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Ham Omelet

A quick egg and ham omelet cooked in butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Ham Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Whisk eggs and milk together in a bowl.

  2. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

Cook

  1. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.

  2. Add diced ham to the skillet and cook until heated through.

  3. Pour the egg mixture over the ham and cook until the edges set.

  4. Gently lift the edges with a spatula, letting uncooked eggs flow underneath.

  5. When the omelet is nearly set, fold it in half and serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into the structure of the omelet as they cook, holding the filling together.
Milk
Adds moisture and makes the eggs more tender and creamy as they set.
Ham
Supplies the savory, salty filling that flavors the omelet.
Butter
Adds richness and helps keep the eggs from sticking to the skillet.

The step that matters

Gently lift the edges with a spatula. Eggs cook quickly when heat is high and proteins set into a firm, rubbery layer. Lifting the set edges lets liquid egg flow underneath, keeping the omelet tender and evenly cooked.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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