I have a dish I’ve been making for over a year. The goal is to get protein and flavour. I start by melting butter in a small skillet on medium heat, then I sauté some chopped garlic in it. I then add protein — usually, chopped sausage. Add some salt and freshly-ground pepper, and kinda flatten it out. Then I pour three beat eggs over it.
Here’s where things get interesting. I cut the heat down to low, and cover it, until the egg starts to rise. I dash it with some cumin, and flip. I lay some pepper jack cheese down, fold it over, cut the heat off, and let the cheese melt.
It’s kind of like an omelet because it’s egg with protein and cheese in it and it’s folded. But I suspect some foodies would say it’s not an omelet. It’s not a quiche because I don’t use crust (that would add carbs I don’t want). It might be a frittata, but I think of those as having way more eggs (a whole dozen, at least).
I know, for a home cook it doesn’t matter what a dish is called as long as it meets your needs, and my dish absolutely meets my needs. I’m just wondering what a cooking community would call it. Totally open to tips!
I modified it for my wife by sautéing sliced mushrooms with less garlic, and using ham, and Swiss for the cheese. I do not like mushrooms or Swiss cheese, but I made it the same otherwise and she said it was outstanding. I’ve also made it (for myself) with chorizo, with boneless/skinless chicken breast, with brisket, with carnitas — meat always cooked, of course! I’ve even laid down a few scoops of leftover Jambalaya and poured the eggs over that. Gotta cook that lower, so the rice doesn’t burn.
Sounds like a Frittata to me.
This is the correct answer
That’s kind of what I was thinking. I married into an Italian family and fell in love with the dish, but my in-laws only use pepperoni, mozzarella, and asparagus. I started coming up with alternative meat/cheese combinations and they looked at me like I was crazy! A frittata typically does not get folded, but you could really serve the dish however. Another difference is, with frittata, the ingredients are mixed in before the mixture is added to the pan. A slight difference.
That is an omelette. What makes you think it’s not?
Partly the food being mixed in. Partly the thickness. Partly YouTubers making omelettes and them looking differently.
I guess it’s a loose/wide definition.
That’s an omelette, they can have more than one fold/flip.
I mean more goes into an omelette that just having a fold/flip, but it can still be considered an omelette because the eggs are beaten (otherwise you’re most likely going into scrambled eggs territory), the filling is not mixed in it with the eggs (which would move it more into frittata territory), it’s not relying on dairy (which would make it more like a quiche) and it seems to be thin enough to be folded (if it’s too thick it goes back into frittata or quiche territory). Worst case OP is just making overcooked omelettes.
The only things an omelette purist might bring up is that when the eggs get added you don’t want to cover it up because that lets steam build up which usually leads to a puffy and dry (or drier) omelette. Instead you should slowly stir it to get the omelette to set more evenly. When it starts to set you stop stirring and let it cook a little more so the bottom gets firm (but not like a clear crust) while the top keeps its silky texture. And if you want cheese on the omelette use a cheese grater not slabs of cheese (unless those slabs are very thin) because you’re very likely to overcook the omelette while you wait for the slabs to melt. Of course all of that applies only when you don’t put in too much filling so the omelette stays on the thinner side (easy to fold). If your omelette is already thick due to a lot of filling (hard or impossible to fold) don’t even bother listening to the purists because the purists will tell you to stop butchering an omelette and just make a Frittata. But I say don’t let you dreams be dreams, just do it the way you like it.
Thanks. When I see omelets (omelettes) (is there a difference?) I typically see a crepe of scrambled eggs with other food on top and then it’s folded twice, or rolled. The IHOP omelet is pretty interesting (as it’s stretched/firmed by pancake batter, or so they say) and it has both protein in it and on it. Their Colorado omelet is exciting to me. I wish I could make something like that. It’s not even fancy, but I don’t care about fancy. Function way over form.
Sure sounds like an omelet to me. It’s not a frittata or quiche because of the folds, IMO
