Many families have certain foods and recipes that are full of special meaning for them. In my family, one of the classic recipes is the fin herb omelette.
The fin herb omelette is a recipe from my dad’s bag of cooking tricks. It’s an omelette composed of just eggs, herbs de provence, and grated cheese of some kind – usually cheddar. Whenever making the omelette, my dad quickly sets all of the prepared ingredients in place on the counter, and, after pouring the beaten eggs into a hot oiled pan, immediately begins swirling the eggs around with a fork while simultaneously shaking the pan forward and back. I’ll always remember the rattling of the pan on the burner as he prepared these omelettes, witnessing the chef at work.
After about a minute in goes the grated cheese, and in no time my dad will slide a beautifully sautéed omelette onto a plate served with a garnish of some salsa and a side of buttered toast. Heaven!
While certainly a good breakfast meal, it could just as easily be served for lunch, or, even better, for dinner. There were those nights when we as a family were out relatively late, maybe at a movie, and would return home too tired to cook anything elaborate. “How ‘bout this,” my dad would declare, “I’ll make us a fin herb omelette.”
It’s a recipe that my dad says he used early on when first dating my mom to impress her. Is it too much to say that I may here writing this now because of this recipe?
The Fin Herb Omelette
Ingredients
– 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil or butter
– Two to three eggs, beaten. No more than three eggs per omelette.
– 1-2 tablespoons of Herbs de Provence
– Between half to one full cup of your cheese of choice, grated. Could be cheddar, jack, parmesan, gouda, or something else.
– Optional garnish: avocado, salsa
1. Heat a pan over medium high heat. Wait until the pan has come to temperature and then add the butter or oil. Quickly coat the pan with the oil and then add the eggs. There should be an immediate sizzling sound as you pour in the eggs.
2. Using a fork, immediately begin to vigorously swirl the very top part of the eggs. The goal is to create a thin, unbroken layer of cooked egg across the entire surface of the pan. Occasionally, gently lift one edge of the developing omelette and tilt the pan so that the uncooked egg runs down and fills the gap that you created. You will eventually reach a point where the egg no longer runs and you have a single connected layer of egg that has many small ridges. The top layer of egg will be glistening somewhat.
3. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly down the middle of the omelette. Gently fold the omelette into thirds across the middle cheese layer. Let cook to your preferred level of done-ness.
4. Plate with your preferred garnish – avocado, salsa, more cheese, fresh herbs – and serve immediately.
5. Brush your shoulders off ;)
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