Spanish Tortilla

Classic Spanish tortilla, better known as a potato omelet, has the double benefits of eggs and breakfast potatoes in one dish. I like it with a tomato cucumber salad and with a dash of ketchup. You can also serve these at room temperature.


4 medium red potatoes- thinly sliced

6 eggs

Salt, black pepper, paprika

Olive oil

1. Take some olive oil in an ovenproof pan. Add a layer of potatoes. When tender, turn. You do not want them golden brown. Do not overcrowd the pan. I do this in batches. Keep the potatoes aside and reduce the flame to low. You may season the slices when cooking.

2. Mix the eggs and the spices.

3. Layer the potatoes over the pan. Add the eggs. Keep on the flame for 2 minutes.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for around 20 minutes or when the eggs look done.

Another Omelette Recipe

So it all started with my partner giving his version of his favorite omelette. “A filling of sausage preferable Louisiana hot links, chunks of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and tomatoes,”

Louisiana hot links are spicy and used in New Orleans Gumbo. But since I did not have any, I used a morning sausage in the fridge, and just heated one small link. Omit, if this is a vegetarian version.

• Grated ¼ cup of Vermont maple smoked cheese.
• Chopped 4 cherry tomatoes.
• A small slab of cream cheese and cut it into large cubes.
• 1 tablespoon of mozzarella
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of black pepper

Mix all of the above. The hot sausage should help he cheese melt a little. All the ingredients should be at room temperatures. Remember, the cream cheese should not mix in, but should be in large cubes, so that you get a mouthful of cream cheese. Try to cut in the same size as the pieces of sausage.

Break 3 eggs at room temperature. Season with salt. Take 1/2tbspn butter in a 10” pan. When the butter heats a little, add the egg mixture. When the eggs are slightly set at the bottom, scramble it once, and run the egg mixture around to fill the gaps. Keep scooping the omelette at the edges, and shake the pan, so the liquids run to the sides. When the omelette is almost set on the top, add the mixture, and fold. Slide on a hot plate.

Lemon Cheesecake Pancakes

I love making breakfast on Saturday mornings. Unfortunately, and this has nothing to do with me, the day starts at 1pm. So it becomes more of a brunch, or lunch.
I wouldn’t say I have a very extensive repertoire. I am constrained, seriously constrained, by the peculiarities of fussy eaters.

"Eggs should be mixed – the yellow part and the white part should not stand out separately. That rules out poached eggs, baked eggs, fried eggs, and boiled eggs."

"Onions, mushrooms, spinach and greens are “groddy.” Oatmeal is out of question. "

"Indian breakfast food is not “real breakfast food.” "

And occasionally , my preferences kick in too, I don’t like bagels or sweet baked pastries in the morning.

It basically boils down to acceptable variations of omelets, scrambles, and frittatas. Or variations of French toast and pancake. So, I am always looking for ways to make pancakes witha twist. I personally hate blueberries in pancake; they taste too jam-like to me. I made these pancakes yesterday and served them with plain maple syrup. They seriously tasted like lemon cheesecake and elicited the rare growl of approval.

2 cups of bisquick pancake mix
½ pack of cream cheese- add to the batter in the form of thick crumbles
Juice of ½ lemon
Lemon zest – one small lemon
2 eggs
1 ½ to 2 cups of milk
Stir the above to get rid of lumps.
In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 tspn butter or vegetable oil. Add less than ¼ cup of batter or more if you want thicker pancakes. I made four thick fluffy pancakes. Remember, that you want to add pieces of cream cheese, and not mix the cream cheese, in your batter.

Soft scrambled eggs with croutons

I am always looking for ways to make eggs more delectable. I usually make breakfast every Saturday morning for my partner, and he claims he never cared for eggs till he tasted mine. Now it’s a ritual.

The first trick to great scrambles is to use farm fresh eggs. I buy organic cage free eggs from my Farmer’s market every Saturday morning. The difference is pronounced, when compared to using super market eggs. Fresh organic eggs are creamier, brighter, and very flavorful and do not turn grey like supermarket eggs.

The second trick to soft scrambled eggs is to use a thick bottomed pan, keep the stove temperature low, and stir consistently. I add butter to an omelet pan, allowing it to melt, and add the eggs to the pan which is not too hot. I keep stirring the eggs for 10 minutes or so till I get soft scrambled eggs. I also add some cream to the eggs when I start the stirring.

