Yep. After fortysome years of promoting the goodness of eggs and the awesomeness of omelets, I’m retiring. It’s time to spend more time with my family and grandkids and a little bit less time behind the frying pan. Over the years, I’ve met an incredibly long line of omelet aficionados, many of whom I’ve personally trained, and I trust that they’ll continue to spread their omelet and egg enthusiasm to others. It has been a terrific ride with the grandest bunch of people ever – the American Egg Board and the farmers who provide eggs for all of us to enjoy!

Just because I’m retiring doesn’t mean that you’ve heard the last of the Omelet King! I’ll still be out and about, so if you see me around, come over and say hello! In the meantime, be sure to keep a close eye on my fellow omelet-loving eggspert, Jeffrey Saad – he truly is incredible too!

Thanks for stopping by over the years.

So long for now,

Howard

No wonder the Japanese rank first in per capita egg consumption. With the exception of their fish dishes, eggs are eaten on, with and in almost everything! The most popular breakfast meal is an egg broken into a bowl of hot rice, stirred and eaten lightly scrambled. Other dishes, like sukiyaki and shabu-shabu, are served communally, with whisked egg on the side that is used like a dipping sauce.

There are all sorts of other egg dishes, too! Almost any meat that’s coated with bread-like panko crumbs and then fried becomes the centerpiece of a frittata-like egg dish served over rice. Even fish! At my hotel’s breakfast buffet, scrambled eggs were served topped with  white crab sauce, and wherever there’s sushi, there’s hard-cooked egg yolk wrapped with rice that’s wrapped with paper-thin egg. Oh, and who can forget about one of my favorites—the Tomago Roll! 

And, I haven’t even mentioned egg rolls yet, which shouldn’t be confused with the Chinese variation. The Japanese version is 100% egg!

This all leads me to wonder why the omelet has escaped the Japanese. Omelets aren’t typically made in Japanese homes because most omelets made in Japan are prepared in restaurants by professional chefs using the classical (and complicated!) French method, which can be a bit scary to try in a household kitchen.

That’s where I come in.

For the second year in a row, the Japanese egg farmers invited me show off my forty-second omelet making technique to their omelet-starved country. Like last year, my audiences were mostly comprised of students and aspiring chefs of all ages, from both culinary and cooperative organization schools.

As an extra special treat, I was also invited by the Tokyo Gas Company to the most state-of-the-art cooking classroom I’d ever been in to teach their guests how prepare their own omelets. Oh my! Each class had more than 30 attendees—and some even had 60! Each classroom was equipped with stations for all of the guests to cook, and cook they did! While most of the classes I taught used ingredients such as diced ham, shredded generic cheese and mixed vegetables, the gas company provided a wide range ingredients for the omelets, including sautéed apples, cheddar, bacon and pecans. They even gave ingredients I could use to make an omelet of assorted meats and vegetables wrapped in a flour tortilla and even more so I could demonstrate a dessert omelet of strawberries, kiwis and bananas flambéed with Gran Marnier. Very ambitious!

As a sign of appreciation, each night the Japanese egg farmers treated me to a banquet of traditional Japanese food, including a lot of sushi, sashimi and marinated fish. Needless to say, I was able to not go hungry during the whole week I was there!

I love Japan, especially the people. Their attention to detail in every way, especially when garnishing a plate of food, is unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been, as is their generosity and genteelness. And of course, I also love the way they respect the nutrition, versatility and flavor of their eggs. After all, there’s a reason they’re number one in the world in the number of eggs eaten by everyone.

Sayonara for now!

Two or three times a year, I’m invited to talk about eggs on “Everyday Food,” a program produced by Martha Stewart Living Radio and aired over Sirius XM satellite radio network. This appearance was especially exciting because it was by special invitation to be on the program’s third anniversary show, and on the show’s blog I learned that only the program’s “favorite” guests were invited to the anniversary celebration.

