at the beginning, and let me know every twist
and turn of the process." " Why," she answered,
with a complaisant smile, "it's the easiest thing in
the Avorld. For my family I take five eggs. I
break them into a bowl, and beat them with a
sjDoon, lightly, until I can dip up a spoonful. I
beat them only enough to break them up, and
render them manageable. I have ready a little
minced parsley, salt, and pepper. I place my
omelet-pan, which is never used for any other
purpose, with an ounce of sweet butter in it, on
the stove ; and as soon as the Initter is hot, — be
careful not to let it brown, — I pour the omelet,
rinse the egg from the bowl with three teaspoon-
fuls of sweet mi✪ Omeletlk — cream is better — and pour
it over the omelet in the pan. I then sprinkle in
salt, pepper, and minced parsley, and set it to
cook where it will have moderate heat. While
cooking I stir it gently with a fork, and when
almost done, place it for a moment where the heat
is a little quicker, so it may brown lightly on the
bottom. When ready to serve, I slip a knife-
blade under one side, holding the pan slightly
tipped, and fold the omelet over, leaving half the
pan naked, and the omelet in the shape of a turn-
over pie. And now comes the only difficult part
of the operation — that of turning the omelet from
the pan upon the platter. Don't forget to heat
the platter, — a cold omelet isn't fit to eat. Hold
132 COOIQNG AND CASTLE-BUILDING.
the pan close to, and partly over it. Give it a
sudden dip — the pan, I mean — and a gentle
flop, and there lies your omelet, just where you
desired,— a neatly shaped, plump little thing,
about three inches thick, moist, light, and, in my
judgment, the best omelet that can be made."
" ' I went home happy, intending to surprise
Harry next morning with my ideal omelet — the
dainty dish he had heard me talk about, and sigh
for so often. But, alas, for human expectations !
I made the omelet, and hesitated not until the time
to stir it came. Then a score of perplexing ques-
tions arose. "Stir gently two or three times,"
was what my friend had said. But Avhat is stir-
ring gently? Does to stir gently mean to stir
slowly ? And how soon should I begin to stir ?
And why stir with a fork ? As no one was present
to answer these and the other questions that sug-
gested themselves, I seized a fork and began
stirring slowly, round and round. But the tines
of the fork scratched over the bottom of the spi-
der, and that seemed the only rcsidt of my labor.
After waiting awhile, I stirred again. This time
I found the egg adhering to the pan, and stirred
more vigorously, thinking by so doing to accom-
plish the desired object. But when I attempted
to turn the omelet, it stuck fast, and wouldn't
fold ; so I worried over and scraped at it, until
all form and comeliness were lost, and it was
OMELET AND DAIXTY DISHES. 133
nothing but a shabby specimen of scrambled eggs.
Then I generously left it all* for Bridget's break-
fast.
Page 55 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1880. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
at the beginning, and let me know every twist and turn of the process." " Why," she answered, with a complaisant smile, "it's the easiest thing in the Avorld. For my family I take five eggs. I break them into a bowl, and beat them with a sjDoon, lightly, until I can dip up a spoonful. I beat them only enough to break them up, and render them manageable. I have ready a little minced parsley, salt, and pepper. I place my omelet-pan, which is never used for any other purpose, with an ounce of sweet butter in it, on the stove ; and as soon as the Initter is hot, — be careful not to let it brown, — I pour the omelet, rinse the egg from the bowl with three teaspoonfuls of sweet milk — cream is better — and pour it over the omelet in the pan. I then sprinkle in salt, pepper, and minced parsley, and set it to cook where it will have moderate heat. While cooking I stir it gently with a fork, and when almost done, place it for a moment where the heat is a little quicker, so it may brown lightly on the bottom. When ready to serve, I slip a knifeblade under one side, holding the pan slightly tipped, and fold the omelet over, leaving half the pan naked, and the omelet in the shape of a turnover pie. And now comes the only difficult part of the operation — that of turning the omelet from the pan upon the platter. Don't forget to heat the platter, — a cold omelet isn't fit to eat. Hold
the pan close to, and partly over it. Give it a sudden dip — the pan, I mean — and a gentle flop, and there lies your omelet, just where you desired,— a neatly shaped, plump little thing, about three inches thick, moist, light, and, in my judgment, the best omelet that can be made."
" ' I went home happy, intending to surprise Harry next morning with my ideal omelet — the dainty dish he had heard me talk about, and sigh for so often. But, alas, for human expectations ! I made the omelet, and hesitated not until the time to stir it came. Then a score of perplexing questions arose. "Stir gently two or three times," was what my friend had said. But Avhat is stirring gently? Does to stir gently mean to stir slowly ? And how soon should I begin to stir ? And why stir with a fork ? As no one was present to answer these and the other questions that suggested themselves, I seized a fork and began stirring slowly, round and round. But the tines of the fork scratched over the bottom of the spider, and that seemed the only rcsidt of my labor. After waiting awhile, I stirred again. This time I found the egg adhering to the pan, and stirred more vigorously, thinking by so doing to accomplish the desired object. But when I attempted to turn the omelet, it stuck fast, and wouldn't fold ; so I worried over and scraped at it, until all form and comeliness were lost, and it was
nothing but a shabby specimen of scrambled eggs. Then I generously left it all* for Bridget's breakfast.
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Omelet