An omelette Arnold Bennett is one of the most decadent (and fun) things you can do with eggs. There are various recipes available – ranging from the brain melting versions including hollandaise sauce to ‘simple’ ones that don’t actually making anything like an omelette Arnold Bennett. I hope my recipe below strikes the right balance between authenticity and complexity. It arrives at a beautiful balance between eggs, smoked fish and velvety sauce.

The omelette Arnold Bennett was invented by the chef at the Savoy Hotel in London. There was a long staying guest (the author Arnold Bennett) who was bored with the breakfast menu in particular and asked the chef to do ‘something different’. Anyone who travels on business will be familiar with this feeling. And the result was this wonderful omelette.

I went on an egg course with my friend Lisa and the culmination of the day was the teacher making an omelette Arnold Bennett. Of course, we were so stuffed full of gorgeous eggs by that point that we could only eat a couple of bites – but I marked it down as a real keeper.

This omelette makes a lovely light supper. I confess its too much work for me to be an actual breakfast dish (unless I’m having breakfast at the Savoy). There are several distinct steps to making this dish and it’s not an ‘easy’ dish but the skills are not that difficult. Approach it methodically and it’s yours.

An overview of the process;

• poaching the fish
• make the bechamel sauce
• enrich the bechamel sauce
• cook the egg base
• assemble the omelette
• grill the top.

Most of the ingredients are easy to find. The best smoked fish to use is haddock that is undyed (not undead, just not dyed bright yellow). If you can only find the bright yellow it’s okay. It doesn’t taste any difference, but it will make your sauce more yellow than cream coloured. I use the best eggs I can buy – usually Duchy Organic free range large eggs. The eggs are the star in this dish – augmented by the sauce and poached fish but eggs are king.

Recipe

2 generous servings.

Ingredients

• 200 mls of milk (whole or semi-skimmed)
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 whole cloves
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 2 shallots or 1 small onion
• 200 grams of smoked haddock
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• 30 grams butter
• 30 grams flour
• Milk from the poaching
• 2 large egg yolks (in addition to the 4 eggs below)
• 1 tablespoon of heavy cream
• 30 grams of mature cheddar cheese
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• Butter for the omelette pan
• 4 large eggs

Instructions

Poaching the fish

1. Put the milk in a shallow pan over very gentle heat.
2. Peel the onion and cut off the top and bottom. Add to the milk with the cloves, peppercorns and bay leaf.
3. Heat the milk to just below boiling. Gently lower the haddock into milk (skin side down). Poach until it starts to flake – 4 to 5 minutes.
4. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon to a plate. Strain the milk to remove the onion and aromatics. After the fish cools, break it into pieces. Get ready to make the sauce.
   
   

Making the sauce

1. Melt the butter in a small deep saucepan. Whisk in the flour and foam until it is golden brown. This cooks off the raw taste of the flour.
2. Add several grinds of salt and pepper.
3. Whisk in the milk over the heat. Beat vigorously to get rid of any lumps and have a smooth sauce. The sauce should be thickened but still liquid. Remove from the heat.
4. Beat the two egg yolks with a tablespoon of heavy cream.
5. Start to add the sauce to the egg yolk mixture, one or two tablespoons at a time. After the first 3 or 4 additions you can add more sauce each time whisking until smooth. Put to one side.
6. Pat yourself on the back and take a deep breath. The sauce was the tricky part.
   

Making the omelette

1. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat with a fork.
2. Find a omelette pan than you can put under your grill. Put the pan on the heat and add a generous knob of butter and melt. When the butter starts to foam, add the eggs.
3. Stir them continuously, tilting the pan from side to side until the bottom is well set and the top is soft and creamy.
4. Heat the grill.
5. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of omelette.
6. Stir the flaked fish into the sauce and pour it over the top of omelette.
7. Place the omelette under the grill for a few minutes until the top turns golden brown.

Serve with crusty bread, green salad and glass of crisp white wine.

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