The show’s hosts, Sandy Gluck and Betsy Karetnick, talked about the many previous shows that featured eggs, and during the 20-minute segment, I was able to talk about two of my favorite recipes: Sudden Quiche and Tomago Roll.

Left to right, Betsy Karetnick, me, Sandy Gluck at Martha Stewart Radio

The key to the Sudden Quiche is using a frozen pie shell or a refrigerated pastry sheet instead of a pastry shell from scratch, which would surely have been Martha’s way. Aside from the crust, it’s simply a recipe that involves mixing only a few ingredients together and then baking.

The Tomago Roll, on the other hand, is mostly about technique.

Sushi aficionados will recognize a Tomago Roll as a Japanese omelet available on most any sushi menu. Its authentic Japanese version is comprised of layers of eggs rolled back and forth across one another in a special rectangular pan designed just for that use. Also, the authentic version uses sake (Japanese rice wine) mixed with the eggs and nori (seaweed) paper in between the layers. In my recipe, I’m able to roll the layers back and forth in an ordinary standard 10-inch coated pan, even though it’s round and not rectangular. Lastly, I substitute sake with an ordinary dry white wine and I use a sprinkling of gruyere cheese and bacon between the layers instead of nori paper. 

Can you see the paper thin layers of egg here?

Though preparing this version of an omelet is fairly labor intensive the payoff is worth it. A Tomago Roll is so light and airy (much like a crepe) that the flavor explodes in your mouth right at the first chew. While I generally believe that cutting an omelet into two servings is totally unacceptable – one omelet for one person please – in the case of this rich, three egg Japanese omelet with cheese and bacon, I’ll allow it! 

JAPANESE ROLLED OMELET

(Dashi-maki tamago)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon dry white wine

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup diced scallions or chives

1/2-cup Swiss or Gruyere cheese

Vegetable oil

In a 2-cup measuring cup with handle and spout, thoroughly whisk together the eggs, sugar and wine.

Toss together scallions or chives and cheese for filling.

Heat a 10-in coated frypan and wipe it with oil.

Pour in egg just enough to cover the bottom of the pan (as if for a crepe) and simultaneously tilt and roll the pan so the pan bottom is covered with a paper-thin coating of egg (the egg should setup instantly).  Sprinkle about 2-tablespoons of the filling all over the top.

Looking down into the pan, carefully roll this thin egg pancake from 6 o’clock on the pan upwards to 12 o’clock on the pan using a spatula, 2 forks or 2 chopsticks.  Now slide the rolled pancake back down to the 6 o’clock position on the pan and repeat the procedure…

…pour in just enough egg to cover the bottom of the pan and simultaneously tilt and roll the pan so the pan is covered with a paper-thin coating of egg that attaches itself to the existing roll.  Now roll upward again incorporating the new egg pancake into the existing roll.  Repeat the procedure again and again until there’s no more egg.

Slide the roll of egg to the top of the pan and lift the pan handle upward so the roll falls onto a plate.  Slice and serve.  Makes about 6 slices.

Enjoy!

Recently, I had my second opportunity to meet food bloggers! This time, I met with nine moms who write about food, as well as their everyday lives with their families, and are a resource for moms who visit them in cyberspace. Isn’t that amazing? It is to me, the father of two now-grown children who were raised entirely on information given in a book by a guy named Dr. Spock. He was the only game in town at the time.

As part of the Good Egg Project, an initiative by America’s egg farmers to show people where their eggs come from, we were all out in Portland, OR, to tour Willamette Egg Farms, a family business that gathers close to 1.7 million eggs a day with 90% of them staying local. At the farm, they were able to get up close and personal with the hens that lay the eggs, and they were educated about each of the different types of eggs eggs now available to consumers in their own markets. All of the bloggers raved about how clean the facilities were and that all of the hens, regardless of their environment, were as happy as, well, hens. 

