Monday, July 28, 2008

Jelly Omelet

I grew up in Oregon, but have spent half a lifetime below the Mason Dixon line. Still, I was shocked the first time I heard someone ask for jelly on an egg sandwich.

Sure, I've put pickles (sweet and otherwise) with peanut butter, but... jelly with eggs?

Yes. Jelly with eggs. Witness this offering from The Pooh Cook Book:
Jelly Omelet

(Yield: 1-2 servings)

2-3 eggs
Small skillet, 7-inch
1 Tablespoon butter or margarine
2 Tablespoons jelly
Salt and pepper

Break the eggs in a bowl, add a little salt and pepper, and beat with a fork until the yolks and whites are thoroughly mixed.

Heat the skillet with the butter and pour in the beaten eggs.

Keep over low heat. When the bottom of the egg mixture is firm and the top soft but not runny, spoon in the jelly evenly over the back half of the egg surface.

Loosen the egg mixture on the unjellied front half around the edge of the pan. Tip the pan away from you and flip the front half of the egg mixture over the back half.

Let it sit for a minute before serving.

...humming to himself in a rather sticky voice, he got up, shook Rabbit lovingly by the paw, and said that he must be going on.
"Must you?" said Rabbit politely.
"Well," said Pooh, "I could stay a little longer if it -- if you --" and he tried very hard to look in the direction of the larder.
-- Winnie-the-Pooh


This, in a cookbook for children.

To this day, I've not mastered flipping an omelet in the pan (rolling/flipping it as it makes its way onto the plate is a different matter). I'm tempted to explain the "mix eggs, then heat pan" as a tailored instruction to a less-than-experienced child chef; for anyone who can crack and whip 3 eggs in quick order, I'd get the pan on the heat first thing.

It may also be my nearly unholy love for pork products, but... this would be great with crumbled bacon in it.

My early lack of exposure to this delight just goes to show I came by my love of cookbooks late; Fannie Farmer's famous tome has recipes for jelly omelets going way back.

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