I first tried French Herbed Omelette at Balthazar’s when I lived in New York City. It was one of the few breakfast spots in the neighborhood and they are well known for their fresh baked breads and croissants. Add something fresh baked to one of their breakfast entrees and you are in business!
With ingredients including farm fresh eggs, herbs and cheese this French Herbed Omelette is packed with protein and is a great way to start the day. I searched online for a recipe but I did not find one with these exact ingredients. I did find this definition on dictionary.com:
omelette
[om-lit, om–uh-]
Now, I just had to perfect my omelette technique which took me a few attempts but I finally got it down. There are a couple of secrets to making a great omelette. First, ensure your pan is properly greased. I use a touch of olive oil along with the butter. Adding a touch of olive oil raises the burning temperature of the butter and helps to keep your omelette from browning. Heat the pan over a medium low fire. Then add the proper amount of eggs for the size pan and to move the pan in a circular motion to distributing the egg mixture evenly.
While your eggs are still a little wet in the middle to add the cheese to the center of the omelette and continue to move the pan a little more and then fold the omelette in half or fold in from both sides.
Keep your fire on medium to low while you do this, as you don’t want to over cook your omelette. The technique is not difficult to master, but it requires a little patience until you get the hang of it.
I perfected it after the third time, and now I can proudly say that I make a killer French Herbed Omelette just as good as the one I ate at Balthazar’s. Now if I could just figure out how to make their Almond Croissants….
Enjoy!
French Herbed Omelette
Ingredients
- 2 large fresh eggs
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped chives
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped chervil
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped tarragon
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley
- 1 oz of Gruyere or cheddar cheese sliced thin
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon european style butter
- Sea Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl briskly beat the eggs with a fork until frothy with no strands of egg whites remaining. Add the fresh herbs to the eggs, along with a pinch of salt and pepper and mix well. In an 8" inch nonstick skillet over a medium-low fire add 1 tsp of olive oil and the butter. Coat the pan well with the oil and butter. Heat the oil and butter until the mixture starts to gently bubble and add the eggs.
- Start to swirl the eggs as soon as you add them to the pan by moving the pan around in a circular motion and continue until the egg mixture starts to firm up and the omelette loosens from the bottom of the pan.
- This should require no more than a couple of minutes. Once the eggs are almost cooked but still slightly wet, add the cheese to the center of the omelette, and lower the fire to a simmer until the cheese starts to melt. Once the cheese starts to melt it's time to fold the omelette. In order to do that you will need to use a heatproof rubber or wooden omelette spatula.
- Fold the omelette by holding the skillet handle with one hand tilting the pan away from you while flipping half of the omelet to one side. You may also fold the two ends inward. Turn off the fire and let the omelet sit in the pan for a few seconds before serving.
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