Sorry this is late but I have pictures to go along with this post and as soon as I figure out how to insert them I will be more than happy to do so. Until then, I'm sorry, no pictures 😟
Omelettes are tricky little buggers but I have discovered many things about them and things to do and not do.
First I want to talk about types of omelettes. I like nice big fat fluffy ones that are stuffed to the brim! and are 'dry'. What I do not like are the thin wet things known as a french omelette, yuck. I like my beaten eggs cooked through. On the other hand I like my fried eggs over medium with a still runny yolk. In either case raw egg white equals yuck!
Now that that is out of the way, let's talk about the things I have learned and let's start with pan size. Yes, size matters. There I said it. The size matters because of ratios. If you have too much or too little egg for the size of your pan it will directly affect many aspects of your finished product, especially how fluffy, cooking time, and most importantly how easy it is to flip. Yes folks in order to get my eggs cooked through I flip my omelette. You can use a broiler technique but .. I don't. I will however include more about it in the notes section of this post. Shape of pan will also make a difference in how it cooks and how well you can flip it. I have 2 pans I use regularly and both are smaller than your average frying pan. The smaller pan is perfect for a 2-3 egg omelette and the bigger is 3-4 egg size. I maybe could push it more but haven't tried. (Hmmm, experiment for another day). My pans measure 13.5 cm and 15.5 cm across the inside of them.
Type of pan is important too. Non stick is best, cast iron is good too but I am not so great with stainless. It's possible, just not my preferred pan and I end up adding way too much fat.
Tools matter. I like to beat my eggs with a fork. A whisk adds too much air and while i like fluffy there is limits. I like texture to my food. i want it to have bite. You want a good spatula that is appropriate for your pan. I'm not sure if people even have metal spatulas in this modern age but if you have a metal spatula you are doing way more harm than good if you have a nonstick pan. You want a spatula that isn't too big for your pan but that will support your eggs.
There are 3 schools of thought on what should be added to the eggs or not.
1st add milk/ cream
2nd add water
3rd add nothing just beat the eggs
I'm a milk girl, It's just the way I was taught. You don't need a lot. For 2-3 eggs I use the same amount of milk. A dollop the size of an egg yolk. Then I beat my eggs until they are a uniform color. As I mentioned before, I use a fork. I just want to get everything mixed together not beat air into it. Feel free to experiment.
Salt and pepper are very important, DO NOT SKIP THEM. Even if it is just a tiny bit. Salt is a flavor enhancer and you want the eggs to shine. I add mine to the eggs while they are in the pan. Other's like to add them while beating the eggs, I have found there is no significant difference unless you let the eggs sit for a period of time. If you add salt to the eggs and let it sit before cooking they turn out much flatter and a bit tougher in my opinion.
Fillings, cook them ahead of time to your desired level of doneness. These can be anything. I have used leftover chili, sausage, taco meat, and or ham. I have used many types of vegetables as well and cheese, lots of cheese, shredded and sliced both work well.
The process is simple. Beat the eggs and pour them into a hot pan with melted fat in it. I use butter or bacon grease. Then wait. Once the eggs have begun to firm in the bottom of the pan I push from the side and allow egg to flow from the top to under the cooked part. I do this a few times You aren't piling it in the middle and you don't want to break the egg that is cooking but you want the bottom to cook and the top to begin to dry. When most of the liquid egg is gone I gently lift the egg and flip it over to cook the other side. At this point I put my cheese on top as well as my filling. After a few minutes when I'm sure it is now cooked through I fold it in half, add extra cheese on top and gently slide it from the pan onto my plate. Now enjoy it!
As soon as I can insert the pictures i will go back and do so.
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Friday, November 9, 2018
Let's talk about oatmeal
I was actually planning to first talk about chicken and soup but this morning's breakfast has me thinking.
So many people skip breakfast, I'm even one of them, but why? The answer will vary but most often it is time. I also hear a lot of people say, I just don't know what to make and I get tired of the same thing all the time. Well let me tell you about the versatility of oatmeal! Porridge to some...
First it is a basic grain, not overly processed and full of nutrition
Second it is full of fibre, very important for people.
Third it is very flexible and can be made sweet or savory.
Fourth It's faster to make than you might think. Even the 'old fashioned' oats. In the time it takes me to make coffee in the morning I can also make oatmeal.
Fifth, you can make it for one or a hundred.
