Category Archives: breakfast and brunch

Indian Seitan Fajitas

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This recipe is inspired by many recipes from Nik Sharma – who uses Indian tadkas in all kinds of foods with delicious results. The essentials here are curry leaves (freely available at your friendly neighborhood Indian store), mustard seeds (small brown ones) and asafetida (one bottle will last you years)

First step is to make the tempering (tadka). To 1-2 tbsp of oil, add a tsp of mustard seeds. Wait till they sputter, add the tiniest sprinkling of asafetida (1/8 tsp), 1/2 tsp of turmeric , 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes and 8-10 curry leaves (chopped). After 30 sec, add the seitan, onions and jalapenos and cook on high heat till they get charred. This takes about 3-5 min.

Serve with lime crema (1/2 cup yogurt, 1 grated garlic clove, 1/4 cup Mayo, 1-2 tbsp lemon juice, salt), guacomale, any greens (I did simply dressed arugula ) and warmed tortillas.

Sunday brunch perfection !

Steamed eggs with mushrooms

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It’s been a while- things have happened but I’m cooking again

This is such an easy brunch recipe for a crowd . Get ramekins- spray with some cooking oil (just so the eggs separate)

In a sauce pan- sauté mushrooms of your choice (chopped into chunks). I used criminis but shitakes are great too. Add garlic, salt and pepper and some red pepper flakes (gochugaru is fantastic in this) and butter and cook on high heat till the mushrooms get some color.

In the ramekins, add some mushrooms, butter, about 2 tbsps of cream, about 2 tbsp or so of your favorite cheese (I like Gouda with eggs)salt, pepper and one egg

When your guests arrive – steam eggs for 10 min. Serve with good bread and copious amounts of butter.

Cabbage pancake for brunch

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I have seen many variants of this on keto websites. This one works and is delicious and easy. It is full of fiber and protein and like the best brunch dishes, it is crunchy on the outside and delicious and soft and slightly quiche like on the inside. I served it with an olive tampenade and sour cream.

Mix one small shredded cabbage (3-4 cups) with 3/4 cup all purpose flour, salt, pepper and 4 beaten eggs. Heat a 10 inch non stick skillet with 1-2 tbsp of oil and pack the cabbage mixture in. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes till the bottom browns. Flip (using a plate, a large spatula or the courage of your convictions as Julia Child would say). Cook for another 5-10 minutes and drizzle some more oil all around the pancake. Slice and serve.

Kolache pohe

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The Indian region of Konkan in the west has a rich tradition of coconut based dishes similar to many other coastal regions. This is a supremely easy and extremely satisfying recipe :sour from the tamarind, creamy from the cocounut milk, sweet from the jaggery and savory from the phodni; the flavors are complex and delicious. Recipe credit to Sharmila, my cousin who sent me the recipe on whatsapp. My grandmother (also from Konkan) loved pohe with dahi, doodh, sakhar ani meeth (yogurt, milk, sugar and salt). Coconut milk was a treat because it had to be manually extracted. This recipe reminded me of her.

Poha is flattened beaten rice (easily available in the Indian store and on amazon). I used thick red poha for this recipe. Other essentials for this recipe are tamarind pulp (I boil tamarind with water and strain it to make my own pulp which I then freeze but there are plenty of pulps available commercially) and cumin seeds, asafetida and curry leaves (Indian store).

In a colander, rinse 2 cups of thick poha till soaked through and drain. The poha will soak through while you prep the rest of the dish.

Make the Kol- the coconut milk mixture: To one 14 oz can of light coconut milk, add 2 tbsp of jaggery (or brown sugar), 1 tsp or so of salt, 2-3 tbsp of finely chopped cilantro and 2 tbsp of so of tamarind pulp. Tamarind pulp varies in it’s sourness. Taste the kol, would it you it to be saltier, more sour, sweeter- adjust the flavorings till the coconut milk is delicious.

Make the tadka/phodni: To 2 tbsp of ghee or butter, add 1 tsp of jeera, wait for it to sputter, then add 1 pinch asafetida, 3-4 torn curry leaves and 2-3 dried red chillies.

Mix all 3 together and serve with fried papad or potato chips or not. Village food made easy using modern technology.

Popovers

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When I open my brunch restaurant- popovers will be on the menu, both savory and sweet. Crunchy on the outside, custary on the inside with natural little pockets for fillings. Perfect for brunch ! I’ve made these before with Jamie Oliver’s recipe. Alton Brown’s recipe from his genius book- I’m just here for more food is easier.

This is his blender recipe for both crepes and popovers. You can add herbs to your batter or 2 tbsp of sugar if you want to make it sweeter. I like it just the way it is.

First- heat up an oven and a greased 12 muffin pan to 450. The pan has to be HOT

Second- In a blender jar, measure 6oz of milk, 4 oz of water (my blender has markings which makes it very easy), 3 tbsp of melted butter and 2 eggs. Blend well. add 1 cup of flour and blend till just mixed and there are no lumps

Third- Remove the hot pan, add 1-2 tsp of fat of your choice to the muffin pans (I used butter). Divide the batter amongst the 12 cups (will come up slightly more than half of the cup)

Fourth: Bake at 450F for 15 minutes and then 350 F for 10 minutes. NO PEEKING unless you want a collapsed wad of dough instead of the airy gorgeous pastry of your dreams

Fill with savory items – like say scrambled eggs with cheese and grilled scallion crema (sour cream, grilled scallions, lime) or sweet stuff like home-made ricotta and marmelade.

Quick Pineapple Jam

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When you need a quick jam with your pancake or Dutch Baby– this works. Also works for all frozen fruit.

Heat a 10 oz bag of frozen pineapple or berries or mango. Add a quarter cup of sugar and 1 tbsp of mulling spices (or pumpkin spice or any blend of cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, all spice, ginger you wish). Cook for 20 minutes on low-medium while your pancakes are cooking. This jam won’t keep and may or may not set. If you wish to be precise- heat the jam to 220 F (setting temperature), I don’t particularly care because this version has never survived more than a day in my house- my kids licks up the bowl once the jam is gone.

Dutch Baby Pancake

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A Dutch Baby pancake is a yorkshire pudding by another name. An enormous puffed up layer of deliciousness with chewy bits under the crust. My modification to the recipe is to brown the butter before the batter gets added it and adding bread flour. The butter has to be hot, the pan has to be hot and remember never to open the oven to check on your Dutch Baby till 20 minutes are done. The recipe is modified from this Florence Fabricant NYT recipe.

Heat oven to 450F with a 10 inch cast iron skillet.

Blend 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of bread flour (or all purpose flour), 1/2 cup of milk, 1 tbsp of sugar and 1tsp of flavor (for eg vanilla, orange zest, orange essence, lemon zest, cardamom). Blend for about a minute till all the flour gets incorporated into the batter.

Add 4 tbsp of butter to the hot cast iron in the oven (or on the stove). Heat for 1-4 minutes till the milk solids start browning. This burns very fast- be careful (or skip this step and heat till the butter starts to bubble). Add batter and return to the oven for 20 minutes. Shut off the oven after 20 minutes and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve with home-made pineapple jam and that maple syrup sampler from the Vermont trip that you never opened and found during pandemic pantry cleaning.