Two Onion Omelet Roll

 

In the midst of clearing a foot of snow, my husband voices a craving for  masala omelet and filter coffee! This is a man who rarely asks for any type of food, so I am compelled to rustle up these requests. 

Filter coffee is easy enough with Mysore Concerns coffee. The rolled omelet is a little different with chopped onions as well as store bought crisp fried ones. Eggs are whisked well. Finely chopped onions, green chiles, tomatoes and cilantro are mixed into eggs and poured into a saucepan. A line of birista or crisp fried onions is laid across the middle of the eggs. The omelet easily rolls into a fat cylinder. Breakfast is served!

TWO ONION OMELET ROLL

Serves 2

4 Eggs

1 small Onion

1 green Chile

1 small Tomato

fresh Cilantro

Kosher Salt 

Ground Black Pepper

Canola Oil

Birista or crisp Fried Onions

Toast

Whisk two eggs in a bowl.

Season with salt and pepper. 

Chop onion and tomato finely. 

Mince green chile and cilantro and mix with onions and tomatoes. Season lightly with salt. 

Drizzle a little oil in a 8" nonstick saucepan.

Add 2 tablespoons of the onion mix into eggs. 

Pour the eggs into hot pan, shaking the pan so eggs are well distributed in a thinnish layer. 

Cook over low heat till eggs are set. 

Spoon a generous line of birista in the middle of the eggs. 

Roll the eggs gently and plate the omelet. 

Repeat with the other 2 eggs.

Serve with toast. 

It gives me much joy making this for a man who doesn't ask for much. 

Chapatti Mish Mash

I call it mish mash for want of a better name! Call it what you may, this amalgam of stale rotis, spicy chilies and tart yogurt, is what my soul craves since it is brrrr cold. Something hot. Something familiar.  So essentially, this hodge-podge is my walk back to carefree days of youth, masquerading as a warm hug, transporting me to a bygone era. 

I find a bunch of stale homemade chapatis in the freezer. A real find, especially since we almost never have leftover ones. An old acquaintance passed on this gem. A Jain, she made this concoction without onions, but I find that onions add another layer of flavor. Whisked yogurt is poured over onions, chiles, curry leaves and pieces of stale chapattis. Cooked over a slow fire, the chapattis become soft, melty and full of umami. Here I go... a forkful of mushy memories making me oh so happy!

CHAPATTI MISH MASH

Serves 3-4

5-6 stale Chapattis or Rotis

2 tablespoons Canola Oil

1/4 teaspoon Asafetida or Hing

1/2teaspoon Mustard Seeds

1 Onion

3-4 Green Chiles

6-8 Curry Leaves

3/4 cup Yogurt

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

Fresh Cilantro

Break the chapattis into small pieces.

Peel and chop the onion into small pieces.

Mince chiles finely.

Cut the curry leaves into small slivers.

Whisk yogurt well. Add enough water to make 2 cups of yogurt. 

Heat oil in a saucepan. 

Add hing to hot oil. 

Drop mustard seeds, curry leaves and chiles into hot oil. Saute for 20 seconds. 

Then drop chopped onion into oil. 

Saute till tinged with color. 

Tip chapatti into saucepan and stir. 

Pour yogurt over chapattis. 

Season with salt. 

Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes till chapattis are soft. 

Garnish with cilantro and eat it hot. 

The joy of discovering an age old favorite never fails to please......I am Punch today!

Rice Rolls in Teriyaki Sauce

Let me start by telling you I almost never made this. My Pinterest pin looked and read like a dream. Smooth cylinders of rice flour, swimming in savory spices made my mouth water. I would look at it ever so often until I went out and bought some potato starch.

Then I started making the rolls. The batter is easy enough. Steaming the pancakes is a complicated mess! The pancake steams, then has to be cooled before you can smoothly roll it. The roll is then moved to another platter. The process is a less-than-graceful struggle. My kitchen counters are filled with saucepans and towels... so I warn you making these rice rolls is one daunting affair. If you should be brave and venture forward with the rolls, plan on spending a hour making them. Lisa Lin's simplified recipe can be mastered! I am proof of that! Determination and desire are certainly motivating factors!

