Oyster Omelet

A cream-sauce omelet in the French style, thickened before the eggs go in. The oysters do the seasoning work, so hold back on the salt until the end.

• Butter and flour are out of balanceTwo tablespoons butter to half a tablespoon flour will not make a roux that thickens a cup of cream. Either use a scant tablespoon of butter with the flour and cook it a minute before adding cream, or accept that the mixture stays loose and treat it as a soft, saucy omelet rather than a folded one.
• OystersTwelve shucked oysters is somewhere between a third and half a pint, depending on size. Drain them, chop coarsely rather than to a paste, and reserve the liquor to thin the sauce if it tightens too much.
• Do not pre-cook the oystersThey go into the batter raw and finish in the pan. Oysters held over heat for more than two or three minutes turn firm and rubbery, and chopped ones go faster still.
• Pan and heatA 10-inch nonstick or well-seasoned pan over medium-low. This mixture has flour and cream in it and will catch and brown far more readily than plain beaten egg.
• "Cook as a plain omelet"This generally meant pouring into a hot buttered pan, drawing the set edges toward the centre with a fork, then folding or rolling out onto a hot plate. Take it off while the surface is still slightly moist; the residual heat finishes it.
• CreamHeavy cream gives the intended richness. Half-and-half works and produces a lighter omelet, but skim milk will thin the sauce past the point of holding together.
• DonenessBecause raw oysters are folded into the egg, cook until the omelet is set through rather than leaving a running centre.
• YieldSix eggs and a cup of cream make a large omelet. Serves three or four as a lunch dish, or make it in two smaller pans for a better fold.