Your Weekly Voilà: The Perfect French Omelet 😊🥚🥣🇫🇷

PASSION • CREATIVITY • INSPIRATION

The simple egg. So versatile. So nutritious. It can be eaten for any meal; although the French aren't known for eating a big breakfast of bacon and eggs. They mostly consume their eggs as part of a light meal at dinner time. Omelets. Soft-boiled cracked in a bowl with plenty of room to dip pieces of bread. Or baked with fresh ingredients from the garden.

You really don't need to do a lot to the egg. They are rich in flavor when purchased fresh and from free-range, happy chickens. And when it comes to the not-so-simple French omelet, they are the perfect vehicle for your garden's fresh and subtle herbs. Think parsley, chives, and tarragon.

I really encourage folks to buy local, fresh eggs direct from the farmer. Ask about how they raise their chickens. Are they truly free-range? What are they fed? It's always a good idea to know from where your food comes.

The French omelet. This is not the omelet stuffed with tons of cheddar cheese and ham. No. This is a creamy, tender, and delicately seasoned omelet that showcases both the egg and the herbs. Ok. And the butter. There is an art to making them. But with three tools, you'll find success: 1.) Most importantly, an 8 or 10 inch, non-stick or ceramic pan with rolled sides; 2.) A heat-resistant rubber spatula; 3.) A fork. Do not reach for the whisk. I repeat. No whisk. We are not making meringue here. An omelet gets its tenderness by being mixed and not whipped. All the whisk does is aerate the protein. As my French aunt told me, "Tu veux des blancs d'oeufs calmes." You're going for "calm" egg whites.

As to the ingredients, you need 3 fresh eggs, herbs plucked from the garden if possible, real butter, and quality salt and pepper. Besides the taste, you must use real butter because you need the pan to tell you when the heat is just right to cook your omelet. Butter, if it hits the pan and there is no noise, means the pan is too cool. If the butter hits the pan with a lot of sizzling and steam, the pan is too hot. You want happy, bubbly butter that melts into a creamy mousse. Use medium heat and 2 tablespoons of butter. Be sure you have mixed well the eggs, herbs, and salt and pepper with a fork - yolk and whites must be completely blended together. Add the eggs all at once to the pan. Here is where the real fun begins.

The French chef, Jacques Pépin, stresses the importance of cracking your eggs on a flat surface such as a cutting board or counter, rather than on the edge of a bowl. It gives you a cleaner break and you'll end up with fewer shells in your bowl and your yolks won't be broken. It works.

In France, oeufs brouillés or scrambled eggs take a good 10-15 minutes to prepare. An omelet is quick - 1 or 2 minutes tops. You use your spatula to move the egg around the bottom of the pan and slip it around the pan's perimeter. You don't want the egg to stick to the pan, so you have to keep it moving. The eggs cook really fast. After a minute or so, your eggs will be creamy and wet but hopefully not runny.

Pull the pan off the heat and slowly roll the omelet on top of itself. I tip the pan just a bit and roll from the handle to the opposite side. If you are using the right pan, the omelet should lift easily. If you have sticking, add a bit of butter to the pan to help the egg release.

Now the tricky part: Lift the plate to meet the pan. You are almost making a "V" with pan and plate and flop (I can't think of a better word) the omelet - seam side down - onto the plate. Voilà! Top with a dab of butter. Bien sûr. It is France.

You don't want your French Herb omelet to be browned. You are going for a pale yellow color where the center is soft and bouncy but not runny. Photo is from Jacques Pétin.

If it is as hot where you are as it is here in southwest France, a simple French herb omelet with a fresh green salad and glass of Alsatian white wine is all you need for a quick summer dinner. I have a few other egg recipes that I have "Frenchified" that I'll be happy to share with you in a future Weekly Voilà.

Until then, stay cool. Cook real food. And enjoy these last dog days of August.

À bientôt mon amie,
Karen 😊🥚🥣🇫🇷