Breakfast #54: Scrambled Eggs

Zen enthusiasts say that we need to live in the moment more.  Focus on the present.  Shut out extraneous noise.  Feel the air on your skin.  We are always rushing around.  We need to stop, live, exist, feel the right now.

I am no expert on Zen, nor on meditation, but I do appreciate the benefits of hitting the pause button and just…being.  Looking back, I think I enjoyed it long before I even thought to articulate it.

Take for instance my bath.  Or, more accurately, my shower.  That’s my pause button.  When I shut the rest of the world out and focus on nothing more than, well, bathing.  I don’t have a fancy bath, nor do I crave one.  All my bathrooms have been relatively small and my past hides a long trail of unused bath gels and special shampoos forgotten.  What I need in a bath is simple: A strong shower (no gentle rain showers for me, I need something that can beat 16 hours of work off my back), scalding water, and, preferable, a window that lets in a little sunshine.  Hot water melting away my worries, striking me with enough strength to burst into a halo of tiny diamonds shining in the sunlight – in these moments I think of nothing else but the moment.  And suddenly, for a while at least, everything in right in the world.

These eggs?  Will make you believe it.

Scrambled Eggs

(adapted from How to Make Better Scrambled Eggs by Ruth Reichl for Gilt Taste) 

• 2 eggs, the best you can find or afford
• 2 tablespoons butter, I may have put more (most probably), cut into bits (the best butter you can find or afford)
• Fine sea salt

- Break the two eggs in a bowl and mix them well with a fork.  Add sea salt and mix to incorporate.

- Pour the eggs into a small saucepan.  Place the saucepan over a low flame.  Start stirring your eggs (I use a wooden spatula), adding the butter slowly, bit by bit.

- Keep stirring and adding the butter bit by bit.  The eggs will start to thicken. You can add more butter, I won't tell. Just keep stirring until you reach a soft velvety consistency.

- Transfer immediately to a plate and enjoy without disturbance.

I piled the eggs onto a warm piece of pan de sal (a local bread traditionally baked in a brick, wood-burning oven) I had just bought at the market, but it would be equally good on its own or with your preferred toast.  No more though as you don’t want to detract too much from these incredible eggs.

Good things come to those who wait, and this dish is a prime example of that.  Keep stirring.  Keep the heat low.  Add the butter slowly, lazily.  Do not rush.  Keep stirring.  Do not worry that you should have used your non-stick skillet and, oh, how the eggs might stick.  Do not answer the phone, toast your bread, or get the milk out of the fridge.  Keep stirring.  Stir gently but make sure that you are scraping the bottom of the pan and getting to all the sides.  It’s a bit like making custard.  Keep stirring.  Focus on the eggs.  Live in this moment.  It’s scrambled egg Zen.

Then you taste it.  And I don’t really know if this totally devastates your Zen or drives you deeper into it, but it does something so intense that even the first time you (I) saw Daniel Craig pales in comparison.  In my book, that means just beyond criminally intense.  You lose yourself and find yourself all at once.  And suddenly, for a while at least, everything is right in the world.  Yes, eggs can do that if done rightly.  And if you let them.

It’s amazing how losing ourselves in such simple moments can make us feel richly rewarded.  Maybe the Zen enthusiasts really do have something going there.  Or maybe we could just all use a pause button…preferably one that involves butter.

Roasted Eggplant with Garlic Cumin Yogurt

When I was working in Amsterdam, many, many years ago, one of my favorite things to do was visit museums.  One of the perks of working in a media company, you see, was a press pass that gained me free entrance to most museums.  And I love museums.  Now, I want to say at this point, that in no stretch of the imagination do I know anything about art, or history, or anything else that goes into museums.  I can’t tell a million-dollar masterpiece from a back-alley watercolor.  Nor am I an expert in world artifacts.  This has its disadvantages, that much is certain, but it also has a brilliant silver lining: I walk into every museum with no expectations, no fore-knowledge, no technical framework with which to measure anything against…and as such every painting, every sculpture, is filled with new-born, dewy-eyed potentiality.  Scoff if you wish, but walking into a museum and just letting your gut, and not a signature, tell you when to be blown away is, put simply, really quite nice.

Since I could come a go as I pleased (thank you dear press pass), and I was based in Amsterdam for a couple of months, I took my sweet time with the museums.  Even the big old Rijks was savored in slow, steady, and delicious bites.  I would come for a few rooms at a time, or just wander, letting my heart take me where it wished.  I had my favorites, seemingly random picks, to which I would return to time and again, allowing them to awe me and inspire me.  I didn’t favor a painter or a period…as with food, men, and books, it was all about chemistry.  How can you have chemistry with a picture?  Well, I think, more than measurement and color wheels and divine ratio, the answer to that is the secret that all true artists know.

