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Plain Omelet

A simple omelet made with eggs, butter, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Shutt, William E., Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Plain Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Put a tablespoonful of butter in a smooth skillet.

  2. While the butter melts, break five eggs.

  3. Beat the eggs only enough to break the yolks (about twenty strokes), then add salt and pepper.

Cook the omelet

  1. As soon as the butter bubbles, pour the eggs into the skillet.

  2. Hold the skillet with one hand and gently shake it all the time.

  3. With a spoon in the other hand, draw the eggs from the edges of the pan to the center.

  4. As soon as the eggs become a little firm but not hard, fold one half over the other.

Serve

  1. If you are an expert, toss the omelet by shaking the skillet to the exact center of a platter; otherwise lift it out with a cake turner.

  2. Serve immediately.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

186Calories
7 gProtein
17 gFat
2 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Shutt, William E., Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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. See the original page.

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. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  2. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

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

Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into a delicate structure when heated, forming the body of the omelet.
Butter
Coats the skillet so the eggs release cleanly and add richness.

The step that matters

Fold the omelet while the eggs are still a little moist. Eggs keep cooking from residual heat after they leave the pan. Folding once they are just firm but not hard keeps the interior tender instead of rubbery and dry.

“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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