The perfect omelette

• 2 eggs
• A pinch of pepper – ground white, black, cayenne and/or paprika
• 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil – sunflower or olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of butter
• Filling – grated cheddar cheese, cubes of feta, quartered cherry tomato, finely chopped herbs, pieces of bacon, slivers of smoked salmon, wilted spinach with nutmeg, or whatever combination you want

1. Whisk eggs and pepper very well.
2. Heat oil and butter in an omelette pan on medium heat.
3. Make a well, turn the pan to fill the well.
4. Make another well, fill the well.
5. Make another well, fill the well.
6. Make another well, fill the well.
7. Put the filling onto half the omelette and flip the other half over.
8. Slide the omelette out onto a plate.

So simple.

The perfect soft scrambled egg

This nutrient-rich meal is an all-time classic and so easy.

It’s perfect for breakfast served on lightly toasted wholewheat bread (for added nutrition) or ciabatta (for Italian stylishness), or for lunch with a tossed salad and a Portuguese roll, or for a light evening supper with some steamed vegetables. During Scandinavian weekend hunting parties scrambled eggs are served as a midnight supper.

The key principles are: don’t mess with this nutritional powerhouse, just season them lightly and whisk them well and cook them gently, then take them off the heat while they are still super-soft.

1. Choose great quality eggs. Best are organic free-range two-day-old room-temperature eggs, but use whatever you have. About two eggs per person.

2. Crack the eggs into a large bowl and blend them extremely well using a fork, whisk or stick-blender. (If you get shell in the mix, remove it using a half-shell.)

3. Season with a small pinch of pepper – finely ground white pepper is best, but cracked black pepper also works. Don’t use salt, because the perfect amount of salt exists in the salted butter in which you’ll be cooking the eggs. DO NOT ADD ANY LIQUID. Adding milk was a British war-time technique to make eggs go further; adding water is food chemistry for creating steam in omelettes; adding creme freche or cream is a celebrity chef thing. This is about the perfect easy scrambled eggs.

4. Heat a non-stick pan to medium heat with salted butter, about a tablespoon per two eggs.

5. When the butter has just melted pour in the egg mix. Let it cook for a minute or two without disturbing it.

6. Scrambling eggs: With a wooden spoon stir the egg mix wildly, so that all egg touching the heat is disturbed. After a minute or two scramble the egg again. Then after a minute or so scramble the egg again. Use your wrist and put the scramble into scrambled egg, but take it off the the heat while it’s still soft and shiny. The egg will continue cooking itself.

7. Serve straight away on healthy toast (with no butter since you’ve already used butter in the scramble) or wrapped in a thin crepe.

You’ll probably put it on a slice of whatever toast you have available, which is what makes it an awesome and perfect instant nutrition-rich meal.

SOME INTERESTING IDEAS:

I sometimes slice spring onion (salad onion) very finely and soften it on-stove in a small splash of olive oil for a few minutes before melting the butter and adding the egg mix. It makes an astonishing scrambled egg.

This also works with very finely sliced button or portobellini mushroom or tinily-diced red or yellow pepper/capsicum.

At the pepper stage you may want to add tiny pinches of turmeric, cayenne pepper or smoked paprika, three more good peppers to keep in your pantry.