My first post in over 2 years and I'm embarking on my rebirth with my discoveries and adventures with eggs. Seems almost symbolic!
I know what everyone says about eggs being the most healthy and cheapest source of protein available out there. True, all that..but I always make my adventures with it regardless of how good it is for me. And the reason for this is my love hate relationship with eggs. There are phases when I absolutely need to feed my creative (or morning) hunger with them, and there are times when I am inexplicably nauseated by the smell of them and want to avoid them at all costs. Both these phases last almost 2 months each, and I am currently in my sunny phase (pun intended).
I usually like a quick morning experiment in my kitchen, particularly on days when I know I need a heavy breakfast to face a tough day at work (which has been happening oh-so-often now). On Thursday last week, I woke up with a craving for maggi noodles. Quick reality check, and I compromised my cravings for some noodles in any form. I did a quick scan of my kitchen with depleting supplies and found a jar of red pasta sauce and a box of some spaghetti leaning against a kitchen wall. I boiled the spaghetti in salt water, stir fried the pasta sauce in less than a tablespoon of oil and quickly tossed them both up. And then, magic....so here's what I did. I spotted one egg sitting desolate in my egg crate, so I scooped it up, skilfully cracked it into my pan on the pasta and didn't touch the pan again with a ladle till I turned the gas off. I just seasoned the yolk with some salt and pepper, covered the frying pan, turned the heat to low and waited for fate to take its course. When I turned off the heat and unvovered the pan, I saw a deliciously steamed egg waiting on my bed of pasta. I don't know what to call it and was rather impressed with my ability to whip up something so exotic in the matter of a few minutes, but it tasted delicious and left me feeling so satisfied!
I've often experimented with omlettes (from stuffing them with tomato concass and cheeses to the classic mushroom and spinach variety) and cannot make a fool-proof cake with an egg or two. But what I tried a few months ago gave me the satifaction to call myself a been-there-done-that with eggs (barring the frittatas, which I still haven't had the motivation to try as I don't have a good example to follow). I had been reading about poaching eggs (we indians call the sunny-side-up an egg poach which is so wrong!) and knew I never had the courage to pull it off or bear with another 2-month hiatus from eggs thanks to the kitchen sink smelling of egg goo after failed attempts. But there's always Jamie Oliver to the rescue! I tried his egg-poaching trick of lining a cup with cling film and cracking an egg into it, infusing it with herbs and tying the cling film together. This packet goes into stirred boiling water for a few seconds, post which you scoop it up, untie the film and voila! You have your creamy dreamy poached egg that tastes like a million bucks on a fresh toast. Yumm!!
There's also the pick me up breakfast I like to try which I read about in my recent purchase, "A sense for spice" by Tara Deshpande Tannebaum (I'll tell you more about that on another post). She suggests reheating leftover rice the next day with some whole spices and topping it with a fried and buttery egg. This is a quick fix for me on days that start with long (and often frustrating) work calls. So simple, but such a good way to use leftovers. I would improvise sometimes by topping the egg with chopped spring onions and a dash of oyster sauce (not the mushroom oyster sauce...please!). That's a Kylie Kwong twist that I like to add on sodium-craving days.
Phew...that was one long post that feels like an outburst after this long long break. Took me a while to recollect how i loved blogging. And i didn't even touch upon my favourite mayo recipe yet!
More coming soon :)
Do let me know what you think of this post!
Love!
I know what everyone says about eggs being the most healthy and cheapest source of protein available out there. True, all that..but I always make my adventures with it regardless of how good it is for me. And the reason for this is my love hate relationship with eggs. There are phases when I absolutely need to feed my creative (or morning) hunger with them, and there are times when I am inexplicably nauseated by the smell of them and want to avoid them at all costs. Both these phases last almost 2 months each, and I am currently in my sunny phase (pun intended).
I usually like a quick morning experiment in my kitchen, particularly on days when I know I need a heavy breakfast to face a tough day at work (which has been happening oh-so-often now). On Thursday last week, I woke up with a craving for maggi noodles. Quick reality check, and I compromised my cravings for some noodles in any form. I did a quick scan of my kitchen with depleting supplies and found a jar of red pasta sauce and a box of some spaghetti leaning against a kitchen wall. I boiled the spaghetti in salt water, stir fried the pasta sauce in less than a tablespoon of oil and quickly tossed them both up. And then, magic....so here's what I did. I spotted one egg sitting desolate in my egg crate, so I scooped it up, skilfully cracked it into my pan on the pasta and didn't touch the pan again with a ladle till I turned the gas off. I just seasoned the yolk with some salt and pepper, covered the frying pan, turned the heat to low and waited for fate to take its course. When I turned off the heat and unvovered the pan, I saw a deliciously steamed egg waiting on my bed of pasta. I don't know what to call it and was rather impressed with my ability to whip up something so exotic in the matter of a few minutes, but it tasted delicious and left me feeling so satisfied!
I've often experimented with omlettes (from stuffing them with tomato concass and cheeses to the classic mushroom and spinach variety) and cannot make a fool-proof cake with an egg or two. But what I tried a few months ago gave me the satifaction to call myself a been-there-done-that with eggs (barring the frittatas, which I still haven't had the motivation to try as I don't have a good example to follow). I had been reading about poaching eggs (we indians call the sunny-side-up an egg poach which is so wrong!) and knew I never had the courage to pull it off or bear with another 2-month hiatus from eggs thanks to the kitchen sink smelling of egg goo after failed attempts. But there's always Jamie Oliver to the rescue! I tried his egg-poaching trick of lining a cup with cling film and cracking an egg into it, infusing it with herbs and tying the cling film together. This packet goes into stirred boiling water for a few seconds, post which you scoop it up, untie the film and voila! You have your creamy dreamy poached egg that tastes like a million bucks on a fresh toast. Yumm!!
There's also the pick me up breakfast I like to try which I read about in my recent purchase, "A sense for spice" by Tara Deshpande Tannebaum (I'll tell you more about that on another post). She suggests reheating leftover rice the next day with some whole spices and topping it with a fried and buttery egg. This is a quick fix for me on days that start with long (and often frustrating) work calls. So simple, but such a good way to use leftovers. I would improvise sometimes by topping the egg with chopped spring onions and a dash of oyster sauce (not the mushroom oyster sauce...please!). That's a Kylie Kwong twist that I like to add on sodium-craving days.
Phew...that was one long post that feels like an outburst after this long long break. Took me a while to recollect how i loved blogging. And i didn't even touch upon my favourite mayo recipe yet!
More coming soon :)
Do let me know what you think of this post!
Love!
