My family eats omelets for dinner at least once a week. They can be fixed in under 15 minutes; we use free-range eggs for more nutrition; the fillings can be infinitely varied. I've even seen curry fillings, although we haven't done one. My kids would eat *that* before it ever made it into the omelet!

There are several secrets to doing an omelet without breaking it.

First off, you need to have everything ready in advance--the fillings done/chopped up and even warmed/cooked, cheese grated, the eggs broken and beaten.

The pan should be hot enough to sizzle when you drop a spot of water on it. Add about a tablespoon of butter or olive oil (both together tastes best) and slosh it around. It should also sizzle.

Pour the eggs in. They'll sizzle, too, and immediately start to set. When it's set around the edges (almost immediately), use a wide metal spatula to lift up the edges so the runny eggs in the middle can run under. Do this quickly all around the edges until there isn't enough to run.

Next, turn down the heat (on a gas stove). If you're using an electric stove, have a warm burner standing by because the burner you've been using won't loose heat quickly enough, and you'll end up overcooking the omelet.

Put your filling on one half of the omelet and cover it--you can use a cover that's smaller than the pan itself. After about a minute, check and see if the raw egg on the other half of the omelet has lost its shine, and if the cheese on the other half is melted--if not, recover for a minute or so. If you're French, you probably want the shine, so lift the cover sooner.

When it's done the way you like it, take your wide metal spatula and gently lift the half without the filling over the other half, so that it's now a half-circle. Then either gently list it onto a plate, or slide it from the pan onto the plate. I use a pan with sloping sides, which makes it much easier to get it onto a plate!

Some of my favorite fillings are:

Straight Western: sweet peppers, sweet onions, ham, cheddar/colby/jack cheese

Slivered pears, bacon, and crumbled gorgonzola cheese

Fajita meat, salsa, quesadilla cheese, chipotle sauce

Mushrooms, artichoke hearts, sauteed scallions, Gruyere or other Swiss cheese

Leftover special: leftover chili, meatloaf, carne asada, Italian pork roast, lemon roast chicken or whatever, with appropriate cheese (Parmesan or provolone for the pork roast; jack for the chili or meat loaf, etc.), usually with sauteed onions and possibly peppers, along with whatever leftover condiments I've got, or even salad dressing!
Source(s):
All the cookbooks I've read over the years, especially Dana Carpender's 15 Minute Low Carb Cooking


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