Now, to cook plain oatmeal is a simple water/oats ratio of 2/1. That is 2 parts water to 1 part oats (ie 1 cup water to 1/2 cup oats). Simple. Bring water to a boil, toss in oats, turn down the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Cover or not. as I said, simple, but boring. So I changed it up. I use for my liquid 1/2 water and 1/2 milk. This adds a creaminess to the oats. I also put in a bit of salt and a lump of butter to enhance the flavor. I like my oatmeal sweet so I add 1 Tablespoon of sugar (usually brown) to the liquid before I start cooking the oats. I also add any spices, such as cinnamon, at this time too. I find adding them to the liquid really helps enhance the flavor. If I use maple syrup though that goes on top of the cooked oats, I find the flavor gets lost of I add it to the liquid. You can add fruit before or after cooking, that is to your taste. Today I added a shredded small apple, I left the peel on before shredding to add extra nutrition and flavor but feel free to peel. Another favorite of mine is to use vanilla sugar (a thing here in Germany at least and simple to make if you are in the US, notes on how later on) and then top it with a puree of apricot and apple (I can buy it in the store).
"But you said it can be savory, I don't want sweet.". Indeed I did, and here are ways to do that. Add bacon grease instead of butter, don't add sugar (obviously), use broth to cook the oats instead of water, add bits of meat to it such as bacon, sausage or ham. Top it with white gravy or even brown gravy, there are many ways to change it up. You could even add an egg either on top or directly to the oats. The heat from the oats will cook the egg, but stir quick.
See now, oatmeal isn't scary and in the time it took to make your pot of coffee you could have a nice bowl to go with it.
Now about vanilla sugar. German's don't use liquid vanilla in their baking, they use vanilla sugar, which is just as it sounds, sugar that tastes like vanilla. To make it you need a glass jar with a tight lid, sugar and 1 or 2 fresh vanilla beans. Fill the jar with sugar leaving a bit of head space. Place the vanilla in the middle of the sugar. Let sit and shake every couple of days to distribute the oils throughout the sugar (this is why you need headspace). Should only take a couple weeks. It tastes good in coffee to and doesn't add a bunch of chemicals and preservatives to your day.
So many people skip breakfast, I'm even one of them, but why? The answer will vary but most often it is time. I also hear a lot of people say, I just don't know what to make and I get tired of the same thing all the time. Well let me tell you about the versatility of oatmeal! Porridge to some...
First it is a basic grain, not overly processed and full of nutrition
Second it is full of fibre, very important for people.
Third it is very flexible and can be made sweet or savory.
Fourth It's faster to make than you might think. Even the 'old fashioned' oats. In the time it takes me to make coffee in the morning I can also make oatmeal.
Fifth, you can make it for one or a hundred.
Now, to cook plain oatmeal is a simple water/oats ratio of 2/1. That is 2 parts water to 1 part oats (ie 1 cup water to 1/2 cup oats). Simple. Bring water to a boil, toss in oats, turn down the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Cover or not. as I said, simple, but boring. So I changed it up. I use for my liquid 1/2 water and 1/2 milk. This adds a creaminess to the oats. I also put in a bit of salt and a lump of butter to enhance the flavor. I like my oatmeal sweet so I add 1 Tablespoon of sugar (usually brown) to the liquid before I start cooking the oats. I also add any spices, such as cinnamon, at this time too. I find adding them to the liquid really helps enhance the flavor. If I use maple syrup though that goes on top of the cooked oats, I find the flavor gets lost of I add it to the liquid. You can add fruit before or after cooking, that is to your taste. Today I added a shredded small apple, I left the peel on before shredding to add extra nutrition and flavor but feel free to peel. Another favorite of mine is to use vanilla sugar (a thing here in Germany at least and simple to make if you are in the US, notes on how later on) and then top it with a puree of apricot and apple (I can buy it in the store).
"But you said it can be savory, I don't want sweet.". Indeed I did, and here are ways to do that. Add bacon grease instead of butter, don't add sugar (obviously), use broth to cook the oats instead of water, add bits of meat to it such as bacon, sausage or ham. Top it with white gravy or even brown gravy, there are many ways to change it up. You could even add an egg either on top or directly to the oats. The heat from the oats will cook the egg, but stir quick.
See now, oatmeal isn't scary and in the time it took to make your pot of coffee you could have a nice bowl to go with it.
Now about vanilla sugar. German's don't use liquid vanilla in their baking, they use vanilla sugar, which is just as it sounds, sugar that tastes like vanilla. To make it you need a glass jar with a tight lid, sugar and 1 or 2 fresh vanilla beans. Fill the jar with sugar leaving a bit of head space. Place the vanilla in the middle of the sugar. Let sit and shake every couple of days to distribute the oils throughout the sugar (this is why you need headspace). Should only take a couple weeks. It tastes good in coffee to and doesn't add a bunch of chemicals and preservatives to your day.
