Eggs Ahoy

Whoever has been reading this blog is probably well aware of my love-hate relationship with eggs. But I've been asked by a dietician to have a 1 egg, 1 toast dinner 3 nights a week in my nth attempt to lose weight. So obviously that's a great excuse for me to experiment with more egg-delights.


The way I make omlettes, learned from my brother-in-law, makes them a sumptuous meal - even with just 1 egg. But this week I wanted to add a little more body to them without making them fattening. Luckily, this type of omlette works well with whatever you have lying around in the kitchen/ refrigerator. So what Chubbocks and I had for dinner two days ago was a luxurious omlette stuffed with makai-palak, with grilled tomatoes on the side. Heartily filling and satisfying to the tastebuds as well!


Makai palak is a typical vegetable served in restaurants and this time at home, instead of opting for a plain old palak paneer, I asked my cook to add the corn into it. It turned out delicious, with the sweetness of the corn adding a dulcet note to that of the spicy/ astringent palak.


Makai Palak recipe
1 cup corn nuggets, boiled until soft
1 bunch palak, washed but not dried and roughly chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2 inch ginger, chopped
1 tomato
1 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 green chillies, chopped
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste


Heat the oil in a wok. Toss the cumin seeds in and wait till they brown. Add the green chillies and onion and cook over medium flame, stirring from time to time until the onion turns translucent. Add the tomato and cook until soft. Add the palak and cover the wok and cook over medium flame for 7-10 minutes until the palak is well wilted. Wait to cool, then blitz in the mixie until you get a fine puree.


Add back to the wok, then add in the corn and salt and cook until hot. Serve immediately, with rotis, bread or rice.


I prefer not to add turmeric to palak as the colour stays a fresher green that way.


Omlette with makai-palak


Break an egg into a pan. Add 1 tbsp milk and beat for 30 seconds until well mixed. Add a small blob of butter into the frying pan, with the heat on high. Add the egg mixture and turn heat to low. Cover the pan tightly and cook on low for 7-8 minutes. Remove the cover and top omlette with whatever you like - onions, green chillies, cheese, coriander. Let cook until well done, i.e. no liquid-ey bits of egg on the top layer.

This time I topped mine with sauteed onions, green chillies and a tablespoon of the makai-palak and then folded the omlette over.

A note on tomatoes - if using desi ones, just cut into 1 cm thick slices and grill/ griddle on a separate pan with a bit of salted butter. Serve on the side, topped with freshly crushed pepper - if you add them to the omlette raw, they are likely to make the omlette runny.

Here comes the sun

One of the reasons I like making omelettes, just like I enjoy making soups and salads, is that within a certain set of rules, you have wide scope to experiment and innovate. I tend to get bored cooking the same recipe over and over again, don't you?

So this weekend I made another of my decadent omelette concoctions, lapped up by my son. These omelettes look lovely-bright yellow, with vibrant greens, as if sunflowers have been playing in your pan!

Ingredients:

2 eggs, well beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 cheese slice ( cheddar or similar)

1/2 onion, finely chopped

7-8 leaves of spinach shredded into long, thin ribbons

1/2 tbsp butter

Beat the eggs with the milk until well mixed. Put the butter into a heated nonstick frying pan and swirl to coat evenly. Pour in the egg mix and sprinkle the onion and spinach shreds evenly over the surface. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and let cook on medium heat for some time. When the omelette appears partially cooked, add the cheese slice on top, cover and cook again until the omelette is done. Serve either folded over or as is, with well-buttered toast or croissants.

Decadent Eggs

I have a peculiar love-hate relationship with eggs. There are times when I positively crave them, and times when the sight or scent of them makes me want to hurl. I think most of all, I object to the smell of eggs and the way the aroma lingers around the house. The way my cook makes it, the aroma hangs around for ages. But when well-cooked, eggs can be delightful and I love cooking them for leisurely weekend breakfasts.

There's slow scrambled eggs, which are buttery and delicious, especially with some snipped chives, and maybe some cheddar grated in. I got the recipe from my friend Lulu's blog, and while it takes more time than the typical way one scrambles eggs, the buttery goodness is well worth the effort. I think I did post the recipe up on this blog as well at some point.

The other thing I love is a really well-made omelette. My brother-in-law in Toronto, who runs award-winning restaurant Amaya, treated us to his omelettes when we visited them 3 years ago, and I've never ever had omelettes that delicious. I copy his method now whenever I make omelettes and they turn out almost as well. Interestingly, the method for cooking these is also slow, unlike the typical French omelette which one is supposed to cook fast over a high flame and serve while it's somewhat runny. You basically take whatever's lying in your refrigerator and a few minutes of magic later - there you are with decadently tasty omelettes. Fluffy, light, not egg-smelling and creative all at once, they make an ordinary saturday breakfast into a festive brunch!
Ingredients:
Eggs ( typically take 2-3 per person; these are not diet omelettes. Or you can take 3 eggs for 2 people and cut the omelette in halves)
Half glass of milk
Dollop of butter
Finely chopped vegetables of your choice - onions, red and yellow bell peppers, green bell peppers, tomatoes, asparagus tips, shredded spinach, spring onions, leeks...whatever you can scrounge for in the fridge as long as they are not watery veggies like tinda/ lauki
Cheese of your choice...the harder ones, ideally - cheddar, gloucester, edam. If using soft cheese like blue, camembert or brie, remember to toss them in just before you turn off the heat.
Meat of your choice ( though I'm not an expert on what meats you can add and when, being vegetarian)
Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Method:
Beat the eggs together with the milk until light and foamy. Meanwhile, put a nonstock frying pan on to heat at the lowest possible heat and add the butter.
Once the butter has melted, add the egg and milk mix and swirl the pan so the mixture covers the entire bottom of the pan.
Once the egg mixture just begins to solidify ( a slow process since you're cooking on low flame), sprinkle the vegetables and the cheese over the surface and cover the pan with a tightly fitting lid.
Let cook, still on low flame for 5-7 minutes and then check to see if done - the liquid egg mix should have turned opaque and almost entirely solid. If it hasn't yet cooked, cover the pan again and let it cook for a few more minutes until done but not brown.
Using a sharp-edged wooden spatula, run the spatula around the edges of the pan and turn one half of the omelette onto the other half.
Slide onto a plate and serve with hot buttered toast. If you want to divide the omelette up, cut the halved omelette in halves in the pan, before sliding them onto a plate.