Flavor Trends, Strategies and Solutions for Menu Development

Omelette, Oh My! It’s time to take a deeper look at the omelette’s menu potential

Chef Paul Kahan’s Fried Oyster Omelette, with charred ramp salsa verde and lemon aioli
PHOTO CREDIT: American Egg Board

Best of Flavor 2018

With breakfast fare finding favor with today’s diners, it’s time to take a deeper look at the omelette’s menu potential. Few chefs are better suited to the task of elevating something unexpected and delightful than Paul Kahan, Chef/Partner of Chicago’s One Off Hospitality, a restaurant group that boasts thriving concepts like Publican Anker, Blackbird and Pacific Standard Time.

His Fried Oyster Omelette with charred ramp salsa verde and lemon aïoli, created for the American Egg Board, showcases a modern take. “Unlike a traditional omelette, we use a large percentage of cream cheese, resulting in eggs that are rich and luxurious,” says Kahan.

His technique ensures a flawless result—and allows for make-ahead prep. He blends eggs with cream cheese, slow-scrambles them in butter until there are loose, medium curds. He chills them and vacuum seals, pushing the eggs into a log, rolling tightly and securing them.

For service, Kahan re-therms in simmering water, then plates the omelette. Charred ramp salsa verde, studded with green chickpeas, gets spooned overtop, along with velvety lemon aïoli. Deep-fried oysters finish the dish. “We coat the oysters in crumbled salt and vinegar potato chips, which lend an acidic element that cuts through the creaminess of the eggs,” says Kahan.

“This dish is a sensory roller coaster,” says Phaedra Ruffalo, Senior Director of Market Development with the American Egg Board. “You get smooth, creamy, briny, crispy, smoky, salty, sour—all in one bite.”

 

From the May/June Best of Flavor 2018 issue of Flavor & the Menu magazine. Read the full issue online or check if you qualify for a free print subscription.

 

 

About The Author

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Katie Ayoub is managing editor of Flavor & The Menu. She has been working in foodservice publishing for more than 16 years and on the Flavor team since 2006. She won a 2015 Folio award for her Flavor & The Menu article, Heritage Matters. In 2006, she won “Best Culinary Article” from the Cordon D’Or for an article on offal.