The Denver Omelet – Denver, Colorado, Not Denver, France

This Denver omelet was one of the first things I learned how to make professionally, during my brief, but exciting career as a short order cook in high school. So, it was a little disconcerting to learn when I arrived at culinary school that everything I had done was totally wrong.

According to the chefs teaching me how to make a classic French omelet, my Denver omelet was overcooked, over-browned, and included too many ingredients.  It was made very clear that if I made that for my exam, I would fail, which was confusing since I thought they were really good, and the people at the diner where I’d worked seemed to agree.

Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate both styles of omelet, and understand they really are two entirely different things. I’m not sure exactly why, but I seem to prefer the softer French version for breakfast, and this heartier American-style for lunch, or dinner. Maybe it’s the browning, or denser texture, but it really does make for a great “can’t figure out what to have for dinner” idea.

As with all omelets, feel free to toss in anything you want, but just be sure to cook it long enough before adding the eggs.  To me there’s nothing worse than an omelet with crunchy, undercooked vegetables in it, and that’s really the only way to screw this up. But, no matter what you use, or when you enjoy this, I really do hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one Denver omelet:

1 tablespoon butter

3 large eggs

1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup diced smoked ham

2 tablespoon finely diced onion

2 tablespoon finely green bell pepper

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

pinch of cayenne

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The Parmelet – Turning the Late-Night Omelet Inside Out

Like most late night, post-saloon culinary experiments, I wasn’t expecting too much as I attempted this crispy, inside-out parmesan omelet, so I was fairly thrilled with how it turned out. The caramelized cheese had formed a thin, but protective layer, and since the eggs had never directly touched the pan, they were moist and tender. It might have been the cocktails talking, but I started to think I had stumbled on to some sort of omelet hack, which improves both the texture of the surface, and diminishes the chance of dry, bitter, overcooked eggs. 

I also tried this with cheddar, and it works pretty much the same. There is one catch, in that you need a nonstick pan for this to work, but other than that, not much can go wrong, and so much can go right. Like what to stuff in the middle. As long as you heat it first, a reasonable amount of any classic omelet filling would shine.

This will also work whether you use one or three eggs, depending on the texture you’re going for. Using a single egg is kind of a cool trick, since the cheese layer is almost as thick, and you can really appreciate the crispness even more. I hope you give this great new omelet technique a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one Parmelet:

8-inch non-stick pan

1 teaspoon olive oil

25 grams (just shy of 1-ounce) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1,2, or 3 large eggs, beaten

1/8 teaspoon water per egg

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

pinch of cayenne

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Soft Hard Boiled Eggs – Cooking with Steam

As vaguely promised in the grilled shrimp Louie video, here is my foolproof method for doing hard-boiled eggs, when we want softer, creamier yolks. This style works very nicely for salads, and above and beyond the texture, we get pure egg flavor, without the sulfuric bitterness that over-boiled eggs suffer from.

Of course, there are variables. Large egg sizes can vary, as does the temperature of refrigerators, so your time to hard boiled egg nirvana may vary. For me, 6 to 7 minutes gives me a perfect runny yolk; 9 to 10 minutes gives me what you see in the video, or a “soft hard boiled egg,” if you prefer; and 11-12 gets you closer to the fully-cooked, classic yolk.

My suggestion is to get a dozen eggs, and do some tests. This steaming method is very precise, and repeatable, once you lock it in. By the way, there doesn’t seem to be a big difference whether you cook one egg or six, but I’ve never actually tried this with a whole dozen, so if you do, let me know the results. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 quart saucepan with lid

1 1/4 cup water

6 large eggs, straight from the refrigerator

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