Now for a little twist to traditional scrambled eggs.

I found the following recipe on Food and Wine magazine. The chef adds bread croutons to the eggs at the end.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/scrambled-eggs-with-herbed-croutons

I made these eggs for my partner this weekend, and served them with honey-butter-paprika toasts, to provide a sweet contrast to these savory eggs which already have toasts in them.

5 eggs
2 tbspn cream
1 tbspn butter
Salt
Pepper
2 cloves of garlic (smashed)
Olive oil
Brioche croutons (I make extra croutons and freeze them, so I had these on hand. If you don’t have these, just take 3-4 slices of whatever bread you have, preferably brioche, and dice it into cubes)

1. Heat the oil, and add the garlic for flavor. Now add the cubed pieces of bread till they are brown and crispy. Discard the garlic.
2. Heat the butter in a thick pan. When it starts to melt, add the eggs and cream.
3. Add salt/pepper.
4. Keep whisking and stirring.
5. When the eggs are almost set, throw in the croutons.
6. Garnish with chives.

French Toast with whipped cream and strawberry compote

I loaf of brioche bread. I leave it out for two days; since you want it dry enough to absorb the custard.
4 eggs
¾ cup of heavy cream
Butter
1. Cut the brioche into slices around ¾ inches thick.
2. Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the serving plates in the oven.
3. Mix the eggs and the cream.
4. Dip each slice of bread in the custard for around 30 seconds.
5. The flame should be at medium to medium high. Warm around ½ tbspn butter for each slice. Add the slice ad flip when done.
Whipped cream- refrigerate your mixing bowl and whisk. Now whip together 1 cup of heavy cream with 2-3 tspn confectioners’ sugar. Add a little vanilla essence and whip till you get soft peaks.
Strawberry Compote – Take a pint of strawberries. Dice half of them finely, and rough chop the other half into chunky pieces. Heat a pan, add the finely diced strawberry with some brown sugar and cook till you get a sauce. Now add the rest of the strawberries till they are soft but retain their shape. Add a dash of balsamic vinegar.

Onion Pepper frittata (9” skillet) with a tomato sauce

What I love about frittatas is that you can make them in advance, and have a wedge for breakfast as long as it lasts. Grabbing a protein filled breakfast on a rushed morning could not get easier. The whole technicality in getting frittatas right, is using the right number of eggs based on your skillet. You definitely do not want a thin frittata; the slices should be like wedges of a pie. For an 8 ½ “- 9” inch skillet, I like to use 6 eggs. This is sufficient for two people. However, if you are using a larger skillet, say 12”, I would use 10-12 eggs, and this would work for 4 people. 3 eggs per person is a good ratio, and therefore one should be mindful of the size of the skillet.

As for oven temperatures, estimates vary from 350degrees to 400 degrees. You need a moderate oven, and I like to work at 350 degrees, since the top does not brown very quickly.

I also make this sauce to go on top of the frittata. It makes the frittata less dry and gives it an additional flavor, although you could do away with this step if you chose.


Frittata

6 eggs
½ large red pepper5 cut into fine strips
½ onion cut in strips
3/4cup of corn
1 pinch of garam masala (optional)
Parmesan cheese
Dash of sriracha sauce
Salt to taste

Sauce
2 Tomatoes – roughly chopped ( or use 8-10 plum tomatoes)
A few leaves of basil
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper flakes
Black pepper

About the skillet-for 6 eggs, use a 9” ovenproof skillet. The handle of my last skillet was not exactly ovenproof, so I covered it with a couple of layers of aluminum foil.

Oven- Pre-heat to 350 degrees.

Eggs- Sauté the onions and peppers till soft. Add the corn and sriracha. Beat the eggs lightly Add the salt, pepper, garam masala. Cool the vegetables a little and add the egg mixture. Stir initially and then allow to set till it looks curdled on the top. Grate the cheese on top and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, till golden and puffy.

Sauce
Cook all of the ingredients till tomatoes are soft and puffy. Add the basil at the end.

Serve the frittata with the sauce on top. Grate some parmesan on the top.

Masala Corn Pancakes – Makes 4 large

I must admit, these pancakes are kind of sweet, despite all the additions. I don’t think I will use the jiffy mix next time, maybe corn flour and baking powder, to get a lesser sweet version. But if you have a sweeter palate, this works fine.