RICE ROLLS IN TERIYAKI SAUCE

From Lisa Lin

Serves 4-6

1 cup Rice Flour(not glutinous)

1/2 cup Potato Starch

1/4 cup Tapioca Starch

1/4 cup Cornstarch

1 tablespoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

2 cups room temperature Water

2 cups hot Water

1 tablespoon Canola Oil plus more for brushing plates

Roasted Sesame Seeds

Scallions, thinly sliced

Cilantro leaves

TERIYAKI SAUCE

1/2 cup low sodium Soy Sauce

6 tablespoons Mirin

6 tablespoons Water

3 tablespoons Sugar

2-3 Garlic cloves, minced fine

1 teaspoon minced Ginger

Pinch of Chili flakes

1 1/2 teaspoons Cornstarch

Start by making the rice rolls first.  Put rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, cornflour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. 

Pour 2 cups room temperature water in a little at a time till batter is smooth. 

Add hot water a little at a time whisking as you add water. You will have a really watery batter. 

Place one large saucepan half filled with water over a high flame. Place a small heatproof bowl in the pan so a plate can rest on it. 

Fill another saucepan with cold water and a small bowl in the center so a plate can rest on it.

Brush two corelle plates with oil. 

Place on plate in the saucepan with simmering water. 

Stir batter well. 

Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the plate. Add a little more if needed to fill in holes to make up a round pancake. 

Cover with a lid and steam pancake for 4 minutes. 

Uncover and place the plate over the saucepan with cold water.

Allow pancake to cool for 2 minutes, then with the help of a spatula, roll the pancake into a tight roll, starting at the top. 

Oil a large sheet pan liberally with canola. 

Place the roll in the sheet pan.

Oil the other plate and place over simmering water. 

Repeat the steps, stirring the batter well before each pour.

You will get about 14-15 pancakes depending on how much batter you use. 

Make the teriyaki sauce by mixing soy sauce, mirin, water, sugar, chile flakes, garlic and ginger in a saucepan. Bring the sauce to quick simmer. 

Mix cornstarch in 1 tablespoon of water. Add the slurry to the sauce mixing constantly till thickened. Keep aside. 

Cut the rice rolls into 1" pieces and mix well in the sheet pan so they are coated with residual oil. 

Scrape the rolls into a nonstick skillet.

Place the skillet over a low flame.

Pour half the sauce over the rolls and saute for a few minutes. Save the rest to drizzle over the rolls later or use in another recipe. The sauce will keep refrigerated for a week.

Garnish with sesame seeds,  scallions and cilantro. 

Enjoy them warm or at room temperature.

Eating these rolls is like having dim sum at home....so much work but such a luscious reward.  

French Apple Cake

When you go on vacation and your neighbor picks up the mail, you could bring them a souvenir or you could bake them a thank you cake. Needless to say, the latter is my easy way out!

I made this cake for Thanksgiving for them and was informed they only had slivers as their guests made short shrift of the rest. Now they have the whole enchilada for themselves!

Taking inspiration from a fellow blogger, I cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, sherry and flour. Sliced apples are folded in and the rustic cake bakes. An enticing aroma wafts through the house. Rosa and Rolf should be pleased.

FRENCH APPLE CAKE

Adapted from Once Upon A Chef

Serves 6-8

2 Gala or Fuji Apples

1/2 cup Butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

3 tablespoons Sherry

1 cup all purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Confectioner's Sugar

Butter a round 9" cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Peel, core and slice apples into 1/4 inch slices. 

Heat oven to 350F/180C.

Cream butter and sugar till light colored, 3-5 minutes. Use a stand mixer or handheld one....both work well.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well between additions. 

Tip vanilla and sherry into batter and whiz till mixed. 

Gradually spoon in flour mix. 

