Omelette Auvergnate - Test 1

From The Country Cooking of France by Anne Willan, pg 45

https://www.cuisinedenotreterroirfrancais.com/omelette-brayaude.php

1 - Oh, Anne! Such a simple dish, and yet complicated for no apparent reason. I should know by now to compare her recipes to others. The amount of ham was way off, and the cooking instructions bizarre. I decided to go with my tried-and-true omelette instructions to try, next time.

2 - Made it with the revised ratios. Generally it was good, yet it lacked salt and 14oz of ham is just too much, so on the fly I reduced it to 8 oz. It turns into a bit of a dry dish, to which the solution may be to pair it with a succulent side-dish... but what? It is an omelette in the sense that it is vegetable and meat held together by egg and cooked in a pan, but the egg is in no way the feature of the dish, essentially filling in the spaces between the potato and ham. One fun discovery was using the liquid egg to lift the fond of potato in the stainless steel skillet. Then I checked actual recipes from the Auvergne, and the amount of potato and ham to egg is totally different and much, much less. So I made some changes and will try this version next time.

3 - Much improved. The quantity of ham and potato to egg is working just fine. I think the only thing, currently, is to balance the salt. I have reduced the quantity from 1tsp to 1/2tsp.

4 - It's a bit plain, but nonetheless very good in my mind. 

8 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

3 Tbsps lard or vegetable oil

1 1/2 (5-10oz) potato, peeled and diced

400gr/14 3 oz ham, thin slice and finely diced

OPTIONAL 2 Tbsps crème fraîche

2/3 cup/75 g/3oz, Gruyère or Cantal cheese

1. Whisk eggs with salt and pepper until frothy. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil, then add the potatoes, and fry until tender and browned. Don't worry if a fond develops.
3. Reduce the temperature to med-low, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the ham to warm it up.
4. In the cooled pan, pour in the eggs and stir. If there is a fond, use the liquid egg to lift and dissolve the potato fond. The egg will start to cook, so do this as quickly as you can to allow for lots of liquid egg to set once you've loosed the fond. Spread the ingredients evenly and allow the egg to set. As the egg cooks, lift the edges and tilt the pan to let uncooked egg get underneath.
5. With the oven rack in the middle position, turn on the broiler to heat up (or use a salamander if you're so lucky to have one).
6. If using the crème fraîche, evenly spread over when the egg in the pan is jiggly. Evenly sprinkle the cheese. 
7. Slip the pan into the oven to broil. When the egg is set and the edges puff up a little, take it out of the oven, plate-up and serve as you will.
8. Good hot or at room temperature.