Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Plain, Stuffed, and Stacked Sky-High: Kids, It's Omelette Party Time!


"Welcome to the Omelette Show!"

I have become a bit ... single-minded lately. Some might even say obsessed. All I want to do is make -  and eat - omelettes. Not exactly post-holiday diet food, but at least they're no-carb, right?

It's all Poppa Trix's fault. He just couldn't bear to be predictable and get me Julie & Julia for Christmas, oh no. It's just as well, really.  I'll see it eventually, but I have absolutely no doubt that the Julie character's incessant whining is going to irritate me to no end.  So instead he got me something that's (in my opinion) far superior: a collection of The French Chef, Child's groundbreaking PBS cooking show. 

I'm addicted! I had forgotten how truly loopy, charming, and sweet this woman was. Poppa Trix and I  repeat Julia-isms - "Don't let the butter brown. It tastes cheap!" or "Take a sip of wine and make a lovely comment, which you'll know how to do if you read good books." -  over and over.  We scream out words (in our best Julia falsettos, of course)  like "Piperade!" or "Swiss cheese!" or "Parsley!" apropos of nothing.

But it's the omelette show that is, so far, my absolute favorite. Until I saw it, I had always made souffle-style omelettes - the puffy, folded-over kind. But then I saw Julia demonstrate her 20-second omelette: 2 or 3 eggs with a splash of water, salt, and pepper frantically shaken in an extremely hot pan in copious amounts of butter and then plopped into a misshapen heap in the center of a plate and finished with a good pound of chopped parsley.  Yum! She made omelette after omelette after omelette. She demonstrated various fillings and toppings - cheese, mushrooms, and my favorite, crabmeat. I couldn't wait to try it. 

And it really does cook in 20 or 30 seconds, if you get your pan good and hot. You know the temperature is right when the butter stops foaming, just before it begins to brown. When the eggs hit the pan, they should sizzle and begin to bubble immediately. Wait just a few seconds, then start twirling the pan counterclockwise. In a few more seconds, shake the pan back and forth, allowing the eggs to get to the furthest edge away from you before jerking the pan back towards you. The only real trick is not being afraid to shake that pan:
 
When it's finished, just tip it over onto your plate. Don't worry if it's a bit messy! Julia says that "You can fold it under with your hands, if no one's watching." Love her! If you'd like to fancy it up, cut a slit in it and fill it with goodness, like this one, which I topped with a warm crab and artichoke salad:
And why not, Julia suggests, throw your very own omelette party? Because they cook so quickly, she helpfully points out that if you have 5 people cooking simultaneously, you can easily serve 300 guests omelettes in under 30 minutes. Take that, Rachel Ray!

But Julia taught me that no omelette party would be complete without the King of Omelettes, le gateau omni-omelette. Or, as I lovingly call it, the Megalomelette (as in, Godzilla vs. Megalomelette):
A gateau omelette consists of single layers of unfolded omelette, separated by a variety of fillings (or toppings, depending on how you look at it) and, in Julia's recipe, completely surrounded by creme fraiche.  She described it as a "flying saucer," and as soon as she pulled this bizarre creation out of the oven, I knew I had to make it.

For her mega-omni-omelette, she alternated between piperade, a reduced stew of onions, green peppers, and tomatoes, and sauteed mushrooms. For my version, I stuck with the piperade, which Poppa Trix volunteered to make - and he made yummy work of it! In fact, he did a little research and discovered that piperade is a Basque recipe; and indeed, you can clearly taste (and see) the Spanish/Mediterranean influence.

Are you ready to amaze your friends at your next omelette party and make your very own sky-high stacked crazy le gateau omelette? Here's how:

For the piperade, simply saute sliced onions and green pepper in olive oil until soft, and add enough canned plum tomatoes to cover. Add salt and pepper, reduce the heat, and let it all simmer down into a flavorful mass.

Your omni-omelette can be as many layers as you like.  I whisked together seven eggs with a little salt and pepper, and used one ladleful of egg for each layer until I ran out. Again, get your pan good and hot. You'll need roughly one tbsp of butter for each layer. Proceed in the same way as if you were making a regular omelette, only don't shake the pan. Slide each layer onto a plate, alternating between  filling and egg, and topping it off with some piperade for color:

 Now here's where things get a little crazy. As if layers of egg and butter and filling weren't enough, Julia now instructs us to grate Swiss cheese over our monster omelette and surround it with creme fraiche:
 
You pop the whole thing into a 425 degree oven for about 5-6 minutes. I had my doubts about how this would taste - I was afraid it was going to be utter chaos in my mouth, but I should have trusted Julia. The creme fraiche, eggs, and sweet piperade were wonderful together. Rich? You bet! But a very little goes a long way:


This was my dinner, and it was more than enough! You can see what a tiny dent two servings made in the massive King of Omelettes:


So what are you waiting for? Go throw your own omelette party! You only need about 500 eggs and a willingness to pretend that there is no such thing as cholesterol.

Bon Appetit!