Scrape down the sides of the bowl often.

Drop apples into the batter and mix gently. 

Spoon the batter into prepared cake pan. The top should be craggy and rustic, not smooth.

Dust the top of the cake with 1 tablespoon of sugar.

Bake for 45 minutes. 

Cool cake on a wire rack for 5 minutes. 

Use a wide spatula to lift the cake out of the pan. Or gently invert it right side up, onto a platter. 

Dust liberally with confectioner's sugar. 

Enjoy a slice....or two!

I drop off the cake to shrugs and smiles....shrugs because they said it was no big deal to pick up mail....smiles because cake will do that to you...especially this one!

Lamb Chop Taar Korma

I must confess this curry is a cheat version of Sadaf Hussain's mutton taar korma. I have dutifully made and relished the original. Then once when I ran out of the requisite spices, improvisation led me to an eastern spice, not remotely Indian, the Chinese five spice powder. Yes it works. No it is not quite the original, but a commendable surrogate. When life gives you lemons, make some lemonade or korma.

Trimmed lamb chops braise in a ghee and spice masala. It is an easy cook up. Let everything simmer stovetop...time is all you need and some five spice masala.

LAMB CHOP TAAR KORMA

Adapted from Sadaf Hussain

Serves 6

16-18 Lamb Chops

2 tablespoons Ghee

2 Bay leaves

3 Green Chiles

2 tablespoon Garlic Paste

1 tablespoon Ginger Paste

1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

1 teaspoon Chile Powder

2 teaspoons Five Spice Powder

1/2 cup Yogurt, whisked till smooth

5 tablespoons crisp fried Onions, crumbled

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Cilantro leaves

Trim lamb chops of fat. 

Chop green chiles finely. 

Heat ghee in a wide saucepan. Use one that has a tightfitting lid.

Drop bay leaves and green chiles into ghee. 

Add garlic and ginger pastes and cook for a minute till fragrant over a medium high flame, stirring often. 

Add lamb chops and saute well till chops are brown. 

After 7-8 minutes add turmeric and salt to chop. Stir often. 

Lower the flame and add garam masala, five spice powder, chile powder, whisked yogurt and fried onions.  Stir so chops are well coated with masala. 

Add 1 1/2 cups of water. Cover with a tight fitting lid and braise for 30-35 minutes, till chops are easily pierced with the tip of a knife.  

Uncover, garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or roti. 

Our New Year's day family feast is satisfying on more than one level. Everyone has a few favorites on the table. Delicious beginnings for the coming year! 

Oyster Shooters

Celebrating the end of the year with fancy food is one way to mark a milestone. Take it over the top with oyster shooters and you have something special. I guess this infusion of shucked oysters, spicy cocktail sauce and liberal splashes of vodka do have a select following. So if you care to partake then read further!

Whip up a batch of cocktail sauce with ketchup, wasabi, mustard  and Worcestershire sauce. Wet the rims of shot glasses and dunk them in tajin, a Mexican chile and lime powder. Slip an oyster into the glass. Spoon cocktail over the oyster. Pour vodka into the glass. To top it off or not, is the burning question. 

OYSTER SHOOTERS

Serves 2

4 shucked Oysters

4 tablespoons Tomato Ketchup

1 teaspoon Wasabi powder

1/2 teaspoon Mustard

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Pinch of Kosher Salt

Tajin Seasoning 

Grey Goose or any premium Vodka 

Whisk ketchup, wasabi, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and salt together in a bowl.

Wet rims of 4 shot glasses. 

Dip them in a plate of tajin seasoning.  If you haven't any tajin, run a cut lime over the rims and then dip the rims in chile powder.

Slip an oyster into each glass. 

Top with a teaspoon of cocktail sauce. 

Drown the oyster in vodka.

Toss one down the hatch. Or all four!

The end of this year starts off just right. Grill some steaks. Eat a bar of Cadbury's milk chocolate and bring in the new year with rose-colored spectacles!!!