Cassell's dictionary of cookery

with the spoon ; and in the case of a savoury omelet, the omelet-pan should be tilted in front of an open fire, or have a good hot salamander held over it — this will have the effect of making the omelet rise, and consequently of being lighter, as well as slightly browning the surface. If gravy is served with a savoury omelet, pour it romid the omelet, and not over it. For a sweet omelet, always have some white powdered sugar to shake over the top. It is a somewhat open question as to whether it is advisable to mix milk with the eggs in making omelets. As a rule, the French do not add milk, and it will generally be noticed that omelets abroad are more yellow and streaky than in England, where it is a very common custom to add about a couple of tablespoonfuls of milk to every three or four eggs used. When milk is used, the omelet takes a rather longer time to set than when the eggs are used by themselves. The greatest difficulty cooks experience in making omelets is to avoid burning them. The fire should be tierce, but the omelet-pan should be withdrawn directly the omelet sets. The stirring process should also be kept up very briskly. While on the subject of the management of eggs, we may next take that very common English dish — custard. Now, just as the principle of making good omelets was to get the eggs set without having them bui-nt, so may the secret of successful custard-making be said to consist in getting the eggs to thicken without getting set. The chief point in making custard, or any form of liquid whose consistency depends upon heated eggs, is to know when to stop short of the boiliag point. In making custard, it will always be found most economical to use the yolks only. The whites of the eggs add nothing to the flavour or excellence of the custard, and yet are invaluable to the cook for a variety of purposes, from clearing soups to garnishing sweets — the latter being a point on which we shall touch on some future occasion. The best method of making custard is to first flavour the milk, if bay-leaves are used, by boiling the bay-leaves in the milk previous to adding the yolks of eggs. When, however, the yolks of eggs are added, let the mixture, i.e., the milk, sugar, and yolks, be placed in a jug, and the jug placed in a saucepan of boiling water. The cold jug will, of course, take the water immediately off the boil. Keep stirring the jug till the custard begins to thicken ; when nearly sufficiently thick, take the jug out of the boiHng water and plunge it into some cold water, but still continue the stirring for some time. By this means all fear of curdling will be done away with. Should the custard be flavoured with that most delicious of essences — essence of vanilla — the vanilla should be added when the custard is getting nearly cold, by which means more of the flavour is retained. Should the custard be flavoured by vanilla in stick, it will be found best to tie up the vanilla in a small muslin bag, and boil this bag in the milk till the milk is sufficiently flavoured. This small bag of vanilla will do over and over again, though of course the bag must be left in for a longer period each time it is used, as it natui-ally will lose some of its virtue every time, and will consequently require to be left in the milk for a longer period to impart whatever of flavour is left in it.