Dinner in under 10 minutes (Mexican Omelette)

Just so we are clear. I am not Mexican. I have never been to Mexico.The closest I have been to real Mexican food is eating Tacos in Los Angeles. And some homemade food(made by Mexicans) I had at a church bazaar(in Australia). And various forms of tacos, burritos, nachos - strangely mostly in North Queensland.

The ingredients for the omelette seem to have something in common with Mexican food (except no beans or tortillas) but other than that, I can offer no guarantees that anything like this has ever been made there.

Apart from it's dubious national origins, this omelette has one huge thing going for it. It takes less thank 10 minutes to make. Most of the ingredients can be bought and left in the fridge for a while. So it's the perfect dinner(or breakfast) when you have no energy

Ok, here goes - the vaguely Mexican inspired omelette.

Ingredients (serves 1)

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of milk

5 peppadews or roast peppers

7 pieces of sliced or one whole small jalapeno

1 handful of grated cheese

Salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika powder

1 teaspoon butter

Slice the peppadews and roughly chop the jalapenos

Crack the eggs into a bowl.

Add the milk ...

 

 Salt and pepper...

Paprika powder....

 

Whisk until combined

 

 

 Preheat the pan on medium heat(I usually start this while chopping and doing the eggs).Melt the butter in the pan.

Add the eggs to the pan.

When it bubbles a bit...

Add the cheese....

(About this much)

  

Add the peppadews and jalapenos.

Fold over and cook for a few minutes until the egg on the inside is set.

And eat (with salad if you have some)

How to get your husband to say "yum" with an enthusiastic smile while eating something with spinach (Gözleme)

[Um....so it's been a while since my last post - there have been various things which have kept me from blogging, including the absence of the Photographer at the time when the food is being made (apologies for the delay). This time I tried to take matters into my (slightly less than capable) hands so there are slightly less photos than usual.]

For a long time, I have been reminiscing about Turkish Gözleme - an Australian market staple. Pretty much a filled fried bread, but light and amazing. Alone early on a Friday evening, I was hoping to find a good recipe for this which would disguise the spinach enough for the Photographer to eat.

Looking for the recipe, I stumbled upon the blog Almost Bourdain. Fascinated by our shared experiences of Sydney - she too has a story about Petersham Chicken and even has a recipe for it which I am dying to try - I read many blog posts in a row. Then I recreated her Gözleme, albeit with the more traditional filling of spinach and feta (and adding sausage to some to try and get the Photographer to eat them). 

Turns out I didn't even need to add the sausage....

 

Gözleme 

(adapted from Almost Bourdain)

Dough

3 cups plain flour
2 tsp salt
7 g sachet dried yeast
1 tsp castor sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water

Filling

2 bunches swiss chard, english spinach or baby spinach

2 cloves garlic

150g feta, crumbled

2-3 spicy sausages, e.g. mettenden or chorizo (optional)

Salt and pepper 

Olive oil for frying

Lemon wedges to serve

In the bowl of your mixer place your flour, salt, yeast sugar and cup of the water. Begin to mix with the dough hook and add the last 1/4 cup of water gradually until the dough begins to form. You have added too much when the dough looks wet and starts to stick to the sides again (check out these pics for more info on kneading yeast dough).

 

Once the dough is smooth and not sticky (after about 5 min with the dough hook), oil a baking sheet. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and cover loosely and place in a warm place (often an oven, preheated to the lowest setting before and then switched off works well)

 

 Leave to rise until doubled in size.

While the dough is rising, rinse your spinach.

 

Chop it finely.

Heat your frying pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and garlic.

Add the spinach.

Fry until cooked (or just wilted for the less tenacious varieties)

When the spinach is done, remove to a bowl and thinly slice and fry your sausages.

Once the dough is doubled in size, take one portion and roll it out thinly on a floured board.

Add the spinach.

Feta.

Sausages (if you are trying to trick a carnivore into eating vegetables) and salt and pepper to taste.

 

Fold the dough over and fold the edges over to seal like so: 

Heat your frying pan to medium-hot. Add a little olive oil and the Gözleme.

 

Once you see the "brown eyes"which apparently give Gözleme their name, flip it over.