Me?  Like I said, I’m just a simple girl who knows nothing about art…except what it’s like to be enraptured by a picture.

Roasted Eggplant with Garlic Cumin Yogurt

(Inspired by Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce from Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi)

• 2 medium-sized eggplants (the fat oblong types, not the thin Asian eggplants, about 200 grams each)
• Olive oil for brushing
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• A couple of dashes ground cumin
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

- Slice the eggplants lengthways.  Score the cut side of the eggplants in a diagonal crisscross pattern, being careful not to cut the skin.

- Place the eggplants on a baking tray and brush the cut and scored sides with olive oil.  Be generous!  Sprinkle with sea salt and a few good grinding of black pepper.

- Place the eggplants in a pre-heated 350F oven and roast for 30-45 minutes or until completely soft and nicely browned.

- While the eggplants are in the oven, put together your yogurt.  In a bowl mix together the yogurt, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  Keep this in the fridge until ready to use.

- Once the eggplants are ready, remove to a plate.  You can dress them with the yogurt sauce or serve this on the side.

The inspiration for this dish came not so much from a recipe but from a picture.  The picture on the cover of this book.  Just look at that.  Wouldn't you be moved to rush out and buy some eggplant based solely on that photo?  Me being me, I went and I did.

You can find the recipe for that here.   If I had stopped to think a bit, before dashing off to make this, I would have topped it with some lightly toasted pine nuts.  I’ll have to remember that for next time.  The original recipe has the eggplants brilliantly crowned with pomegranate seeds but pomegranates are not very easily available here.  We had this as a side for some baked chicken but I was thinking you could scrape the eggplant and yogurt into pita bread with some chickpeas and have yourself a nice lunch.  If there are leftovers, you could whiz them in a food processor and make a very delicious spread.

I haven’t visited any museums recently and I definitely think that should be rectified soon.  We should always give ourselves the opportunity to be moved, to be enthralled, by something that our hearts tell us is beautiful.  Until my next museum trip, cookbook photos will have to do.

Asian Mushroom Stir-fry

I’m always excited to come across new local purveyor and artisans, those brave souls who forge steadfastly ahead on paths seldom taken.  Farmers who faithfully bring their organic vegetables to city markets so lazy-bones like me can enjoy them.  Those who valiantly grow new and interesting things and do their best to educate the rest of us about them.  People making local cheeses and jams using antibiotic-free dairy and native fruits in season.  And let's not forget the altruistic and enthusiastic entrepreneurs who help far-flung farmers and other such producers, who would otherwise have no means to transport their produce, bring their goods to us.

I’m also excited when I see the wonderfully positive response these people get.  The eager waiting for locally grown heirloom tomatoes.  The vibrant chats about how to use this vegetable or that piece of pasture-raised pork.  The energetic, and deliriously blissful, hunt for the best local hot chocolate.  I say, let us feed off each other’s excitement ad infinitum!  Until the markets flood with all this local and purposely made gorgeousness (and happy sellers and buyers)!

These mushrooms are from a charming group of fellows who jauntily call themselves the Ministry of Mushrooms.  I love mushrooms and though, admittedly, I do pine after mushrooms that are anything but local (hello, chaterelles), my heart likewise beats for our awesome Asian varieties.  Especially when there are dedicated people like these behind them.

Asian Mushroom Stir-fry

• Canola oil
• 150-200 grams oyster mushrooms
• 4 leeks (I use the smaller local ones…if you use the fat Western ones, use less), white and light green parts, sliced on the diagonal
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 small red onion, sliced in wedges
• Small piece of ginger, about 5 grams or so, peeled and sliced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon sesame seeds

- Mix the soy sauce, oyster sauce, mirin, sugar, and sesame oil.  Set aside.

- Heat a couple of swirls of oil in a skillet or wok.  When the oil is hot add the garlic, onions, and ginger.  Sautee until the onion is soft and the smell of the aromatics waft up and make your mouth water.

- Add the mushrooms and toss, cooking for a couple of minutes, until the mushrooms start to soften.  Add the leeks and cook some more, stirring a few times.

- Once the mushrooms are soft, add the sauce and sesame seeds and quickly toss until all the mushrooms are coated.  Cook for a bit more until the mushrooms are completely cooked and have absorbed the sauce.

- Serve warm.