26 comments:

  1. haha, this is totally awesome. i actually had an omlette for dinner tonight, but not nearly as good as this one! Julia makes everything better. :)

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  2. I do love those old Julia Child shows, they certainly entertain and educate. Having just seen J & J, you are certainly correct about Julie being annoying. I don't think I could watch it again. Well, maybe fast forwarding through the Julie parts. The Hoboken train station does show up in two cameo roles, so I give the film some props for using my fair city.

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  3. You have just captured the heart of many lovers of Julia, and the tribute to her was very heartfelt...your omelette is mouth watering...and the trip down memory lane was captivating...very very nice post love it

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  4. Your description of Julia and her contagious mannerisms was on the mark! It looks as though you have mastered her omelette technique. Great job!

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  5. oh I love you u make me smile amazing omelettes

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  6. oooooo..wish I could have gone to your omelette party! nothing's better on a chilly winter night. we saw Julie and Julia, it was sent to us for awards voting for screenplay and the Julia Child part was the better half. There just didn't seem to be enough of it and the Julie part got on my nerves.
    Now I want tom ake an omelette

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  7. That looks fantastic. I haven't made this kind of omelette in a long time and it's a non-stick pan. I haven't even seen Julie and Julia. I hope to watch that movie soon for more insipiration. I would like to join your omelette party. :D

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  8. I became obsessed with Julia Child and eggs too! I would be cracking eggs on the bowl and speaking in a Julia Child voice--good times! Love these omelets!

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  9. Great job with your omelettes! It seems like you have discovered all the secrets of them:)

    I have Julia Child's book but still have not cooked from them. I guess I should start soon :)

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  10. Beautiful presentation. What a pretty dish!

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  11. Your omelettes look really mouth-watering, I say...

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  12. Julia really knew what the joy of cooking was about....and so do you... great post.. and those omelettes!!!!

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  13. such a great post Trix, I do love omelettes - so many fillings (of course shrimp & crab is my favorite) ... I mention about 15 different types of omelettes in my cookbook, from American to Western. You might like the Indian, with green onions, crushed red peppers, coconut flakes topped with a curry sauce....my second favorite is the Mexican with potatoes and chiles ....okay, I'll stop now...

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  14. Ohhh geez! First of all, I love how you can fit Julia Child, omelettes, and Godzilla in the same post. Kudos to that! Second of all, I LOVE omelettes, especially like these! Of course, this sounds like a definite once-in-a-while treat. Or else I better buy bigger pants. And third of all, I am jealous of your present! The French Chef? How cool is that? You might also enjoy reading her My Life in France - I enjoyed it thoroughly. Wonderful post!

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  15. These look mahvelous--even though I've left the egg behind in my vegan daze--great job! I recieved the Baking with Julia DVD from Santa and cannot wait to dive into her yelps like this one: If you can smell it, it's done!

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  16. We have the cookbook, but I have never watched Julia Childs. The DVD's are a great idea -- must see if Netflix has them. My older son has become obsessed with eggs lately, not sure why. Can I send him over for dinner?

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  17. that is so funny! I just watched that clip the other day and I kept thinking okay I must make an omelette like Julia Childs because she knows exactly what shes doing! Your omelette proves her right! I'm just getting hungry by looking at that last photo :-p

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  18. Mr. Trix is a smart man...for getting you the Julia Childs PBS series instead of Julie and Julia. Julie=irritating Julia=brilliant

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  19. I saw Julie & Julia over the Holidays and enjoyed the JULIA part much more than the Julie part, so Poppa Trix made a wise choice :)

    The danger of catching up on blog posts at midnight is that now I'm starving for an omelette! Give me some of that Creme Fraiche!

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  20. An awesome omelette! We had omelettes for dinner last night too, a perfect meal for my daughter and I when hubby's out of town.

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  21. Holy Moly!!! I love omelets and love making them. I have been drooling over every picture. I can't wait to get that episode and watch it. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  22. Oh Lord, killer omelette with crême fraiche! right to the hips but well deserved

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  23. I too was irritated by the Julie character; in fact I refused to see the movie. I told everyone who was urging me I was green with envy!
    But I love Julia Child, I too made most of her recipes when I first moved to the US, 30 years ago.
    Thanks for a great post.
    By the way, if interested, I am giving away some organic spices and grains I brought back with me from Lebanon, there is a story that goes along with them.

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  24. Nice post! Great minds think alike, don’t they? Back in August ‘09, when the “Julie & Julia” movie was first released, I referenced this famous Omelette Show, too. I even included a link to that old SNL skit in which Dan Aykroyd spoofed "The French Chef" herself. You know, Julia Child had such a great sense of humor. She said she just loved that skit. So many of us are inspired by her, aren’t we? It’s great that you celebrated her, too. Thanks for stopping by my group blog, today, Tasty! Have a great week! If you’re curious to see my old August post, and that Aykroyd skit, just click here.

    Cheers
    ~Cleo Coyle

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  25. I am somehow like you, I go with phases, eggs are such a versatile ingredient, and those omelettes are very mouth watering!

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