For quick, eggy breakfasts, omelets are the way to go. While scrambled and poached eggs need company, an omelet can be a full meal on a plate in less than five minutes. For more healthy breakfast ideas, read the original article, Quick and Easy Breakfast Ideas.
Omelet Baveuse: How to Make Omelets
Discovering an omelet “baveuse” is a game-changing moment in life. We were taught how to make them by our French friend Pierre. Many people leave the center of the omelet a little moist or tacky like this, but there is a particular quality that can only come from cooking them at a low heat.
• 2 eggs per person
• 1 tablespoon grated cheddar cheese per person
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 heaping spoonful of crème fraîche per person
• A dash of vegetable oil
1. Put eggs, cheese, salt, pepper and crème fraîche into a bowl. Whip with a fork until well-mixed.
2. Get a pan reasonably hot and heat a dash of vegetable oil.
3. Pour in egg mixture and tilt pan so it spreads around the base. With a wooden spatula, circle edge of pan and ensure edges remain loose. After 15 seconds, reduce heat to low.
4. When top has a moist, tacky texture, use spatula to fold one side of omelet over onto itself and slide it onto a plate. The omelet should be just colored on the underside and still slightly runny inside.
5. Serve immediately.
Note: If you want to make the omelet a little healthier, leave out the cheese and crème fraîche or replace the crème fraîche with whole milk.
Customize Your Breakfast: Omelet Fillings
Thirty seconds into cooking, you can add a filling. We particularly like:
Healthy: Tomato and turmeric. Heat a little oil in a very hot pan. Roughly chop a tomato (1 per person) and add it to the smoking oil. Toss vigorously—some of the oil may flare up, so don’t do this in flammable pajamas. Add a generous pinch of turmeric and season well with salt and pepper. The tomatoes should still have shape but will be a bit saucy.
Classic: Add fromage blanc (soft white cheese), smoked salmon and chives.
Cheesy: Add more grated cheese per person with chopped chives and parsley.
Hammy: Add prosciutto, crispy bacon or any other finely chopped cured meat.
Ultimate Mushroom Omelet Recipe
A chef friend of ours once said he believed the common button mushroom would be an expensive delicacy if it were rare. The fact that it colors and deepens as it cooks is a wonder. Don’t feel you need fancy mushrooms to make the ultimate mushroom omelet. Prepare the mushrooms in a separate saucepan according to the directions below, then add to the omelet recipe at left.
1. Put a good pat of butter and a trickle of vegetable oil in a hot saucepan. The butter should foam.
2. Throw a generous handful of sliced button mushrooms into the pan with 1 tablespoon finely sliced onion. Don’t move them around too much. Toss every 30 seconds or so, but give them time to turn golden. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Throw in finely chopped garlic and fresh parsley for the last 30 seconds.
4. Add a squeeze of lemon juice.
Mushroom Omelet Variations
Luxury: Instead of lemon juice, add a splash of white wine at the end. When this has bubbled off, add a tablespoon of heavy cream and bubble for 20 seconds.
Meaty: Before you cook the mushrooms, sauté some prosciutto in the pan until it turns crispy.
Excerpted with permission from Leon: Naturally Fast Food by Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, Conran Octopus 2012
