Ham and Green Pea Omelet

Ranhofer writes in shorthand: the whole method sits in a cross-reference, and this entry only tells you what to fold inside. Here is what the omelet actually requires.

• The base omeletThe parsley omelet it points to is a plain French omelet: three eggs cooked in butter in a small pan, stirred until barely set, then rolled. Standard practice of the period aims at a soft, unbrowned omelet rather than a stiff one, though the detail here is inferred rather than stated in this entry.
• The hingeThe filling goes in at the last moment, just before folding, and it must already be hot. Cold ham and cold peas dropped into a three-egg omelet will hold it on the heat long enough to overcook the eggs. Warm them in a spoonful of butter first.
• QuantitiesTwo tablespoons of filling to three eggs, either all ham or half ham and half peas. That restraint is deliberate; a French omelet folded around too much garnish tears.
• "Three-sixteenths inch squares"About 5 mm dice. Lean cooked ham means boiled or braised ham trimmed of fat, not a thin deli slice — cut it from a piece thick enough to dice.
• Peas "cooked English style"No. 2742 is Ranhofer's peas English style; in period usage that means peas simply boiled in salted water, drained and buttered. Fresh young peas or frozen petits pois both work; two minutes in boiling salted water is enough for frozen.
• Pan and fatA 20 cm (8 inch) pan is right for three eggs. Butter, generously, over medium-high heat; the pan should be hot enough that the eggs set on contact but not so hot the butter colors.
• YieldOne omelet, serving one as a course or two lightly. Make them one at a time rather than scaling up — a six-egg omelet in a large pan behaves quite differently.