A good omelette is all about timing. At Berry’s Sara Dining, chef Alex Prichard takes the classic breakfast staple in a more refined direction, with the addition of blue swimmer crab, tarragon béarnaise, lemon and fresh herbs.
The result is light but rich, with sweet crab and plenty of fresh herbs cutting through the buttery sauce. Here, Prichard shares the recipe for making it at home.
Ingredients
For the omelette (makes one):
- 4 eggs
- 100g picked Blue Swimmer Crab meat (or whatever your preferred crab is), lightly steamed
For the bernaise sauce (makes six servings):
- 3 egg Yolks
- 300g clarified butter or ghee
- 2 bunches tarragon – picked and finely chopped
- 100g champagne vinegar
- 1 teaspoon butter
To serve:
- 1 lemon
- Mixture of fine herbs – we use anything from the garden but some easy options around are:
- Parsley
- Chervil
- Dill
- Chives
- Nasturtium leaf and flower
- Mustard leaf
Method
For the bernaise sauce:
- Whisk your egg yolks and vinegar in a metal bowl over some simmering water until they form a ‘sabayon’ (when you lift the whisk it should leave a ribbon on top)
- Then, begin slowly adding in your melted butter or ghee, continuously whisking to ensure it doesn’t split.
- Add in your chopped tarragon
- Once finished, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice if needed
- Leave in a warm, room temperature place until you are to serve
For the omelette:
- Crack 4 eggs in a small bowl and whisk until combined
- Place a small, non-stick omelette pan on high heat. Add a few drops of oil in there to see if it’s hot enough
- Add a pinch of salt to your eggs then quickly add to your pan
- Move the eggs constantly with chopsticks until it looks almost like scrambled eggs, but still a touch too runny
- Remove from the heat and allow to rest.
- Add your steamed crab meat and a teaspoon of butter, then begin to fold your omelette over itself 3 times
- Hold it over a high heat for 1 more minute to seal it
- Plate your omelette, placing a few tablespoons of bernaise sauce over the top and smearing along the entire omelette
- Dress your fine herbs in olive oil, salt, lemon zest and juice, and plate on top of your omelette
Note: If you want to learn how to make the perfect omelette, study any videos on “Omurice” – there’s plenty on Instagram and YouTube. They even sell the pans we use in the restaurant online.
