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 ↓
Puffy Omelet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the eggs
Beat the egg whites until well beaten.
Beat the egg yolks lightly.
Add 2 tablespoons water and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add a pinch of baking powder to the yolks.
Cook the omelet
Fold the yolk mixture into the beaten whites.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan.
Run the mixture into a hot oven and cook until eggs are set.
Sprinkle grated cheese between folds if desired.
Fold the omelet.
Serve
Serve with optional fillings such as minced bacon, parsley, thin slices of ham, mushrooms, oysters, or macaroni with tomato sauce.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
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.
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Whites trap air for lift, while yolks add richness and set to a tender structure.
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavor and helps the base brown lightly in the pan.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the heat, helping the omelet rise and stay puffy.
The step that matters
Fold the yolk mixture into the beaten whites. The whites hold the air that makes the omelet puff. Folding gently keeps those bubbles intact, while stirring or beating again deflates the foam and leaves the omelet flat and dense.
“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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