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Breakfast

Plain Omelet

A plain omelet of beaten eggs with milk or cream, cooked in a pan, folded and turned onto a dish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Clarke, Mary Lamson. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 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 ↓

Plain Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Put four eggs into a bowl with half a teaspoonful salt, one scant saucespoonful pepper, and twelve vigorous beats with a fork.

  2. Add four tablespoonfuls milk or cream.

  3. Break whites and yolks separately, beating each until very light.

  4. Add seasoning and fold the yolks into the whites, stirring as little as possible.

Cook the omelet

  1. Put one teaspoonful butter in an omelet pan and shake it over the fire until frothy.

  2. Turn in the eggs and shake over a quick fire until they are set.

  3. Roll and turn onto a dish.

Finish and serve

  1. To make a Jelly, Parsley, Ham, Cheese or Chicken Omelet, spread the seasoning over the egg just before rolling it.

  2. For each egg, allow one saltspoonful salt, a dust of pepper, and one tablespoonful of liquid (milk, cream, stock, tomato, etc.).

  3. Have the omelet pan hot, melt in it one teaspoonful of butter, and cook over a quick fire until well browned on the bottom.

  4. Set the omelet into the oven until the top is set.

  5. Fold carefully so as not to break the crust, and turn onto a hot dish.

  6. Serve at once.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

335Calories
15 gProtein
25 gFat
14 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
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 Clarke, Mary Lamson. [from old catalog]. 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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into a structure when heated, forming the body of the omelet.
Milk
Adds moisture so the eggs stay tender rather than dry and tough.
Butter
Greases the pan and browns the bottom, adding flavor and preventing sticking.

The step that matters

Cook over a quick fire until set. Eggs cooked too slowly or too long turn dry and tough as proteins tighten. A hot pan and quick cooking set the surface while keeping the interior soft and moist.

“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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