Fines Herbes Omelet Recipe (2024)

I would dearly love to know what kind of non-stick surface survives this onslaught of metal fork...so I can buy a set!

You can buy a silicone coated whisk and use that instead of the fork

Any good pan with do this if you make sure the pan is hot before you put anything in it. Get the pan hot, add oil, swirl to coat, add the eggs and let them set up a little before you stir up the bottom.

Breakfast this morning. What a way to start the day! I served spinach with parmigiano cheese and hash brown potato with the omelet. Added fresh melon/pineapple and No Knead bread, toasted, as side dishes. People at the B&B loved these herb omelets. Most people are afraid to experiment with herbs so have no idea what excitement they bring to an otherwise pedestrian food like eggs. Herb scrambles are just a good

Pepin uses non-stick pans all the time. When stirring with the fork, you don't put the point of the tines on the surface - use the back of the fork. A non-stick pan is a tool, not an heirloom. If you bought a pan for $29 and got 5 years' use out of it, wouldn't that be enough?

His technique is what to watch for in this video. I watched it twice without the sound, just watching his hands move. To emulate that!

This qualifies, for me, as one of the quickest, healthiest, and easiest go-to dishes I know and excellent at any time of day.
I make a 3-egg personal version at least once or twice a week. I use extra light olive oil rather than canola oil for health reasons. Of course, all sorts of herbs can be substituted in various amounts. At the moment I have a garden full of chives, thyme and parsley, so that's what was in mine this morning!

That's right. I've done this for decades (I'm in my 80's): I learned as a youngster from my father (he liked to have me fix his breakfast), using, originally, a cast-iron skillet ( enameled, I think possibly). He had lived for a decade in Paris as an art student after WW I, and learned omelets there. His recipe was basically identical with Pepin's.

All TV "chefs" should be required to watch Jacques. His explanations and techniques are examples of perfection of his trade. His omelet, as well as his other recipes are more often than not examples of delicious simplicity. I became a fan of his decades ago after purchasing and using two of his earliest books, "La Technique" and "La Methode."

While I did not shake the pan with the vigor of Chef Pepin, this is a superb omlette recipe. His technique may be the star, but the recipe and a good no-stick skillet are all you need to deliver the goods.

Well, generally when you start to see ripples forming in the surface of the oil, or the butter starting to bubble and threaten to spatter, that's when to add the egg. And I use a combination of butter and oil.

I make a similar omelet, with 2 eggs, a couple of times a week, using fresh herbs from my garden - basil, oregano, parsley, thyme or any combination thereof. Also add chives. I use olive oil, no butter. A great, simple, delicious omelet.

When you fold it over the trapped heat finishes the cooking.

I have seen chefs mix up a bowl of 9-10 eggs for three omelets and then use the small pan for cooking: they use a ladle to pour in enough for one batch, and then they make 2 more separate batches.

If you watch Chef Pepin, he never touches the surface of the pan with the tines of the fork, just with its "belly", that is, the curved back, which is not likely to scratch.

Made smaller versions of this omelette this morning with 2 eggs, a little bit of heavy cream, chopped tarragon, and goat cheese in the middle - it was delicious. My notes: high heat burns butter so I cooked it on med-low for the 2nd one and it turned out much better.

why does Jacques Pepin Way include adding water to eggs but this one does not?

Delicious: goat cheese, spinach, homegrown dill, tarragon, cilantro. But traumatic. Butter+hot skillet=explosion, all over cooktop, floor & me. (Oil + butter is even worse.) Downhill from there. Watched the videos, tried to follow instructions. It stuck to the pan. Mistake #1: all I had was a stainless steel skillet, always turned out good omelets. Sadly, no. It didn't slide, didn't fold, a globby mess. My curses echoed downstairs. But not overcooked; nice & creamy. No thanks to the recipe.

Yes, a note on how to scramble the eggs, a la Mr. Pepin: He scrambles hard and fast, from side to side of the bowl, to break the protein strands -- a long, low, horizontal oval, if you will, with the fork. Little circles won't cut it. Back and forth, back and forth, fast.

Immensely helpful is to watch Jacques actually make the omelette. He has done so on television countless times. Here is a short and sweet version: https://youtu.be/pp446OPWsvI

I love this omelet. I usually add handfuls of chopped herbs, let the egg/herb mixture sit for a bit to let the flavors meld, and (my apologies to Chef Pepin) grate some sharp white cheese on top before folding. It's incredible.

Growing up in Burgundy, omelette aux fines herbes also had sorrel. Sorrel brings the natural acidity that’s lacking in the other four herbs.

Pepin cooks with anodized aluminum. You can use metal utensils on them. Still, cooking with aluminum is far too risky IMO. Stainless steel or carbon steel pans work just fine...once you season them properly.

For the folks questioning the use of a fork in a non-stick pan, these chefs hold the fork with the tines parallel to the pan and stir just above the pan. The fork never makes contact with the pan. Kenji Alt-Lopez has a video on his YouTube channel where you can see him do it.

This technique works fine with 8-10 eggs, but not so easily with just 2-3, which is what I normally use for myself. You need a certain depth of eggs to get the desired small curds with fork-whisking. If cooking with 2-3 eggs, use the corner of a rubber spatula or silicone whisk to quickly loosen the eggs while shaking the pan, Keep heat less than high. Fold before you think they're done. Gently invert on the plate.

Tips: After mixing with a fork, put the eggs through a coarse sieve. This will block albumin. Then, when stirring in your non-stick pan, use bamboo CHOPSTICKS. Now you won't damage the non-stick surface.

Jacques Pepin is a rare treasure of planet earth. I've been binge watching his old cooking shows during quarantine to relieve my anxieties (and consequently learn new techniques). He's like the Bob Ross of the kitchen. Wish NY Times Cooking had more Pepin recipes!

Forget the omelet, I just loved watching Pepin's technique and listening to his accent!!

Use a smaller non-stick pan with larger sides. This cooks really fast at high heat, two minutes is definitely too much! The addition of herbs is wonderful and excited to try making this again.

This video makes me so happy I could cry. Thank you for transporting me to France from the confines of my apartment in Canada at this time of profound isolation. Sending love to the world round! Will make this tomorrow muah!!