1 - 250 g pack of Jiffy’s corn mix
1 egg
¾ cup of milk
1 cup of chopped spinach
Salt
Black pepper
1 tspn garam masala
1 clove of garlic – minced
1 piece of ginger – minced
1 scallion diced

Mix the above together.
Take some oil in a 9” skillet pan. Add ½ cup of batter.
Flip when golden.
Serve with green chutney.

Omelettes

1. Cheddar cheese, tomatoes, cilantro, Thai chilly
2. Mushrooms sautéed till wilted, black pepper , garlic
3. Tomatoes, green chilly , cilantro
4. spinach, onion, feta, sun tried tomatoes
5. ricotta, sun dried tomatoes, pepper flakes, lemon zest, spinach, onion (sauté onion and spinach, when cool add rest of the ingredients)


For the perfect omelette

Beat the following –

12” non stick skillet
1 tbspn water
3 eggs
Hint of turmeric and paprika
Salt
Black pepper

Brush some oil on the skillet. Heat on medium high. Put your palm above the pan, till you can feel the heat. Add the egg mixture. Bring the flame down to medium.

When the mixture starts to curdle, start moving it around so it doesn’t set. Keep doing till nearly set. The mixture should be a little runny on the top and light yellow on the bottom. Move around the liquid yolk on the top, till it is evenly distributed. Wait for the liquid to set. Now add the filling on half of the omelette. Fold the other half. Shift the half folded omelette towards the center of the pan and cook for another minute or two, till the cheese in the filling melts and the other half is glued.

Slide gently on a heated plate. ( plate which has been in the oven at 200 degrees till you make the omelette)

Dutch baby

3 eggs, 1 cup of flour, 1 tspn vanilla, 1 cup of milk, 3 tbspn sugar – blend.

Heat 2 tbspn butter and add to the mixture.

Bake in a 400 degrees pre heated oven for 20 minutes.

Dust confectionery sugar on top. Serve with whipped cream, berries, or maple syrup.

Open Toasts

Mix 1 cup of ricotta cheese, 2 large tbspn sun dried tomatoes chopped walnuts, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and salt.
Grill toasts and serve with this spread.

Another combination
Fromage blanc cheese, finely sliced pears and pecans.

Shahsuka – Serves two

The first time I had shashuka was in Mumbai where the chef had close ties with Israel. Shahsuka is one of my favorite ways to eat eggs. The spicy tomato base goes very well with a runny egg on the top. I like to keep my shashuka simple- no onions or bell pepper. For each portion of Shahsuka, you need two medium tomatoes and one egg. You can make it in your skillet, but I like to make individual portions in my 13 oz gratin pans.

You need

4-5 tomatoes (chopped in chunky pieces)
3 cloves of garlic (finely minced)
2 green chilies – finely chopped (I use Thai)
1 tspn coriander powder
1 tspn cumin powder
2 tbspn olive oil
Salt to taste
Parsley or coriander for garnish (chopped)
Black pepper
2 eggs

Preheat broiler to 400 F.

Heat the oil. Add the tomatoes, garlic and chilies. Add the spices. Cook the tomatoes, till most of the juice evaporates. Make sure the tomato base is not soupy.

Now ladle the tomato mixture in the gratin dishes. Break an egg on each dish. Cook in the broiler till done. When the egg is half cooked, break the yolk. The yolk should be slightly runny.

You could make the tomato base a few days in advance. Serve with warm pita bread.

Pancakes with a twist – Makes 8

You can make pancakes from scratch. For this recipe you would need 2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 2 pinches of salt, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. If you want to use a boxed mixture, use Bisquick or something very basic. I strongly advise against using one of the pancake mixes that asks you to just add water. Instead of the above mixture you could use 2 cups of Bisquick.

To the mixture add 2 cups of milk, 2 eggs, the juice of half a lime, a teaspoon of vanilla essence, ½ tspn baking powder, and ½ cup of ricotta cheese. Stir to get rid of lumps.

Mix the following for the topping – ½ cup of ricotta cheese, zest of half a lime, ½ tspn vanilla essence, 1 tspn sugar, few drops of lime juice.

Another toppping idea is applesauce, cinnamon, and ricotta cheese.

Toast ½ cup of walnuts.

