Fluffy Diner-Style Cheese Omelet

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(from Bethany’s recipe box)

Serves 2
Although this recipe will work with any electric mixer, a handheld mixer makes quick work of whipping such a small amount of cream. If using a standing mixer in step 1, transfer the whipped cream to a separate bowl, wipe out the mixing bowl, and then beat the eggs in the clean bowl.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Typical omelets make a fine breakfast or light dinner, but diner-style omelets can satisfy the biggest of appetites. We wanted to make our cheese omelet to be impossibly tall and fluffy and loaded with cheese and other fillings, but the recipes we tried left us with flat and flabby eggs. Incorporating air into the eggs with a mixer made our cheese omelet tall and fluffy. The cream’s fat made it impossible to whip air into the eggs, but we found a way to work around this: We whipped the cream first and then folded it into the whipped eggs. After letting the bottom of the omelet set on the stovetop, we popped the skillet into a preheated oven, and just six minutes later had a puffy, fluffy omelet, cooked to perfection.

Source: Cook's Country December/January 2012

Categories: Eggs and Breakfast

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream, chilled
  • 5 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1 recipe omelet filling (see related content), optional

Directions

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream to soft peaks, about 2 minutes. Set whipped cream aside. Beat eggs and salt in clean bowl on high speed until frothy and eggs have tripled in size, about 2 minutes. Gently fold whipped cream into eggs.

  2. Melt butter in 10-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, swirling pan to completely coat bottom and sides with melted butter. Add egg mixture and cook until edges are nearly set, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese (and half of filling, if using) and transfer to oven. Bake until eggs are set and edges are beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes.

  3. Carefully remove pan from oven (handle will be very hot). Sprinkle with remaining cheese (and remaining filling, if using) and let sit, covered, until cheese begins to melt, about 1 minute. Tilt pan and, using rubber spatula, push half of omelet onto cutting board. Tilt skillet so that omelet folds over itself to form half-moon. Cut omelet in half. Serve.

  4. TWELVE STEPS TO PERFECT FLUFFY OMELETS – 1. HEAT OVEN Set the oven to 400 degrees. WHY? Ordinarily, omelets cook on the stove from start to end. But these thick omelets finish cooking in the oven’s even heat. 2. BEAT CREAM Using an electric mixer, beat the cream to soft peaks. WHY? Cream makes for richer omelets. Whipping it gives these omelets extra lift. 3. BEAT EGGS Using the electric mixer, beat the eggs and the salt until doubled in volume. WHY? Beating the eggs for two minutes is how we get high, fluffy omelets. 4. FOLD TOGETHER Gently fold the whipped cream into the whipped eggs. WHY? If you stir vigorously or overmix the eggs and cream, they can deflate. 5. MELT BUTTER Melt the butter on the stovetop in an ovensafe 10-inch nonstick skillet. WHY? What, you make omelets with oil? Butter tastes better. 6. POUR IN EGGS Add the egg mixture and cook for two to three minutes over medium-low heat until the edges set. WHY? The hot pan sets the bottom and edges of the omelet. 7. ADD CHEESE Sprinkle half of the cheese (and half of the filling, if using) over the eggs. WHY? To give the cheese time to melt. 8. BAKE OMELET Place the omelet in the oven and bake for six to eight minutes. WHY? The oven’s ambient heat is the best way to set the top and interior of the omelet. 9. ADD REMAINING CHEESE Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle on the remaining cheese. WHY? If you added all the cheese at once, the interior would take too long to set. 10. COVER AND WAIT Cover the pan with a lid and let it sit, off heat, for one minute. WHY? The cheese melts while the omelet very gently finishes cooking. 11. SLIDE OUT Uncover, tilt the pan, and nudge half of the omelet onto the cutting board. WHY? A big omelet needs support to come out of the pan intact. 12. FOLD OVER Tilt the skillet so the omelet folds into a half moon (if filling, slide out the whole omelet, top with remaining filling, and then fold). WHY? So the skillet does the work of flipping the omelet.

  5. SIZE MATTERS Our recipes almost always call for large eggs. If you’re working with a different size, the corresponding average weights will help with substitutions. For example, a dozen extra-large eggs are about equivalent to 14 medium eggs. An Extra-large egg should weight about 1.9 ounces, with a large and medium weighing 1.7 and 1.6 ounces respectively.

  6. WARM THIS, CHILL THAT Our recipe for Fluffy Diner-Style Cheese Omelet calls for chilled heavy cream and room temperature eggs. Why? The colder the heavy cream, the more easily it will whip. Luckily, this is no trouble for the cook. Simply leave the heavy cream in the refrigerator until just before you measure and whip it. (For the same reason, cooks often chill the bowl before whipping cream.) As for the eggs, they’ll beat more easily and take in air faster when they’re at room temperature (we beat them until doubled in size). Does that mean you have to wake up early to set your eggs on the counter? No, simply fill a bowl with warm water from the tap, submerge the eggs carefully, and let them warm up for five minutes. MODERATE THE HEAT Overcooking has turned many a good omelet bad, which is why most of us have had the disappointing experience of eating a rubbery omelet. We engineered our recipe to guarantee your omelet will be moist and tender: We start it in a skillet on the stove over medium-low heat until the edges barely set—no more than three minutes. We move it to a hot oven, so the interior can cook through evenly in the circulating heat. After sprinkling on the last bit of cheese, we cover the skillet with a lid and let the omelet sit off heat briefly so the cheese can melt without the omelet overcooking. Together, these techniques safeguard against tough omelets. WARM THE EGGS They’ll beat more efficiently.

  7. EGG-CELLENT ADVICE – FLUFFY RULES Is there anything wrong with an ordinary, flat omelet? Absolutely not. But our fluffy omelets are extraordinarily light and, well, fluffy. Give them a try. DON’T BREAK IT! Omelets usually tear because they’re overstuffed or they get manhandled in the pan. Our filling recipes don’t overstuff the delicate egg base, and our sliding/folding technique protects against breakage. FILL THE OMELET TWICE Wonder why we fill our omelet in two stages, using just half the filling before baking the omelet? If we added all of it at once to the delicate whipped eggs, they would deflate. After the omelet has set in the oven, we gently slide it from the skillet, distribute the remaining filling over half the baked omelet, and fold it closed. USE A HAND MIXER We usually prefer a stand mixer, but to whip such a scant amount of cream, a hand mixer is more effective. FLAT IS FINE BUT… Not nearly as nice as fluffy. HANDLE WITH CARE Overfill your omelet or turn it out roughly and it’ll look like this.

  8. DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE To make two omelets, double this recipe and cook the omelets simultaneously in two skillets. If you have only one skillet, prepare a double batch of ingredients and set half aside for the second omelet. Be sure to wipe out the skillet in between omelets.

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