add to the cheese omelette 1/2 cup of diced potatoes that have been sauteed with herbs and shallots...
* Savory - Sauteed chicken livers or diced ham (but NOT Spam, trust me.)
* Piperade - green & red bell peppers sauteed with onions & garlic
* Vegetables - Broccoli florets, mushrooms, cooked and chopped spinach, and/or asparagus tips (already sauteed in butter and seasonings...)
* Seafood - Crab, shrimp, lobster that you've warmed in butter and herbs.
Cheers to the easy yet elegant omelette
and the simple but beautiful egg!
☕
Eat (and read) with joy!
🔎
Just Released!
"Terrific Series"
--Criminal Element
🔎
Just Released!
"Terrific Series"
--Criminal Element