While the moms toured the grounds, my colleague Jeffrey Saad and I demonstrated our egg cooking prowess during a number of local TV segments with weatherman Andy Carson that aired live from the farm. I demonstrated my world-famous 40-second omelet, as well as how to make both an omelet wrap and a stuffed western omelet. I also raced Andy (whose omelet ended-up more like egg soup), and then tried to see how many omelets I could prepare during one weather segment. Of course, things didn’t exactly happen as planned because one of my two burners ran out of gas just as I began to cook.  Nuts. I like showing-off my speed!

Following the tour, Jeffrey and I demonstrated a number of recipe ideas for the bloggers to try for themselves. I, of course, did omelets all the while teaching about the speed, economy, versatility and—especially—the nutritional value of eggs. There’s just so much to say about eggs! Jeffrey demonstrated five egg dishes, including a breakfast burrito panini and a cookie-cutter toad in the hole. Then, we invited everyone to show off their skills, trying out our recipes as we went around helping out and offering tips.

Next, Mary Donkersloot, a hip and charming registered dietician with a private practice, took the stage and talked all about how nutritious eggs are, giving examples of how she’s helped her clients by encouraging them to eat more eggs. 

I spent a lot of time with one of the bloggers, Kelsey Banfield, a mom from New York who now lives in Connecticut but knows all of my favorite New York restaurants—and even some of the same people that I know! I’ve been reading her blog The Naptime Chef  to keep up with her and the things she said about our tour. You can also visit all the other food bloggers here:

Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures

She Wears Many Hats
Gourmet Mom on the Go
Prudence Pennywise
The Wicked Noodle
Cookin’ Canuck
She’s Becoming Doughmesstic
Savor The Thyme

One last note: The Good Egg Project is something we can all participate in. Readers of this blog can go to www.GoodEggProject.org and once at the site, can pledge to eat good and do good every day. For every pledge, egg farmers will donate an egg to feed the needy. So far since 2009 about 28 million eggs have been donated. Also, once at the site, you can learn how the eggs we buy get from farm to table. I think you’ll be interested in that.

Some people like me, who get to travel from state fair to state fair, can sample the weirdly contrived food on fair midways from coast to coast. It’s as if there’s a competition among food vendors to see who can come up with the year’s most off-the-wall concoction, and at this year’s Indiana State Fair, I found a number of items that would have been excellent nominees—but you don’t have to take my word for it! I invited two representatives from the Indiana State Poultry Association to critique a selection of fair offerings. Meet Erika and Andrea, two young, adventurous ladies that were game to try the craziest concoctions the fair had to offer!!

Let’s start with one of my favorites—A donut burger! This bizarre treat was a tasty hamburger with lettuce and tomato sandwiched between a glazed Krispy Kreme donut. How delicious does it sound to you? As an aficionado of Fair Food, I thought it tasted surprisingly good. Since everyone loves a good burger and Krispy Kreme donuts, it only makes sense that people would love them together, too. Andrea agreed that it was better than she ever would have thought, and Erika loved that it was an all-in-one entrée and dessert that could be eaten with one hand. We all agreed that that everyone loves a simultaneously sweet and sour combination of flavors, and that’s exactly what made this sandwich work. On a scale of one to five stars, Erika gave it 2.5 and Andrea gave it 3 stars.

How about one that didn’t work quite as well… Chocolate covered bacon. Yes, you read right. It’s crispy bacon fried and then dipped into melted bittersweet chocolate. While this was another sweet and salty combination of flavors, we didn’t think this one worked, probably because it was too sweet and too salty. Erika thought the bacon was too salty and that there was too much chocolate on it. She gave it 2.5 to 3 stars. Andrea liked it better than the donut burger! She gave it 3 stars.

Another one that didn’t work as well was deep fried Pepsi. We were served three large balls fashioned from Pillsbury biscuits, injected with Pepsi fountain syrup and deep fried till golden brown. DANGER! When Erika first began eating the ball, the sizzling hot syrup singed her tongue like the first bite of a hot pizza—Eeeeoww!! Although I tended to agree with her, it might have been the pain’s fault that she declared the item to be the worst thing she’d ever tasted.

