Making a mealy omelette

ifconfig

I enjoy omelettes as comfort food and it has been a while since I've either cooked one or asked my significant other to cook one.

As it turns out (and she is a good cook in general) my dear lady tends to make omelettes which are very wispy/frothy and don't feel substantial.

Omelettes I usually enjoyed in my younger days have a reasonable thickness and body to them.

I know one thing my wife does (and I silently disagree) is to use olive oil in the pan (which I find really is not a nice match with eggs).

So - anyone here have the secret to making an omelette with body and attitude ?

answers on a boards.ie postcard

--ifc

Morag

How much air is whisked into the eggs makes a difference.
If they are whisked less then the omelette will be more dense.

ifconfig

yes. that makes sense.

What is your take on using olive oil when pan frying eggs or for omelettes ?

Personally I think it is an abomination
The taste of olive oil (even in small amounts) mixed with egg white (with fried eggs) to me is awful.
I'd generally prefer to use veg oil or butter (even if it means extra calories) for eggs ....

-ifc

sillysuz

My guess is your other half's omelette has more egg white's than egg yokes.. the healthier lighter option.. A 3 egg omelette with cheese, onion, mushroom and tomato is yummy! throw in a few fried potatoes to up the calories!!

Ophiopogon

Whisking the whites up till stiff and mixing the yolks into them makes a huge omelette. I do this with two eggs if I don't have much else to put into them. Very filling.

Brian?

It sounds like the fritatta might be your friend:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frittata

I make mine in a pan with pepper, onions, mushrooms etc .

Make your egg mixture up as you would if making an omlette, season it well. I usually add a small amount of minced garlic and chilli at this stage as well, the squeezy tube stuff is great for this.

Cook it on a medium heat until the underside is cooke but the top is still runny. Then stick it under a pre heated grill to cook the top. There is the option of throwing some grated cheese on top just before putting it under the grill.


You are welcome.

As for egg whites being healthier than eating whole eggs, it's not true. Egg yolks do contain fat, but it's healthy fat.

Dizzyblonde

I make my frittata with bacon, onion, tomato and mushroom. Fry them all off then pour the beaten eggs over it all, sprinkle on grated cheese and finish it under the grill.
Yummy

olaola

When you said ‘mealy’ I thought you meant it was going all gritty.
ANYHOO! Eggs and olive oil. YEAUK. A flavourless oil should be used (or butter) for omelettes. As has been said – frittata is really what you’re looking for. Omelettes should be light and fluffy

Honey-ec

briankeating wrote: »

As for egg whites being healthier than eating whole eggs, it's not true. Egg yolks do contain fat, but it's healthy fat.

Actually, it kind of is true. If someone is trying to save calories, using egg whites instead of whole eggs does make a difference. Same applies for those watching cholesterol.

Current nutritional guidelines advocate eating no more than seven eggs a week. But you can eat as many egg whites as you want.

kylith

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I make my frittata with bacon, onion, tomato and mushroom. Fry them all off then pour the beaten eggs over it all, sprinkle on grated cheese and finish it under the grill.
Yummy

My favourite is chorizo, cauliflower and sliced leftover spuds, with a few dabs of soft goat's cheese. Yum.

OP I'm, with you on the oil; olive oil is not for cooking with, imo.

Brian?

Honey-ec wrote: »

Actually, it kind of is true. If someone is trying to save calories, using egg whites instead of whole eggs does make a difference. Same applies for those watching cholesterol.

Calories yes, cholesterol no. Eggs contain good cholesterol, the research that showed they raised cholesterol was done before the 2 types were differentiated between. It was also sponsored Kelloggs, vested interest?

Current nutritional guidelines advocate eating no more than seven eggs a week. But you can eat as many egg whites as you want.

That's one of the many guidelines that are a complete load of balls. Have a gander at the health and fitness and nutrition and diet forums for a million threads on this.

ifconfig

Many thanks for the recipe ideas and for the fritatta / omelette differentiation.

You are great folks for the info !
oops I also seem to have started a mini flame war on yolks/whites/good and bad cholesterol.

Anyway.. thanks again from your humble OP

Honey-ec

I don't want to drag this thread off-topic, so this will be my last post on the eggs & cholesterol debate. While eggs are not the little bombs of evil they used to be thought, it's still wrong to claim that

As for egg whites being healthier than eating whole eggs, it's not true.

A third of the fat in egg yolks is saturated. It's not all "good" fat. I'm not knocking eggs, I love them, but it's not helpful (or true) to claim that there's no nutritional difference at all between whole eggs and egg whites.

And there's been more than one study done, in fairness.

Anyway, OP, as others have said, it's a frittata or tortilla you want if it's density you're after. French omelettes are completely different creature.

Brian?

Honey-ec wrote: »

I don't want to drag this thread off-topic, so this will be my last post on the eggs & cholesterol debate. While eggs are not the little bombs of evil they used to be thought, it's still wrong to claim that



A third of the fat in egg yolks is saturated. It's not all "good" fat. I'm not knocking eggs, I love them, but it's not helpful (or true) to claim that there's no nutritional difference at all between whole eggs and egg whites.

And there's been more than one study done, in fairness.

.

I'll leave you with this and call it a day as well:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056250463