In a non stick skillet, heat 1 tspn butter or vegetable oil. Add less than ¼ cup of batter or more if you want thicker pancakes. When you see bubbles on the top, time to flip. Serve with butter, maple syrup, and ricotta topping.

Chilli Cheese Toast

This can be a low calorie snack - use a low fat cheese like mozarella. The flavor of onion, chilly, and corainder reduce the amount of cheese needed. I use a wedge of bebel cheese.

4 pieces of bread
1 cup of cheese grated
3 green chillies
1/2 medium onion
t tbspn green corainder chopped finely
Black pepper


1. Mix the above ingredients,
3. Preheat the oven on broil.
4. Put the toast on an aluminium foil and into the oven.
5. Take out after about 10 minutes.
6. Add a few grinds of black pepper on the top of the toast.
7. Serve with ketchup.

Indian Omelette

Trust te Indians to spice up everything , even the omelette. This omelette has layers of heat with the chillies, black pepper, and the red pepper flakes. You could also add bell pepper for an additional layer and a crunch. The omelette does need green chillies but if you would like to tone down the heat but retain the flavor, dissect the chilly and get rid of the seeds and the ribs .

2 eggs
1 pinch turneric
1/2 medium onion - finely diced
1 thai chilli - finely diced
2 tbspn finely choppped coriander leaves
1 tspn salt
1/2 tspn black pepper
1/4 tspn pepper flakes
1 tbspn half and half
oil

1. To 1 tbspn oil add the onions and saute till golden brown. Remove from the pan and allow to cool.
2. Beat the eggs till fluffy and add all the above ingredients.
3. Add the onion to the egg mixture.
4. Add some oil to the pan and add the egg mixture.
5. Stir till the egg starts to set to set.
6. When done remove and serve with toast or paranthas.

Sabudana Khichadi

1 1/2 cups of sago

1/4 lemon juice

1/2 tspn sugar

1 tspn salt

2 tbspn chopped coriander

2 tbspn roasted peanuts

5 curry leaves

1 thai chilli

1/2 tspn cumin seeds

2 tbspn oil

1 boiled potato

1. Soak the sago in 1 1/2 cup of water for about two hours. When the sago is soft between your fingers , wash off the excess starch, till it looks clean. Drain off excess water in a colander. Remember mushy sago has an awful after taste.

2. In a pan heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. Allow the cumin to splutter.

3. Add the cubed potato . Fry till your potato is golden.

4. Now add the peanut, which you need to grind into a coarse powder.

5. Add the sago,green chillies and the curry leaves.

6. Add salt and cook for around 5-7 minutes.

7. Add the sugar and lemon juice.

8. Garnish with the coriander leaves.

9. Serve with yoghurt and garlic red chili chutney.

Matar Poha - Pressed Rice with Peas

Level of difficulty -Easy

Poha is a pretty easy breakfast dish or a plain snack. You can add peanuts, potatoes, or just make it with plain onion ( known as kanda poha).


Ingredients
1 cups of thick pressed rice (poha)
2 thai chillies (dice finely)
1/2 cup of peas
1/2 cup of corn
1 white onion ( cut finely lengthwise)
1/2 tspn mustard seeds
2 curry leaves (optional)
1 small lime
3 tspn salt
1/2 tspn turmeric
2 tbspn oil
coriander leaves

Instructions

1. Add the poha to a colander and run water over it for 30 seconds.
2. Add the oil to a sauce pan and wait for the oil to heat. Add the mustard seeds till they splutter.
3. Add the onion and saute till it is transparent. Now add the peas and the corn.
4. Add the poha, salt, haldi, chillies, curry leaves.
5. Toss around for five minutes. Add juice on one small lime.
6. Garnish with coeiander leaves.

Baked Indian Eggs

Indian omelettes are characterized by corainder leaves, green chillies, and onions. all of the ingredients are folded in the eggs and fried on a skillet. However, the given recipe combines spices with eggs and is baked and is better suited to at least four people for breakfast.

Ingredients
6 eggs
1 pack of cremini mushrooms (227 gms)
1 medium onion
2 thai chillies
2 Tbspn half and half
1 tspn coriander powder
1/2 tspn turmeric
1/2 tspn cumin powder
1/2 tspn garam masala
1/2 cup of chopped coriander leaves
3 tspn salt
oil

Instructions

1. Dice the onions. Chop the mushrooms. Heat oil in