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!

I suggest Alton Brown's tri-fold method. It's easier to do that folding in half:

"Ingredients

* 3 eggs, warmed in hot water for 5 minutes
* Pinch salt
* 1 teaspoon room temperature butter, plus 1/2 teaspoon for finishing omelet
* 1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped chives

Directions
"Crack warm eggs into bowl, add salt, and blend with fork. Heat a 10-inch non-stick aluminum pan over medium-high heat. Once pan is hot add butter and brush around surface of pan. Pour eggs into center of pan and stir vigorously with rubber spatula for 5 seconds. As soon as a semi-solid mass begins to form lift pan and move around until the excess liquid pours off into pan. Using your spatula move around the edge of the egg mixture to help shape into round and loosen edge. Let omelet sit in pan for 10 seconds without touching.

"Shake pan to loosen from pan. Lift up the far edge of the pan and snap it back toward you. Using your spatula, fold over 1/3 of the omelet. Slide omelet onto plate and fold over so that omelet is a tri-fold. Coat with remaining butter and sprinkle with chives. Serve immediately."

A few things are helpful for me. First of all, I use a small skillet. That makes the omelet thicker than normal. Also, I try to use a medium to large size spatula for flipping, which really helps.

As for the flipping itself, I use the motion of the skillet to help. I gently toss it up while lifting with the spatula, and catch it on its way down. The omelet is barely out of the skillet at all before I catch it. Just be very gentle and don't let it smack down on the skillet too hard.