• A Work In Progress: “Everything You Thought You Knew About Grilling Is Wrong” and “More Grilling Tips”
• BillyReisinger.com: “The Ridiculously Thorough Guide to Making Your Own Pizza”
• Cooking For Engineers: “Bacon Cooking Test (Part I)” and “Cooking Tests: Bacon (Part II)”

And… one from me.

Jason’s Keep-It-Simple-Stupid Omelet!

• When choosing ingredients to put inside your omelet, don’t pick too many. Too many and the flavours can get muddled — having only one or two really allows those flavours to come through. My favourite is just mushrooms and cheese. Other nice options are spinach and cheese or broccoli and cheese. (Let’s just get this out of the way — cheese and something else is the way to go. ‘Nuff said.)
• Sauté your ingredients before cooking the omelet — don’t just throw ingredients in raw. (I go crazy when I see people cooking up an omelet and just throwing raw veggies over the cooking eggs. If I wanted a salad, I’d order a salad!) And really, wouldn’t you rather have nicely sautéed mushrooms rather than stinky raw ones? (I know I would.) However, don’t sauté tomatoes if you are planning on using the same pan to cook the omelet in. And if you try and sauté the cheese, you are dead to me.
• The egg mixture is just two eggs whisked with a little milk. Three eggs is manageable, but can be a little harder to cook thoroughly, depending on the size of the pan. And do you really need three eggs, chubbo?
• The pan should not be too wide (that’s why there are omelet pans, folks). Too wide a pan and the egg thins out too much and doesn’t have the proper strength to hold the ingredients in. Also, a lid for the pan is very helpful. It can be done without a lid, but you have to be more careful in ensuring that the egg is cooked all the way through.
• You should heat the pan on a low to medium-low heat, depending on your range. I have never had the privilege of cooking with a gas stove, so I’ve had to muddle through. (I’ve survived.) You want it to be fairly low to allow the omelet to cook through without burning the bottom or leaving the egg on the top uncooked.
• You need to grease the pan. No two ways about it. (If my wife asked for no oil or butter, I’ll do it for her, but it’s just not the same. Sorry dear.) Oil or butter are lovely, but on the few occasions that I’ve had bacon grease to use, it’s been something special.
• Put the egg mixture in the pan and put your salt/pepper/herbs/spices on top. Put the lid on it. Let it cook. You don’t need to flip the eggs. Just let them cook at a low enough temperature and they will cook all the way through. (No need for the crazy attempts at the flipping of the eggs… or the inevitable egg on the floor… or the crying… or the wailing… ) Check periodically to confirm that it is cooking at a slow enough pace. If it is cooking too fast, lower the heat. You may want to take it off the burner entirely for a minute or two.
• Only when the egg is cooked through, and not before, do you put on your cheese and your already sautéed ingredients. Then you can fold the omelet over on itself. (Once the omelet is in convenient pocket form, and the cheese has sealed that puppy up good, then you can flip it if you’d like. Go ahead. It’s allowed.)
• You’re done! Eat it and enjoy!

It’s not French cuisine, but it’s mighty tasty.