Basic Professional French Cooking

Omelette Basquaise

The Omelette Basquaise, also called Omelette a l’Espagnolie, is a flat omelet garnished with a mixture of stewed onions, green peppers, tomatoes and garlic. Basquaise garniture is similar to the Portugaise garniture, except that the Portugaise mixture contains mo peppers and uses shallots instead of onions.

When preparing omelets, make sure that the eggs are at room temperature. If the egg mixture is cold when put into the sauté pa, it will cool the pad and cause the eggs to cook to slowly and become tough. They may also stick.

Chefs often disagree about how much to cook omelets. Some prefer them lightly browned while others prefer no coloration at all. In French, an omelet which is still runny indide is referred to as ‘baveuse’.

Ingredients (for 8 servings)

16 Eggs (2 per person, three can be used if the omelet is for a main course)

40 ml Olive Oil (1.5 oz)

Salt and Pepper

For the Basquaise Garniture:

40 ml Olive Oil (1.5 oz)

400 g Tomatoes (14 oz)

200 g Onions (7 oz)

200 g Green Peppers (7 oz)

1 clove Garlic

Salt and Pepper

To Finish:

20 g Butter (.6 oz)

10 g Parsley, washed, dried and chopped (.3 oz)

Procedure

Preparing the Garniture

1. -Set up work station before beginning work.
   

2. -Peel and slice the onions.
   

3. -Rinse the green peppers and cut them in half from top to bottom. Remove the core and seeds. Slice into thin strips.
   

4. -Gently heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot and add the onions. After about 5 minutes, add the peppers. Let the mixture stew for about 10 minutes.
   

5. -Emonder the tomatoes and refresh them in cold water. Slice them in half sideways and squeeze out the seeds. Chop coarsely and add to the pepper and onion mixture.
   

6. -Continue to stew the Basquaise mixture until all liquid has evaporated. Remove the garlic clove.
   

To order

1. -Make sure the omelet pan is perfectly clean and well seasoned.
   

2. -Make sure the eggs are at room temperature. Break two eggs into a bowl. Add a table spoon of teh Basquaise mixture and a pinch of the chopped pars;ey/ Save two tablespoons of the Basquaise mixture and a pinch of parsley per omelet to use as the final garniture. Season the egg mixture with salt and pepper.
   

3. -Heat the pan with a little olive oil. When hot, add the eggs and let cook for 5 seconds. Then with a fork, bring the sides from north, south, east and west.
   

4. -With the back of the fork, scramble the eggs lightly. Bang the bottom of the pan to help set the eggs and smooth out the bottom.
   

5. -Flip the omelet and let it cook fro 5 - 10 seconds. Or, instead of flipping, place under the salamander. It should be soft but not runny.
   

6. -Place on a hot plate and brush lightly with melted butter or olive oil.
   

7. -Place two tablespoons of the hot Basquaise mixture in the center of the omelet, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

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