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Breakfast

Ham Omelet

A quick breakfast dish of eggs, milk, diced ham, butter, salt, and pepper cooked in a skillet.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 the filling

  1. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until well combined.

  2. Stir in the diced ham, salt, and pepper.

Cook and serve

  1. Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat until melted.

  2. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and cook until the edges begin to set.

  3. Gently lift the edges with a spatula, allowing uncooked egg to flow underneath.

  4. When the omelet is mostly set, fold it in half and cook for another minute.

  5. Serve hot.

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 a tender structure as they cook, forming the body of the omelet.
Milk
Adds moisture that keeps the eggs soft and creamy rather than dry.
Ham
Provides savory flavor and chew within the set egg.
Butter
Greases the skillet and adds richness and browning to the surface.

The step that matters

Gently lift the edges with a spatula. Egg proteins set quickly over medium heat. Lifting the set edges lets runny egg flow underneath, giving an even, tender omelet instead of a tough, overcooked one.

“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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