Back to the good stuff—Fried butter! The creator of this concoction told us he makes the stuff in 8-lbs.batches using real butter. Once softened—the butter is combined with a binding medium containing brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Then the batter is rolled into balls, dipped into funnel cake batter, and then dropped into hot oil to fry, resulting in hushpuppy-like balls. The creator of this crazy concoction proudly told us that it took him weeks of trial and error before perfecting the formula—and thankfully he also told us that we’d be wise to lean forward as we bite into the ball “so as not to spill all of the juicy goodness over your clothes.” Andrea really liked the dish giving it 4 stars. Erika was less enthusiastic. She said that there wasn’t nearly enough butter flavor so she gave it 3.5 stars. Andrea told her that she found “all of the butter flavor in one glob at the bottom of the ball” that she had eaten and Erika was being too judgmental. It was beginning to sound like an “American Idol” judging to me! While they didn’t taste exactly like butter, there was no denying that they were a treat! 

Lastly, I couldn’t help but try one of the famous fried Twinkies on a stick! It was exactly as you’d imagine: a Twinkie dipped in batter and deep fried to golden brown perfection, then stuck on a stick and dusted with confectioner’s sugar. While they offered to top it with strawberry pie filling and/or chocolate syrup, we opted for our Twinkie neat. Like everything else, the Twinkie arrived piping hot. I was around in the 1960’s when the Woodstock Generation ate Twinkies by the bushel. We considered them to be a food group unto themselves—needless to say, I’m a huge fan, and the fried variety didn’t disappoint! I loved it. Andrea, however, gave it only 1 star saying that to her it had no flavor. Erika also gave it a low score, only 2 stars. 

My thanks to Andrea for the pictures you see here. She and Erika were my “Vanna Whites” for the four omelet programs I gave to packed audiences. I had a big crowd at my first program where I gave samples to all, reminding them that the morning is the best time to protein-load their bodies and minds for the day and that eggs are the way to go.

What a great end to my last state fair of the year!

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Mexico for the United States Poultry on behalf of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, an organization whose mission is to promote the exporting of American chicken, turkey and eggs worldwide. This is the fourth straight year I’ve traveled to Mexico for the organization, and my job is to promote liquefied and pasteurized eggs, which are not only less prone to contamination but also more convenient to use in foodservice kitchens. Although Mexico is one of the world’s largest consumers of eggs per capita, it doesn’t produce liquid eggs, so we try to introduce it to chefs and restaurateurs in the foodservice business there. A really good way to do that is by showing the chefs how great the product performs when making omelets—That’s where I come in!   

This year I had chefs from the Nikko, Marriott, Emporios and Ritz Carlton hotels, as well as those from several other major hotels, chains and resorts located across Mexico. I also had culinary school students attend my demonstrations since they will hopefully become the chefs who will use our product when they graduate and move into their professional kitchens.   

During my demonstrations, we used an American whole egg product alternative that delivers great omelets—it’s basically the same as eggs that come pre-cracked and scrambled. Needless to say, everyone got their fill! 

In my down time in Mexico, I discovered two particularly interesting Mexican dishes that each had a patriotic spin. While certainly not new to Mexico, both were new to me and both were deliberately presented in ways reminiscent of the national colors of Mexico. One of them even had its ingredients placed so it looked just like the flag! 

Chile en Nogada is a seasonal dish available only in September for two reasons: first, it’s made in honor of Mexican Independence Day, September 16^th. Secondly, September is the season for pomegranates, an essential component of the dish. Pomegranates, incidentally, are sometimes called “love apples” and have been associated with health and rebirth as far back as 2000 BC. Chile en Nogada is essentially a gigantic poblano chile that’s stuffed plump to the hilt with meat cooked with sweets morsels such as peaches and raisins and nuts such as almonds, which are added for crunch. The whole plump poblano is topped with a white sauce made from cream, castilla nuts, a cornstarch-like ingredient for thickening and sometimes cheese. Oh and of course lots and lots of juicy red pomegranate seeds! Hence the green (poblano), red (pomegranate seeds) and white sauce that is the flag of Mexico.  

