To say that Hubby and I are competitive, especially in the kitchen, would be a slight understatement. We do admit that we both bring different things to the table, or kitchen, so to speak, but touch on the others territory and there will be trouble and tears before bedtime!

Hubby is an amazing cook, he can make recipes up in his head as he goes, is very relaxed about the whole thing but boy is he messy.

Now, I am a baker! I am methodical, precise, follow the recipe to the letter and tidy and clean as I go, we couldn’t be more different. Hubby can actually bring me to tears with the carnage he can create in my kitchen.

Anyway, I digress, back to the competitiveness…. Hubby the other week challenged me to a macaroon baking session, the results were about the same, but to say that I was unhappy about him taking me on at baking, the only thing that I am better than him at, did not make me a happy bunny.

So revenge is a dish best eaten cold and I waited until this weekend to offer to make him breakfast. Hubby has tried & tried to make omelette’s on many occasions and they always turn out like scrambled egg. This weekend I made not one, not two but three PERFECT Bayonne ham omelette’s, following a recipe from The Skinny French Cookbook.

To be honest, Hubby loved the omelette that much that I think he will let me off this win, but I have now made a rod for my own back and will be lumbered with always making the omelettes from now on !!!

Boun appetito

Serves 2

(20cm frying pan or omelette pan)

4 medium free-range eggs
white pepper
5g butter
2 thin slices Bayonne ham or Italian/Spanish varieties, fat removed and cut into strips (we used Italian & lots of it, whoops, not so skinny, but hey, it tasted good)
a small bunch of chives, finely chopped (reserve some for serving) I could not get hold of chives so very finely chopped spring onions, it worked just fine

Crack the eggs into a large bowl, season with the pepper and give them a good whisking with a fork. You are aiming for a few big bubbles to appear on the surface.

Heat a frying pan until it is hot, then add the butter. Tilt the pan so that the melted butter covers the bottom and the sides of the pan.

As soon as it begins to foam and turn a nutty colour, add the beaten eggs and cook over a medium-high heat.

When the sides of the omelette begin to look cooked, drag them gently into the middle of the pan with the help of a wooden or silicone spatula and tilt the pan so that the liquid egg mixture fills the space where the cooked egg used to be. This technique ensures that you end up with a wet centre to your omelette, whilst the outside is coloured golden brown.

Once the edges are cooked and there is no more liquid egg, add the ham and most of the chives.

Quickly fold the omelette in half, shake it free from the bottom of the pan and serve immediately, with the last of the chives scattered over the top.

This was a lovely light & fresh omelette to start the day on, Hubby said that he missed the cheese in it (sour grapes me thinks), but we did agree that we would maybe add a sprinkle of parmesan at the ham/chives stage before folding if we were using Italian ham again, but it does rather miss the point that this is suppose to be a ‘skiiny’ omelette.