This is an easy, simple way to prepare Asian mushrooms and, in truth, any Asian-type vegetable.  It's great piled on a steaming mound of brown rice or tossed through some noodles (egg noodles, rice noodles, or even soba).  It will also make a great side dish for grilled meats or fish.  Feel free to use a mix of different types of mushrooms here -- I'm sure some shitake mushrooms would not go unwelcome in this dish!

I think the spirit of all artisan provedores is captured quite nicely in the mission of the people at the Ministry:  “We aim to be a driving force in the development of the mushroom industry in the Philippines and beyond. We hope to be a source of happiness to all who share our love for mushrooms.”  Development of the industry and happiness for all who share the love.  Oh yes please! :)

*One of my goals for 2012 is to use more local ingredients on this blog, so, if all goes as planned, you should be seeing more of this here :)

Sambal Chicken Sandwich Spread

Hot on the enthusiastic heels of my last post, I have already decided to make short work of those goals I mentioned.  When it comes to that blessed event called “starting” there is no time like right now right?  So that’s what we are doing for 2012 folks, we are starting.  Starting, doing, moving.  Starting what exactly?  Oh, many things I’m sure:  Starting on that list of resolutions.  Starting to live a healthier life (ok, for me, that would be semi-healthier – sorry, but pork, butter, sugar, and caffeine are here to stay).  Starting to attack that pile of bills on top of the printer.  Starting that book you got over the holidays.  It could be anything really, and I am sure as the year goes on, it will be a lot of things, but right now it doesn’t matter.  What matters is holding on to that wonderful feeling of bursting possibility, that clean-slate of endless potential, and just running with it.  What matters is pulling your foot up and moving it forward.

Just starting!  Bold, glorious, kinetic starting!

But before moving mountains, or finally getting my files in order (which is actually very much the same thing), let’s start with leftovers.  Finding ways to use leftover to be more exact…and avoiding food waste in the process (one of my goals forthis year).  This is one of the things I like to do with leftover roast or baked chicken.

Sambal Chicken Sandwich Spread

• 2 cups very roughly shredded or chopped chicken meat (leftover from a roast or baked chicken)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill leaves
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
• 4-5 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3 teaspoons sambal asli
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Sea salt, if needed 

- Place the chicken, dill, cilantro, onion, mayonnaise, and sambal in a bowl.  Top with a generous cracking of pepper.  Mix thoroughly.

- Taste and see if it needs additional salt.  If your roast chicken was heavily seasoned you may not need to add any more.

- Store in a clean jar in the fridge.

As this makes use of leftover chicken it is pretty flexible in terms of quantities, so adjust based on what you have to work with.  Here are some of my notes:

• The chicken – It’s best to shred the meat off the bones with your hands to get every last bit out.  You can also tear it out in big chunks and then chopped them up with a knife.  The beauty here is that you can shred or chop as finely or as chunkily as you like, giving the sandwich spread your preferred texture.  You can use leftovers off any roast or baked chicken.  The chicken I used here came from leftover rotisserie chicken that my mom had brought over one night for dinner.  Cost to me = zero!  Oh, and make sure to save the bones for stock – just place them in a ziplock bag in your freezer until you have enough to make a batch.
• The herbs – I like to add fresh herbs as this livens up the spread and gives the leftovers new life.  I've used dill and cilantro here but feel free to experiment with your own favorites, or whatever you have on hand.  And please nix the cilantro if you or a family member is averse to it – I know, and totally accept, that not everyone is a cilantro-lover as I am.  This is also a good way to use up the odd bits of leftover herbs that you have hanging out in your crisper.  Double leftover action!
• The mayonnaise – There are mayo-people and non-mayo-people.  I am a mayo-person.  Please adjust the amount to suit your position.
• The sambal – I used this sambal asli, but depending on your sambal, and your tastes, go ahead and adjust the amount until you find the right level of heat for you.
• The sandwich – for the sandwich pictured here I used multi-grain bread, thinly sliced apple, and micro arugula.  I love the bite of arugula, and I really prefer sprouts over leaf lettuce in sandwiches, so I have been a happy camper since I found micro arugula in my weekend market (from these lovely folks).  And the apple provides both sweetness and crunch that gets on splendidly with the spicy, creamy chicken.

I hope to do more posts on saving leftovers, as well as odd bits from the kitchen (like stems from vegetables and skin from pork – yes, it has uses aside from crackling!), this year.  I’ll also try to suggest uses for the leftovers of the other dishes I do post about.  All towards the end of avoiding food waste.  You can click on leftovers under Categories on my sidebar for other ways in which I've used leftovers.  If there is anything in particular you’d like to see here just let me know.   

Now let’s get started!  Wishing you all a beautiful weekend!