 Oh and wait until you hear about the eggs! 

Huevos Divorciado, which translates to “divorced eggs,” area whimsical take on sunnyside-up eggs. Placed on opposite sides of a plate, one is topped with a red sauce made from red tomato, onion and garlic and the other egg is topped with a green sauce made from tomatillo (green tomato), onion, cilantro and chile arbol. Fresh white panela cheese separates the eggs – and the colors – keeping them “divorced” while displaying the colors of the Mexican flag—red, white and green! Cute, huh?

 Check the presentation—The egg yolks play “peek-a-boo” through the sauces!   

Every year, I love going to Mexico so much because my hosts and I have become very good friends—I can’t wait to return. Their spirit and humor are absolutely contagious, and they do wonderful things with eggs!

I had never been to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. It’s a lovely beach community that’s a vacation destination popular with folks from New York City all the way to Washington, DC. Unlike many other seaside destinations that might have a touristy feeling about them, Rehoboth is a quaint town with many ultra-fine restaurants and upscale shops. I came to town because a local radio station and a bookstore named Browseabout Books (a popular spot for townspeople to gather) hosted an omelet breakfast, free to everyone who showed up.

Although ham and cheese omelets are my specialty, I wanted to give my guests there something a little bit more exotic. This being the case, I chose to make an Omelet Lorraine, a 2-egg omelet with a dry white wine (Chardonnay in this case) mixed into the eggs and filled with Swiss cheese and bacon, served with a dollop of Dijon mustard. As much as I love ham and cheese, Omelet Lorraine is my personal favorite because it’s tres Francais!

Although I was only planning to cook for an hour, the huge, hungry crowd forced me to start early, so I ended up cooking for 90 minutes straight. In that time, I served 94 omelets to 94 very satisfied and grateful people–I had to cook in two pans simultaneously to get the job done! Even Delaware’s secretary of agriculture, Ed Kee, showed up! Together, we reminded everyone about the importance of a high-quality protein egg breakfast to feed both body and mind for the whole day. I shared this lesson to all of the people who watched me make omelets for the three days I was in Delaware–I even cooked at the state fair, too! What an incredibly busy trip!

The main reason I love promoting eggs is that I sincerely love the product, but another reason is that I love working with the egg farmers and everyone else who helps get eggs from the farm to our table. One group in particular is the American Egg Board’s state directors, whose job is to promote local eggs across the country. There are 34 state directors representing 39 states (some work regionally), 28 of whom came to New York for their annual meeting this year. As their hotel was right near my midtown Manhattan neighborhood, I took the opportunity to show off some of the local points of interest choosing two destinations that we could all walk to easily.

Lunch first. Two short blocks from the hotel is The Carnegie Deli, which has been a landmark New York delicatessen since the day it opened in 1937. Its super-sized sandwiches (the pastrami on rye has about a full pound of meat and stands a whopping 12 inches tall!) draw such a crowd that the line often stretches on for a full hour’s worth of wait time. Because it’s only a block from my apartment, I sometimes eat there as often as twice a week. Since I have had this routine for the past 30 or so years, I’ve gotten to know the owner, Sandy Levine, pretty well. He agreed to serve the whole group of us (32 to be exact!) more manageable half pastrami sandwiches and they still stood 8-inches tall! 

Accompanying the sandwiches were two kinds of the obligatory dill pickles: the regular dill and the half-sour or “new pickles,” which are cucumbers that marinate in dill and other spices for half the time as ordinary dill pickles, so they’re bright green and crunchier. The sandwiches were served with deli style mustard (of course) and mounds of creamy cole slaw, which some guests tried to put on their sandwiches. However, the result was so tall that it would all topple over. Naturally, the meal wouldn’t have been complete without the crowning touch: Carnegie’s famous cheesecake. Year after year, Carnegie’s cheesecake is voted best in New York, and, considering it’s the world’s cheesecake capitol, that should tell you all you need to know about it! Everyone in the group agreed that this cheesecake had to be authentic because it was so much better than the cheesecake they get where they live.

