Friday, June 12, 2009

A Simple Italian Omelette – It's What I Had for Breakfast

I know some of you enjoy the occasional "What I Had for Breakfast" post and photo, so I thought I would do a quick video version of my breakfast this morning. I made a very simple, very thin Italian omelette, filled with goat cheese and chives.

I'm calling this an "Italian" omelette for a couple reasons. First, I used olive oil instead of butter, and secondly, I cooked the eggs quickly, in a hot pan, letting them get a little golden-brown. The traditional French omelettes are thicker, and cooked much more gently.

Anyway, this is just a quick, simple video recipe that shows a nice technique for lifting the edges and letting the raw egg run underneath. This helps cook the omelette faster and also gives it a nice texture. Enjoy!



UPDATE: What They Had for Breakfast
This is from iliea (the cheese girl) who wrote, "just thought you might be interested in what i had for breakfst too. this is a picture of frog hollow peaches, blueberries from the Ferry bldg farmers market, topped with Strauss Creamery whole milk yogurt, and finished with Snyders Farm oak wildflower honey. Oh, so good."

Thanks, Iliea!



23 comments:

Old Bok said...

I've always tried to fold omelettes in half, mostly without success. The one third trick looks as if it is the answer.

Pyrofish said...

Pretty cool technique. French omelets can be kind of fussy since you're trying not to color them. Fortunately, no I cook for knows that :-) Now I can say, "It's an Italian omelet!".

A quick story. My parents were railing against this breakfast place the other day, about how the service was bad, and the food just OK. Then they said, "I think they forget to put the 'stuff' in my omelet. They just tossed it in and wrapped it after the fact." I asked if they were sure it wasn't a French omelet, and they said "No, I didn't order anything french"... hehe

Inspiration CAN be found EVERYWHERE said...

I'm really glad I stumbled upon your site - I am by no means a chef but I do love to cook. You have given me some great ideas and the video explanations really help at times.

Thanks for the french/italian difference - now I can say I usually make an Italian omelet. I will also try the two fold version since it does look soooo much easier.

Unknown said...

I want both!

Unknown said...

Vimeo suddenly stopped working for me about 1-2 weeks ago. I tried viewing your movie from your blog post, as well as from the actual Vimeo webpage it's hosted on: http://vimeo.com/5130085

I turned off all my Firefox doodads, and still neither your page or Vimeo would stream the movie. I've tried a few different times over the last week to make sure it wasn't something that had gone down.

Are any of your other Firefox readers having problems with Vimeo within the last few weeks?

John said...

Video works fine for me using Firefox.

Just wanted to say, I like how you post a couple easy ones every now and then. Good looking out for the non-chefs that visit your site!

Anonymous said...

Chef, one concern and one wish -

One egg yolk get you a load of cholesterol enough for a day (the RDA stuff), so if you feed us with easy-yet-yummy recipes with JUST THREE eggs in a single omelet, it'll really be a 'heart-full' for quite a few here... :-(

Wish: The Italian omelet was curiously like an Indian one, right down to the lifting of edges part, so would you demo an Indian variety with the onion, chillies, spices and all its glory?

Anonymous said...

Shreela, Firefox had some security updates issued, and if you are configured to automatically download updates, flash could stop working. It had done in my system.

Just had to exit, (install updates if configured for manual updates) and reopen Firefox to get it fixed. That's all you need.

Chef John said...

I've never done an Indian omelette, but sounds good.

I cook and film what I eat. Viewers have to make those health judgements themselves. Besides, nothing wrong with a 3 egg omelette IMHO.

Anonymous said...

Chef John,

I think you're swell! Thanks for taking the time to teach us great recipes coupled with your witty personality!

Unknown said...

Ok, I'll see if I need to do any manual updates. Meanwhile, I've gone back to Vimeo's site, and "some" movies work, while others don't. So far it seems like the ones that worked were shorter in length, but I'm not going to test that further unless the manual upgrade thing doesn't work. I miss my Foodwishes movies 8^(

Unknown said...

I had my option to check/notify me for addon updates. Flash needed upgrading to ver10. Thanks everyone 8^)

I can see Chef John again, Yay!

Anonymous said...

Inspired by your post I made something similar for brunch today: 6 slices of turkey bacon (yuck), and 6 eggs prepared exactly as you describe. I didn't have any goat cheese, and I was fresh out of chives, so my "plain egg" omelette turned out just fine (pepper and sea salt only).

My omelette came out exactly as you pictured it. It was a hit: my wife and I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks for the tips!

DeLynn said...

Oh my gosh, Chef John! I've always messed up my "omelets" because I really didn't know how to fold them the right way. I feel like such an idiot because I didn't know it was so simple!! I made this today and it was AH mazing... I've never had goat cheese before too, so I just went for it. It was really good. I even used fresh cut chives from my new garden -- aren't you proud of me????

So question: What are some other ingredients you can put into an omelet other than the traditional green bell peppers, onions and ham stuff. I'm looking for more non-American recipes.

Chef John said...

Italians, or at least the ones I know, use omelettes and fritatas to use up left over vegetables. Almost anything. I like just simple ones, any cheese, herbs, and that's it.

Anonymous said...

I made this omelete, and it was a success! Except, I made it the traditional ham and cheese, and my husband loved it. I love the folding technique! oh my goodness it works great! Thank you so much for the tips! I visit your website everyday! Thanks so much Chef John, your awesome!

Anonymous said...

I usually make the same kind of omelette with spinach and cheese, folded the same way....not only for breakfast but also as a side dish for lunch or dinner. Everyone likes it!

Anonymous said...

Thanx for the recipe, Chef John!!! it tastes great though I used cheddar cheese instead of goat cheese.
Keep posting!!! :]

Dayana

Anonymous said...

Italians have only frittata,for lunch or dinner,never for breakfast,sometimes we have zabaglione,the omelette is ONLY french....this is a strange panzerotto emiliano,I am italian and I hate these things..like spaghetti Alfredo,who is Alfredo?I'm italian and in Italy I have never seen this kind of dish and I go to restaurant twice times in a week from 10 years and I am a cooker..I apologize but it hurts me

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much chef. I've tried some of your recipe before and it was great! Tomorrow I'll try the omette :)

Anonymous said...

wow, I have thought of myself as a good cook. I have learned to make Spanish omelets, with the potato on the mandolin and the flipping. But the most basic ones - were okay when I made them in an oven-proof pan and finished them there. This post is why my omelets have been bad. I cook them on too high heat, I add the salt too early, I let them brown. I made two batches today, one with mushroom-ricotta filling, and the other with artichoke-ricotta. I see many more eggs in my future.

Unknown said...

Thank you very much chef. I've tried some of your recipes before and it was great! I'll try the omelet. But my product is very helpful for fried omelet please buy a Pure different Essential Oil in Pakistan

TRUST ME said...

Thanks for the French/Italian difference - now I can say I usually make an Italian omelet. I will also try the two-fold version since it does look too much easier.
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