Labels
OK, this is a work in progress but I also need to put it someplace so I can work on it, might as well be here.
Mamma says: Advice, I'm not sure if I should break this down by sub category or leave it general
Delicious recipe # x : Obviously these will be recipes
Let's talk about: While this falls under advice it would be more like tips and tricks for cooking, ingredients, cleaning etc. May contain recipes as well, OK to be real if it has to do with food there is a good chance.
Home for the Holidays: Holiday related content.
Mamma says: Advice, I'm not sure if I should break this down by sub category or leave it general
Delicious recipe # x : Obviously these will be recipes
Let's talk about: While this falls under advice it would be more like tips and tricks for cooking, ingredients, cleaning etc. May contain recipes as well, OK to be real if it has to do with food there is a good chance.
Home for the Holidays: Holiday related content.
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Introduction
Hey folks, with a lot of love and support from my friends I am embarking on a new journey of blogging. I want to share with all of you my experiences and love of cooking.
I cook from scratch. There are a dozen reasons why but the biggest is, I just like it! I love to cook. There is immense satisfaction in completing the job and the fact that I can eat the results and know it is better for my family are just perks.
What makes me so different than many of the people I've met through the years who view cooking as a job? I'm not 100% sure but I do think it's because the cooking influences in my life were positive and started young. By young I mean I think I was about 3 the first time my great grandmother pulled a stool up to the stove so I could watch her cook. It was like magic how she took the simple ingredients and turned them into delicious foods. I was three so applesauce was amazing, but the process and love she showed while teaching me stuck, and I think it really left the seeds.
I am for the most part a self taught cook, I am in no way a chef. I have done little in the way of formal classes or studying and most of my experience comes pre internet, so no YouTube videos either. Everything I do was either learned by reading a cookbook, lots of experimentation or rarely, at the hands of a guide. I do hope to be able to make some videos as well as make posts but I am not there yet, you will be the first to know when I am.
How this is going to work. I am still working out a tagging system in my head for how I will identify posts. Examples of what I am ruminating on are: post titles with Mamma says will be advice things, just notes on things from everyday life, child rearing, relationship stuff, personal growth and etc... Recipes will be marked as such and at the time I start doing video I will mark that too. Mostly I will focus on cooking but I may wander into other places as well so just be warned. My personal goal is to start with bi-weekly updates. If I have more to say, I'll make more but I'd like to have a minimum to work with and bi-weekly seems like a good goal.
Not all my recipes will have been created by me, I of course will try to give all propper credit where it is due if I can.
Feel free to ask questions, leave notes, or just say hi from time to time.
Maggie <3
I cook from scratch. There are a dozen reasons why but the biggest is, I just like it! I love to cook. There is immense satisfaction in completing the job and the fact that I can eat the results and know it is better for my family are just perks.
What makes me so different than many of the people I've met through the years who view cooking as a job? I'm not 100% sure but I do think it's because the cooking influences in my life were positive and started young. By young I mean I think I was about 3 the first time my great grandmother pulled a stool up to the stove so I could watch her cook. It was like magic how she took the simple ingredients and turned them into delicious foods. I was three so applesauce was amazing, but the process and love she showed while teaching me stuck, and I think it really left the seeds.
I am for the most part a self taught cook, I am in no way a chef. I have done little in the way of formal classes or studying and most of my experience comes pre internet, so no YouTube videos either. Everything I do was either learned by reading a cookbook, lots of experimentation or rarely, at the hands of a guide. I do hope to be able to make some videos as well as make posts but I am not there yet, you will be the first to know when I am.
How this is going to work. I am still working out a tagging system in my head for how I will identify posts. Examples of what I am ruminating on are: post titles with Mamma says will be advice things, just notes on things from everyday life, child rearing, relationship stuff, personal growth and etc... Recipes will be marked as such and at the time I start doing video I will mark that too. Mostly I will focus on cooking but I may wander into other places as well so just be warned. My personal goal is to start with bi-weekly updates. If I have more to say, I'll make more but I'd like to have a minimum to work with and bi-weekly seems like a good goal.
Not all my recipes will have been created by me, I of course will try to give all propper credit where it is due if I can.
Feel free to ask questions, leave notes, or just say hi from time to time.
Maggie <3
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