OMELETS
Omelets may be made in a great variety of ways, the kind depending not upon a difference in mixing the eggs, but upon the ingredients which are added. Spanish omelet is ordinary omelet with onion. Truffles, mushrooms, chopped oysters, rum, and tomato make other varieties. Flour should never be used in them, as it cannot be properly cooked in the short time that should be given to the eggs. If it should happen that an omelet is to be made, and there is no milk at hand, water may be substituted, but an omelet should never be made without one or the other.
CREAMY OMELET
Beat four eggs slightly with a fork until you can take up a spoonful; add two saltspoons of salt, half a saltspoon of pepper, four tablespoons of milk or cream, and mix well. Butter an omelet-pan, and before the butter browns turn in the mixture. Then with the point of a fork pick or lift up the cooked egg from the center, and let the uncooked egg run under. This leaves the butter on the pan, and is better than stirring. Continue the lifting until the whole is of a soft creamy consistency, then place it over a hotter part of the fire and brown slightly, fold and turn out as usual. (Adapted from Mrs. D. A. Lincoln's "Boston Cook Book.")
For an invalid's use take half the quantities mentioned above—that is, use two eggs, two tablespoons of milk or cream, a saltspoon of salt, and a bit of pepper; and instead of having the omelet-pan hot, have it just warm enough to melt the butter; otherwise the first layer of egg which is cooked may be overdone and hardened.
FOAMY OMELET
Separate the yolks from the whites of two eggs, and put them into bowls. To the yolks add a saltspoon of salt and one fourth of a saltspoon of pepper. Beat with a Dover egg-beater until light. Then add two tablespoons of milk. Beat the whites until stiff, but not as stiff as possible, and fold, not beat them into the yolks, so that the whole shall be very light and puffy. Pour the mixture into a buttered omelet-pan, and cook slowly until the under side begins to change color and become brown, or for about two minutes. Then put the pan on the grate in the oven for about one minute, to cook the upper surface. One must endeavor to avoid both over and under cooking. If the omelet is not done enough, the raw egg will ooze out after it is folded; on the other hand, if it is cooked too much, it will be dry and tough. When it seems to be coagulated on the upper surface, run a case-knife under it to separate it from the pan, and fold one half over the other. Take the platter which is to receive it in the right hand, lay it against the edge of the pan, and tip the omelet out. Serve immediately.
An omelet is a dainty and delicate way of serving eggs, and may be well made by any one who will bear in mind that the cooking temperature of albumen is 160° Fahr., and that if exposed to a very much higher degree of heat for many minutes, it will be spoiled,—rendered both unpalatable and indigestible.