by Holly Huffstutler

Created on: April 28, 2009

The key to making a great omelet is eggs. No really, making a plain omelet is fairly simple to accomplish as long as you thoroughly grease the pan to avoid the fun of having to scrape pan afterwards and get the egg mixture to the right consistency before frying.

Heat up a pan to medium high heat and grease liberally with butter or margarine.

First mix the eggs. There are two ways to do this. If you don't want to get a bowl dirty you can crack the desired amount of eggs directly into the pan and beat them before they begin to fry. If you opt for this method its best to beat them up and then start heating the pan. Otherwise it might appear as though you started making your eggs up and then broke one of the yolks and had to downshift into scrambled eggs that you flattened into an omelet.

But the best looking omelets are mixed in a separate bowl and then poured into a heated and WELL GREASED pan.

Crack the number of eggs you want into a bowl, add a splash of milk, and beat until you can no longer see the difference between yolk and white.

Pour the egg mixture into the heated pan and wait for it to cook. There are pan that are specifically designed for the "right size" of an omelet, but most pans will collect the liquid in one corner anyway and as long as you fold it into whatever shape you want it doesn't really matter.

The omelet is done when the mixture has turned a sunny yellow color. Take a small spatula and carefully work it under the edges of the omelet, patiently separating egg from pan. Flip one half of the omelet onto the other half.

That's a basic omelet. My recipe includes milk because it gives it an evenness and I like my milk for an added creaminess. But milk isn't really necessary (I understand for some that its actually repugnant) and water will give you that evenness and dilution as well.

Arguably, omelets are better when they have different food products added to them. For a good cheese omelet, throw a piece of cheese on one side of the omelet when its nearly done, let the cheese melt a little and then fold over as usual. Add some minced onion to the original egg batter gives the omelet an extra subtle spice and tastes especially good in a cheese omelet. If you want to add meats or vegetables they should be scattered on top of the egg mixture just after it begins to cook.

Above all, DO NOT FORGET TO GREASE THE PAN, OR YOU WILL PAY!

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