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 ↓
Cheese Omelet
Ingredients
Directions
Make the omelet
Beat whites and yolks separately of 6 eggs, add 1 cup of milk.
Put two tablespoonfuls of butter in omelet pan.
Add to eggs and milk 1 cup bread crumbs and turn into pan.
When ready to fold over add 1 cup grated cheese, leave a moment to heat and serve on a very hot platter.
Note: a good omelet should be long, thick in the middle and soft inside.
Make the kidney filling
Skin and slice the kidneys, let them cook awhile in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon butter, a little salt and pepper.
Sprinkle over 1 tablespoon flour, add ½ tablespoon vinegar, ½ glassful stock, the hashed parsley, let cook a few minutes.
Pour into a plain omelet just before turning.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Whites and yolks set into the structure of the omelet when cooked.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the beaten eggs.
- Bread crumbs (in the method)
- Soak up liquid and help the omelet stay tender and soft inside.
- Grated cheese (in the method)
- Melts through the omelet, adding richness and fat.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid of the kidney filling.
The step that matters
Folding the omelet. Beaten eggs set quickly, so the omelet must be turned in the pan at the right moment; cooking too long makes it dry and tough, while folding too early leaves it runny.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, egg, flour, vinegar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, egg, flour, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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