It’s Paris week on NewsforChews!  After watching the final stage of the Tour de France race along the Champs-Élysées yesterday, nostalgia hit me.  I can’t believe a little over a month ago I was walking along those same streets the cyclists were racing along.  So, this week I am going to be giving you a taste of France!

Like I said last week, I have the opportunity to participate in JC100, a national campaign involving restaurants, chefs, bookstores, and bloggers, all celebrating Julia Child and her legacy, as this year would have been Julia’s 100th birthday.  Julia considers today’s recipe, Omelette Roulée (Rolled Omelette), “dinner in half a minute,” and is all about the technique.

A good French omelette is a smooth, gently swelling, golden oval that is tender and creamy inside.  Before making this omelette, make sure you review the technique, since the technique makes the omelette.  For your pan, make sure you are not using a sticky pan…the eggs must be able to slide around.  Before making, your first omelette, sprinkle a teaspoon of table salt in the pan, heat it, and rub vigorously for a moment with paper towels.  Rub the pan clean, and it is ready for an omelette to be made.

For one omelette:

2-3 Eggs

Big Pinch of Salt

Pinch of Pepper

1 Tbsp Butter

Table Fork

Beat the eggs and seasonings in mixing bowl for 20-30 seconds until the whites and yolks are just blended

Place the butter in the pan and set over very high heat

As the butter melts, tilt the pan in all directions to film the sides

When you see that the foam has almost subsided in the pan, and the butter is on the point of coloring, pour in the eggs

Let the eggs settle in the pan for 2-3 seconds to form a film of coagulated egg in the bottom of the pan

Grasp the handle of the pan with both hands, thumbs on top, and immediately begin jerking the pan vigorously and roughly toward you at an even, 20-degree angle over the heat, one jerk per second.  (It is the sharp pull of the pan toward you which throws the eggs against the far lip of the pan, then back over its bottom surface.)

If you are adding filling, it would go into the eggs at this point (I added shredded cheese).  Then increase the angle of the pan slightly, which will force the egg mass to roll over on itself with each jerk at the far lip of the pan.

As soon as the omelette has shaped up, hold it in the angle of the pan to brown the bottom a pale golden color, but only for a second or two.  You do not want to overcook the eggs.  The center of the omelette should remain soft and creamy.

You can serve your rolled omelette for breakfast (as I did) or dinner!

(Recipe and images excerpted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Copyright © 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf)

Bon Appetite and resté sur sa faim (stay hungry)!