Sunday Morning Brunch: Souffléd Omelet

Sunday Brunch. Simple words that serve as a cherished weekend routine. It’s a meal that becomes the event on a lazy weekend day. A meal you take your time with. Relax, unplug, visit, eat, read, enjoy. Since Sunday is my Saturday, I get extra excited when I roll out of bed. The combination of sleeping in and knowing that the meal I have been waiting all week for is just moments away... well, there are few words to better describe it than "perfection."

On the menu today is a delicate, wispy and fragile Souffléd Omelet with Goat Cheese & Fines Herbes. Fines Herbes is a classic French blend of herbs consisting of equal parts Chervil, Chives, Parsley and Tarragon. The herbs in this dish deliver a wallop of flavor while the goat cheese carries a breathy whisper of tart and creaminess to balance just perfectly. The souffléd omelet is a hybrid of two popular egg preparations, the omelet and the soufflé, obviously. It takes advantage of the extra loft provided when egg whites are beaten separately from the yolks and then gently folded in. The proteins in egg whites, when beaten with a whisk, uncurl and bind to each other, trapping little pockets of air. When heated, the air expands inside the pockets and the soufflé puffs. The water evaporates leaving behind nothing but the inflated thin framework of protein strands.

The key to properly trapping these air bubbles and subsequently having a soufflé that puffs comes from the beating of the egg whites. First and foremost, start with very clean equipment. The slightest presence of fat will interrupt the linking of protein chains and the bubbles wont inflate. Using a stainless steel mixing bowl is your best bet, plastic or wooden bowls are so porous that you can never be sure that they are completely free from fat. Using an electric mixer will save time and save you any potential wrist pain associated with extended periods of whisking by hand. The egg whites will take on a few characteristics on their way to stiff peaks: first they will develop into soft billowing mounds, second they will begin to create peaks. These peaks however will almost immediately collapse back into the bowl, they are called "soft peaks" so keep going, you're almost to the third stage: "stiff peaks." When the peaks are stiff enough to hold their shape both in the bowl and on the end of the whisk, you're done. Stiff egg whites should not be dry or grainy and should not slip when the bowl is tilted. They should, however, be shiny and glossy and be able to support a whole egg when propped on top. They are unbelievably stable and at this point will be able to withstand being spooned and folded into the yolks as well as the heat of the oven.


Souffléd Omelet with Goat Cheese & Fines Herbes


4 eggs, separated

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

salt + pepper, to your liking

2 tbsp goats cheese

4 tbsp fines herbes

2 tsp butter


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a clean electric mixer, beat egg whites, water and cream of tartar to stiff peaks.

3. In a separate bowl, mix egg yolks, salt + pepper, goat cheese and herbs until well blended.

4. Place a 10-inch, ovenproof, nonstick frying pan over medium-heat and add the butter. The butter will foam once melted, when the foam begins to subside, tilt the pan to distribute the butter evenly on the bottom of the pan and on the sides.

5. Working quickly, gently fold the yolks into the egg whites mixture, using a rubber spatula. Be sure not to crush too much air out of the egg whites.

6. Scoop the egg mixture into the pan and smooth the surface, cook briefly over the flame and then transfer into the oven and bake until the center is firm, approximately 9-10 minutes.

Serve immediately and enjoy.