Now you need to whisk the mixture so that it contains lots of air, a balloon whisk is usually best, as you don't want to beet it too hard. Now that's done, you can heat the frying pan, add a small amount of cooking oil, and melt in some butter. When the frying pan is warm, add the mixture, and wait. Using a plastic spatula loosen the edges, and watch it cook until just before the last of the mixture at the top becomes dried out.
Hopefully your using a non stick frying pan, as that makes washing up easier. So that you can now simply fold your omelette in half and serve. What could be simpler. (ok lots of things could be simpler, but that's how you cook a basic omelette.) It is common to have cooked toast while the omelette is cooking, but if you need instructions for that, well frankly your beyond hope.
Fillings
Universal omelette fillings are Ham, Bacon ( yes I know that technically that bacon is ham, but for the purpose of this cookery session, we will differentiate between them.), Cheese, Mushrooms and Onion. These fillings, can be divided in to two sections, those that need cooking before they are added to your omelette, and those that you eat raw. All right some will suggest that Mushrooms, and Onion, could exist in both categories, but still these recipes are not law, so you can do what you like with them.
Things that need cooking, (Mushrooms, Onion, Bacon, what ever else you happen to have in the fridge.) Well basically after you have to chop them up into small bits, and then fry them in the frying pan, while you are mixing up the other ingredients. And when you come to pouring your mixture on top, you do simply that, and pour your mixture over whatever you decided should be apart of your omelette. Then you carry on as before.
Things that don't need cooking, (Mushrooms, Onion, Cheese, etc.) These you add just before you fold your omelette in half, so that they are in the middle. The cheese should melt, and that's all there is to it.
The Soufflé Omelette
This is principally exactly the similar to the standard omelette, and you can do the same sort of things when it comes down to optional enhancements, however there are several fundamental changes, that are important when it comes down to making soufflé omelettes. They look flash, and they sound flash, when you are telling someone that you are just going to throw one together, as everyone thinks that they are complicated, but they are not really, they just need a little more preparation, and some more style.
Now in the basic omelette we just put all the omelette ingredients into the same bowl, and whisked that, with soufflé omelettes, you have to be more careful and separate out the eggs. This means that you are going to need 2 mixing bowls, and be very careful, as you want to get the egg white into one bowl and the egg yoke (the yellow bit,) into a separate bowl.
There are several methods of doing this, personally I break the egg, over a coffee mug (having drunk all the coffee it contained previously, and having cleaned it out before this operation.) then I can transfer the yoke between each egg shell, and pour the white into the mug as I go. (I suggest that you do it this way too, as it means, if you break one egg it doesn’t ruin the whole thing.) the yoke can then be poured into one mixing bowl, and the whites into another. (You might find it an idea to practice this, when you are cooking basic omelettes, so that when you attempt a soufflé, you get it right, without wasting any eggs.)
Here comes the clever bit, you now beat the egg whites as hard as you can with a balloon whisk. (yes this is hard work, but its worth it.) The idea is that you want to get what is called soft peeks, (to put it simply this means that when you lift the whisk out of the mixture, the mixture lifts up slightly, and holds this peek after the whisk has been removed. The top of this peek should fold over, which is why its called soft peeks rather than hard peeks where they don't, but attaining hard peeks with a balloon whisk is really hard work, so it is unlikely that you will get to see this effect. (it’s over rated anyway))
Now when this bit of hard work has been completed, you now mix the rest of the ingredients together in the other mixing bowl, using a fork. This mixture can now be folded into the egg whites using a large spoon. This resulting mixture is then poured into the frying pan.
The other difference, is that you cook soufflé omelettes at a slightly higher heat than, basic omelettes, and you cook them quickly. So after about a minute and a half you then transfer the frying pan to under the grill, which you have preheated to a moderate heat, it remains under the grill for about another 1 minute 30 seconds, until the top is an even golden brown. It is now ready to be folded in half and served.
