Omelette aux Fines Herbes

Ingredients

• 3 very fresh eggs
• 1 tbsp chopped fines herbes (equal parts chervil, chives, flat-leaf parsley and tarragon)
• 20g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp cold water
• Fine salt and white pepper

Before you cook

• Chop the herbs finely with a sharp knife, cutting cleanly rather than bruising them.
• Crack the eggs into a bowl and add the water, a pinch of salt and a grind of white pepper.
• Beat the eggs with a fork for about twenty seconds, just until the yolks and whites combine and no ropes of white remain.
• Stir two thirds of the herbs into the eggs.
• Set a warm plate beside the hob.

Steps

1. Set a twenty-centimetre non-stick or well-seasoned pan over medium heat for one minute.
2. Add the butter and swirl it until it foams but before it takes any colour.
3. Pour in the eggs all at once.
4. Count to five, then start stirring briskly with the flat of a fork, keeping the tines just off the base of the pan.
5. Keep stirring for about thirty seconds as small soft curds form across the whole pan.
6. Stop stirring and shake the pan flat so the loose egg settles into an even layer.
7. Cook for another twenty seconds until the surface is glossy and still visibly wet.
8. Tilt the pan away from you and use the fork to fold the top third of the omelette down over the middle.
9. Tap the handle so the far edge of the omelette rolls up on itself.
10. Hold the warm plate against the lip of the pan and turn the pan over so the omelette lands seam side down.
11. Nudge the omelette into a neat cigar with a piece of kitchen paper.
12. Scatter the last of the herbs over the top and serve at once.