From A Past Edition Of The New Orleans Menu Daily By Tom Fitzmorris Orange Dessert Omelettes A delightful paradox, this is unambiguously a dessert, but it’s not especially sweet. Its appearance and mouthfeel is distinctly that of an omelette, but the flavor is different. Easier to make than it sounds. It's good without the sauce, but that's not hard, either. If you use this sauce, cut down on the number of orange sections you use in and on the omelette. 6 eggs, carefully separated 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar 1/2 tsp. vanilla 1/4 cup sugar 2 Tbs. Cointreau (or triple sec or Grand Marnier) 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 3 medium oranges Powdered sugar Sauce: 1 cup orange juice 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 tsp. cornstarch, dissolved in 1/2 tsp. water Zest (grated peel, colored part only) of one orange Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 1. Beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar in a large, clean bowl with clean beaters (or a wire whisk) until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla and sugar, and beat until the sugar dissolves and the resulting meringue is stiff. 2. Beat the egg yolks and the Cointreau with about 1/4 cup water  about five minutes, until thick and lemon-colored. Stir in the flour. 3. Fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. 4. Rub a very clean round-bottomed skillet or omelette pan with butter. (This is unnecessary with non-stick pans, which I recommend for this.) Pour about a quarter-inch depth of the batter in, and put it into the oven for eight to ten minutes, until puffy and lightly browned. You can do more than one at a time, but don’t open the oven while they’re in there. 5. Meanwhile, peel and section the oranges. If the sections are large, you can slice them across. 6. Remove the omelettes from the pans. Spoon some of the orange sections into half of the omelettes, and fold them over. Garnish with more orange sections and powdered sugar.  These do not need to be served hot. To warm them up a little if you had many to make, microwave two or three at a time for ten seconds. Sauce: 1. Strain the orange juice into a small saucepan over medium heat. Dissolve the sugar into it and bring it up to a light boil. Reduce by half. 2. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the dissolved cornstarch. Sprinkle in the orange zest, and serve in ribbons over the omelettes. Serves eight. Click here for an index of recipes from past editions. © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com