Strangely Delicious: Rice for Breakfast

Picture sourced from Philspector

This morning I woke up and wanted warm cereal. Since I didn't have oatmeal (which I love) or any kind of dry cereal, I decided to use the rice in my fridge. I was inspired by a rice pudding I had for dessert at an Indian restaurant this week.

The rice I had made on Monday was a creamy brown short grain. I had added salt, butter, a little lemon juice, a bay leaf, lemon zest and fresh chopped basil. I reasoned that this savory rice would easily and happily become a sweet warm breakfast with the help of maple syrup, milk and a microwave.

I know it may sound crazy, but I feel that the bay leaves leave a kind of perfumey quality to food and that lemon is always a welcomed ingredient in sweet dishes, as is a little salt. Lastly, basil is somewhat sweet and spicy, so that is why I went for it and it really did turn out great.

It inspired me to try to make a basil and lemon ice cream with my new ice cream maker. Anyone interested in trying it?!?

Is there a pea in my pancake?!?

Sourced from: Gourmet.com

Do you ever feel like you don't eat enough vegetables? I feel like that all the time. I love vegetables, so this weekend I decided to squeeze them into my breakfast. I made pancakes and left out the sugar and instead added, a littl garlic salt, oregano, cheese and some cooked peas I had in the fridge. It was yummy! Go to gourmet.com to get inspired to make your own version of savory pancakes.

Who Shall You Play Today Dear Egg?

Picture sourced from southernliving.com

I woke up today and I had no bread for breakfast. I have been eating eggs over easy, with toast, but that was not a possibility this morning. I did not fret though. Eggs are like the best actors, ready to transform into new characters and play a new role when they are called to.Today my eggs would be a little fancy, a little cheesy and not quite so fragile and runny.

I broke two eggs in a bowl, added a dash of salt, dill, and oregano and gave the whole thing a light stir. I decided I would make an omelette. I added a little water and gave it another stir. Meanwhile I melted butter in a pan over medium heat and then added the eggs and inside I put a little Parmesean cheese and three basil leaves, from the leaves I have frozen. It was great. You should try it out!

Avocado Toast: Best Breakfast in the World!

I love breakfast. On the weekends I make something special, always. Last Sunday I had a tomato sandwich accompanied by steamed green beans dressed with a lemon butter sauce and finished with parsley and salt. I also had sliced radishes, as well as, fresh blue berries with figs and a sliver of avocado. It was beautiful and healthy and filling, my favorite.

Unfortunately, my weeks don't allow me the leisure of the weekend to chop, dice, steam, fry etc. Instead I have to be quick and efficient. Yet, I still like to eat well. I think I started putting avocado on toast after I visited my cousin Patty when she was in grad school at Buffalo.

When I went to visit Patty she was living in a large old Victorian house. It was a bit shabby. She shared the apartment with a Chinese student who made food in a slow-cooker. I think the whole time I was there she was cooking something in the slow-cooker. They didn't have any living room furniture. Patty said she did not want to make the investment. The living situation was very paired down; we ate that way too.

One night we had pasta that was made with sun dried tomatoes and sour cream. We improvised it from a family recipe. In El Salvador you would cook chicken breast in a sauce made of fresh tomatoes and fresh cream. It is really rich and delicious. You sop up the sauce with homemade tortillas, which in El Salvador are not like the ones you see in the super market and bodegas here. Tortillas over there are thicker. They are made from corn that has recently been dried and taken to the mill that very day. When I lived there with my grandmother one of my chores was to take the parboiled corn to the mill. She would yell at me because apparently I didn't put enough water in the masa.

Normally I would eat an avocado with a tortilla, any kind. Yet, on my visit to Patty's place that all changed. She cut an avocado in half and took out a loaf of french bread. She said, "I just eat it like this." Then she dug a hunk of bread into the avocado. I took my half and did the same. I think I must have asked for salt. I feel like avocado tastes better with salt. It was good, simple and really good.

Going back to Memphis I went through a phase of putting avocado and tomato on toast with salt. That's good, but not as good as adding hot sauce. I think I like the tang of vinegar. You don't need to add salt if you add hot sauce because the sauce is salty. Also, my favorite is the cheap kind. I am no frills when it comes to hot sauce. Eventually I stopped adding the tomato because slicing tomato takes away precious time in the morning. Just the hot sauce, toast and avocado is enough, perfect really.