(It must’ve been a sugar high that got them behaving so goofy in the group picture here taken in front of the deli right after lunch.)

Next, we walked three blocks to the Hearst Tower for a tour of the Good Housekeeping Institute. I had arranged with my friend Susan Westmoreland, the food editor of Good Housekeeping magazine, to take us around, but at the last minute she had to go to a photo shoot for her Thanksgiving issue (yes, that’s how far ahead they work!). In her place, Susan’s colleague Jessica Fox showed us around. 

During the tour, we learned about the Good Housekeeping Seal that has been around since 1909. The seal is awarded to all manner of products evaluated by the Institute that are found to perform as promised. Good Housekeeping’s staff of scientists, engineers, chefs and nutritionists evaluate almost everything that’s popular with consumers.

To us, the most interesting part of the tour was the magazine’s test kitchens on the 29^th floor of the building, complete with windows overlooking the spectacular New York City skyline. Egg recipes developed in the test kitchens and published in Good Housekeeping magazine generated more than 93 million reader impressions this year alone! In this photo, you can see for yourself how orderly and organized the test kitchens are.

As we moved around the rest of the Institute’s laboratories, we saw where everything else is tested, from health and beauty products to clothing, luggage, mattresses, electronics (there’s even a “dead sound” room for that!), vacuums, and even appliances, both large and small. While we were there, one of the engineers showed us her lab. Yipes! Every inch of countertop space was covered with every manner of electric mixer. Check out the photo below. That’s what was being evaluated when we were there. She told us that egg whites were very much a part – and maybe even the best test – of how an electric mixer performs. She would not, however, divulge any test results. But that’s okay. I read the magazine every month and will learn soon enough. As you know, my job demands that I whip-up a lot of egg whites, so I can’t wait to find out what new product to buy!

After their graduation from the 17th Annual Egg Quality School in Park City, Utah, some students will be buying eggs for supermarket chains, and some will be buying for the military. Some will be processing eggs after they’re laid, and some will be tending the flocks that will lay the eggs. Some will enforce laws laid down by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and some will even be promoting eggs to consumers. Regardless of what they do next, all of the 100 or so students attending the National Egg Quality School will graduate knowing absolutely everything there is to know about eggs. After all, they’re taught by the most knowledgeable and experienced people in the business.  

Conducted over the course of four comprehensive days, the school’s curriculum is designed for serious-minded people – most of them new to many aspects of the egg business – who want to learn as much as possible about egg quality. Four days worth of lectures, combined with individualized instruction and hands-on laboratory experience, prepare students to be egg emissaries. In one of the hands-on lessons, they learn how to make a proper omelet. Of course, that’s where I fit in.

One of the things I bring to the curriculum is some levity. The school delivers so much scientific, technical and regulatory information in such a concentrated format that students feel the pressure from day one. When the students step into my “classroom,” the pressure is off and the fun begins.

After I demonstrate how to make an omelet in a minute, all of the students step up to a frying pan and cook the omelet of their dreams, filling them with all of their favorite ingredients. This “omelet workshop” gets everyone on their feet and actively involved in fixing their own lunch, and it’s great fun. During the workshop, you can hear a “p-s-s-s-s-s-s,” in the room, which must be the palpable release of academic pressure from the group. Or is that actually the sound of butter hitting the hot frypan surfaces?

I’ve been giving omelet workshops at the school for as many years as it has been in existence, each year in a different part of the country, and with retirement looming for me, I suppose this year’s was my last. I’m glad this year’s school was in Park City, UT.  What a spectacularly beautiful setting for me to sign-off in!