  

 Once the second side it cooked, remove from the pan and serve hot with lemon wedges

 

If you have any left over dough, put in in the fridge and use the next morning for Breakfast Pizza :). [Note: The pizza tastes great and bubbles beautifully but using plain flour means that you don't get the same crispy base. Still tastes great!]

A taste of Australia (Pavlova)

 

According to Wikipedia, the ultimate authority on all things, Pavlova actually originated in New Zealand. However, as I have just three glorious weeks in Australia(the reason for my recent silence), I proclaim that this recipe is just as much Australian

(Turns out this actual recipe is Australian as it comes from Bill Granger's cookbook, Bill's Basics).

I have always been extremely intimidated by Pavlova's as I imagined they would be complicated and time consuming. However, I found this recipe so easy and the result amazing that I have made it several times. Bill substitutes in some brown sugar which makes the pavlova slightly caramelly in flavour. The addition of yoghurt into the cream dampens the über- sweetness of the meringue. Absolutely lovely!

Ingredients

Meringue

6 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

230g caster sugar

80g soft brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornflour

1 teaspoons white vinegar

[Bill uses 2 tablespoons arrowroot and adds it with the cornflour but I didn't have any and it turned out great]

Topping

300ml whipping cream

150g Greek yoghurt

Seasonal fruit - I used raspberries and cape gooseberries this time but strawberries coated with 1-2 tablespoons of honey the last time I made it. Figs, passionfruit, mango, peaches would probably also work well.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Use a flat soup bowl (or other smallish plate) to draw a 20cm circle on a sheet of baking paper. Place the paper on a baking tray.

 

 Place the egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar into a mixing bowl.

 

Beat on medium high speed until soft peaks form.

 Add both the white and brown sugars alternating 1 tablespoon of each at a time. Beat until thick and glossy and until all the sugar is incorporated and dissolved.

Sift in the cornflour and add the vinegar and stir until combined.

Empty the mixing bowl onto the circle on the baking sheet.

 

And use a spatula to spread gently into shape. I made it slightly indented in the middle.

Place in the oven and turn the heat down immediately to 130 degrees. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes. Then switch off the oven, open the over door and leave ajar with the pavlova inside until cooled completely.

Just prior to serving, whip the cream.

 

Add yoghurt.

Spread over the pavlova, top with fresh fruit and....

Grün, grün, grün ist alles, was ich hab (Green vegetable and pesto pasta)

 Ah yes. Green vegetables. Apparently quite good for you.

This recipe morphed out of the lovely pesto mushrooms at Café Créme in Stellenbosch, the typical quick meal of pasta with a jar of pesto and the desire to try and squeeze more veggies into our diet.

The secret to this dish is to use good pesto, but not too much. The Pesto Princess sells their Queen and King size portions of pesto in a plastic tub at the Stellenbosch Slow Food Market which make them ideal for the freezer. I then use a sharp knife to hack out the right amount. Alternatively, you can make it or buy good quality try a farmer's market or deli) pesto in a jar. Use a few spoonfuls for this recipe. Spoon the rest onto a piece of cling wrap, wrap tightly and place in the freezer. Then you can just cut of pieces when you need them and the pesto doesn't go manky in the fridge.

Serves four

Ingredients

200g dried macaroni

1/2 head of broccoli, broken into small florets

125g button mushrooms, wiped clean and quarted

100g zucchini/courgette, sliced

100g mange tout/ snow peas or frozen peas

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons good quality ready made pesto

Salt and pepper

Grated Parmesan to serve (optional)

Prepare the vegetables as above and admire

Cook the pasta as usual in a large pot of slightly salted water until al dente. In the meantime...

Heat a pan over medium head. Add butter. When the butter is melted add the mushrooms and fry until tinged brown on both sides.

Add the broccoli and zucchini. Stir fry for about 5-10 minutes until the zucchini is cooked but still crunchy. Throw in the snow peas/mange tout or peas and pesto - stir fry for a further 1 - 2 minutes.

  

Add the pasta to to the pan. Mix through.

 

Use salt and pepper to taste and serve - if you like with some grated Parmesan.