Hermes' Avocado Toast

Avocado

Good bread, sliced and toasted*

Hot Sauce

Spread your avocado on the bread, add hot sauce. Eat over the sink, maybe as you sprint to the subway.

*If your bread is really fresh, toasting is optional.

Additions to consider when you already know you're gonna be late:

sliced radishes

slivered red onion

tomatoes

or substitute hot sauce for:

Pepper flakes

Sea salt and cracked pepper

Buen provecho!!!

An Understated Onion is a Beautiful Thing

When I was growing up I was pained by the fact that we had the same five things for dinner over and over again. It would usually be a large pot of some meat cooked with vegetables and rice, so boring. When the pot was completely empty and my mom had to make dinner she often turned to eggs. From living a year in El Salvador I found out that, at least in the country, people often turn to eggs at any meal time when they are in a pinch, which makes sense since you don't have much room for messing up and your meal is prepared quickly. My mom usually sauteed something and then broke the eggs over that. She'd let them fry and then serve with tortillas and canned beans.

Last summer while visiting my parents I made what my mom had been making all those years as a back up meal every day for breakfast. It was really amazing, with some smart additions and modifications. Her method of making eggs brought a subtely out in onions that is worth letting the world know. What follows is a recipe that is worth repeating over and over, ad infinitum.


Tacos de Huevos con Piccado Fresco (20 minutes)

Tacos

A medium to large onion
Two eggs
Tablespoon and a 1/2 of high quality butter (don't skimp!)
Mexican soft tortillas
Medium sized Tomato
Avacodo
Salt to taste

Piccado

Four sprigs of Cilantro
Three sprigs of curly parsely
Half a pint of cherry tomatoes
Half a green pepper
Two shoots of scallions
Juice of a lemon
Dash of hot sauce
Salt to taste

Begin by rinsing all of your produce, so you don't forget to do it later. Then continue by slicing the onion by the 1/4 inch. Set the butter in the pan and melt over low heat. Add the onions and spread them out so they get equal surface area. Leave the pan uncovered and begin by chopping the cherry tomatoes in half; add this and all the other produce in the piccado into the same bowl. Like the tomatoes, chop the green pepper. Remember, speed trumps beatuy here. The longer you let the ingridients sit together the better. Also, if you're making for breakfast, you'll want to have the food ready quickly. The beauty of it comes in the combination of colors and smells. Now the next step will be to do the same to the scallions and then address the cilantro and parsley. Begin by removing the stems from the cilantro leaves. You can pluck all of the leaves off and then chop. Since the dish is rustic, however, I just chop off most of the stem part and then chop. You can do the same with the parsley. After this, all you have to do is sqeeze your lemon juice in, add the dash of hot sauce and salt and let sit.

While you are preparing the piccado you should keep an eye on the onion. You don't really need to fuss over it too much. When you see that the onions are getting translucent you can turn them over. Keep the temperature low. What you want to do is let the bite disipate slowly. When you have put the piccado to the side, let the last bit of butter melt into the pan and raise temperature to high. Let the tips of the onion singe and right when those singes want to burn crack the eggs and lower temperature to medium high.

Next, if on a gas stove, put a tortilla on a burner. To heat perfectly you want to keep the temperature moderately high, but lower right before turning. It will take about a minute to heat an entire tortilla. When you heat the first, place on plate, turn your eggs over. Please pay attention, you don't want scrambled eggs. Please flip eggs gently and try to keep them more or less in tact. Perfection is obsolete here, but you still should mind an aesthetic. Heat your next tortilla and check on the eggs. They might need a little bit more time. If so, take the time to take a few wedges from your tomato. When the eggs are ready the yokes will be at the point right beyond runny. If you make this a few times you'll be able to eye it. Remember, eggs cook pretty quickly, so don't fuss too much about avoiding runny eggs.

When you take the eggs off the heat split into the two tortillas. Cut enough avocado slices to cover the side of each tortilla, add a tomato wedge or two and sprinkle salt. Pour a little hot sauce, close your taco and bite! Follow with hearty mouthful of piccado.

Beverage reccomendation: OJ

Como siempre, buen provecho!!